March Shipments: It’s Déjà Vu All Over Again
March 2022 shipments came in at $6.91 billion, up from February’s $6.14 billion. So far, it looks like 2022 is closely mirroring 2021—which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Frank's Paper Route
Frank found some official Boston Globe newsboy badges from the 1930s. With the transition from print to digital newspapers, especially weeklies, these “newsies” are now out of work.
Around the Web: Martian Mirage. Product Placement. Solving Superhydrophobicity. Robot Ramble. Bonding Burritos. Erased Entries. Painter Play. Cliffside Convenience. Machine Mirth.
Did the Curiosity rover photograph a doorway on Mars? Product placement is set to go to the next level. Self-shading windows. Researchers accidentally discover graphene-based water-repellent coatings. A delivery robot goes for a leisurely stroll in the woods. Edible tape for securing burritos and other wraps. Deleted Wikipedia articles live on in the Deletionpedia. Artle, a fine art-based version of Wordle. The world’s most inconvenient convenience store. “Strollers as a service.” Google’s AI can now get jokes. All that and more in WhatTheyThink’s weekly miscellany.
Insight You Need. Analysis You Trust.
Get the trusted insights you need to understand our evolving industry and emerging trends. Become a Premium Member.
Industry News
- Printeriors 2022: An Inspiring Showcase of Sustainably Produced Décor
- Graphco to Feature Foliant Laminating Solutions at Amplify Print
- SAi Launches Flexi 22 Software
- Coloreel Receives Financing from Nefco – Swedish Innovation Furthers Circularity in the Textile Industry
- Label Academy Hosts Successful Industry 4.0 Virtual Master Class
- PRC Issues Financial Analysis Report on Postal Service Financial Position
- Webb Print & Display Invests in EFI VUTEk h3 from CMYUK
- Specialty Has Announced they are Moving to a New Facility
- PrintFactory Expands to North America Amid Sustained, Rapid Growth
- Monadnock Paper Mills, Inc. Announces New Sales Executive
- Quad Makes Repeat Appearance in Top 20 for Annual Agency Company Ranking
- Claudio Radossi Appointed President of Pharma Equipment Leader MG America
- Webmart Joins Two Sides to Promote Sustainability with Print Marketing
- GPO Appoints Chief Acquisition Officer
- Epson to Showcase Leading Hospitality POS and Labeling Solutions at National Restaurant Association Show 2022
- At last, an Affordable App Linking Warehouse Barcode Data to Accounting
- Indian Beverage Major, Parle Agro Urges Government to Postpone Plastic Straw Ban
Annual Sign Franchise Review 2022
Like the print franchise networks, the sign franchises struggled, like many businesses, in 2020. They have bounced back almost to 2019 levels and are seeing good growth going into 2022. Managing editor Richard Romano provides our annual sign franchise review.
Imageco Partners with HP Technology to Deliver Sustainable Printed Production for Retail Graphics and POS
At UK-based Imageco, sustainability is a key focus. When the current owner took over, he brought with him his passion for a more sustainable future and took steps to improve the company’s sustainability profile. Today, Imageco provides their customers with affordable, versatile products that are manufactured using a responsible production process, sustainable materials, and best practices wherever possible. Read the full story.
Achieving More with Priming and Coating
If priming and coating are each important to the success of inkjet in commercial printing, both are crucial for inkjet printing in the label and packaging segments. In this article, sponsored by Michelman, Inc., and based on a just-released white paper, European section editor Ralf Schlözer explains how folding carton and corrugated packaging markets are expanding for inkjet in large part due to the application of these fluids.
Making a Commitment to Software Implementation
Commitments are hard. The sales process for print software is like dating. Everyone is full of positive hormones about potential. Then salespeople step away and the implementation begins. It gets hard. It doesn’t go back to the honeymoon phase—ever.
Seven Options for Filling Your Employee Pipeline
The Printing Industries Alliance has released a new report, “Recruitment, Retention, and Pathways to Employment in the Printing Industry” (April 2022), that looks at the realities of the hiring gap in the printing industry and practical solutions for addressing it. Here are seven takeaways from that report.
A moment of levity. View Today's Dilbert
Life in print isn’t easy, right? You deserve a laugh. That's why MindFire brings you Dilbert. And why we help Printers & Agencies of all sizes grow sales with 'OptiChannel'. Learn more now.
Industry Data
INDUSTRY INSIGHT
Printing Outlook 2022 - The WhatTheyThink Overview of the Current State of the Printing Industry
The new Printing Outlook 2022 report provides detailed analysis of the latest WhatTheyThink Business Outlook Survey, the latest industry economic data and macroeconomic trends, as well as industry and cultural technological trends to look out for in 2022.
March Shipments: It’s Déjà Vu All Over Again
March 2022 shipments came in at $6.91 billion, up from February’s $6.14 billion. So far, it looks like 2022 is closely mirroring 2021—which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Full Analysis
Commercial Printing Annual Payroll—2010–2019
According to County Business Patterns, in 2010, US establishments in NAICS 323111 had an annual payroll of $15.9 billion. Payrolls dipped during and in the aftermath of the Great Recession and then rose, at least on a current dollar basis, over the latter half of the decade before dropping in 2019, finishing out the decade at $16.3 billion in 2019. However adjusting for inflation, payrolls declined by -12% over the course of the decade. In macro news: inflation is starting to slow ever so slightly. Full Analysis
March Graphic Arts Employment—Print Production Drops from February, Non-Production Up a Bit
In March 2022, all printing employment was up +0.2% from February. Non-production printing employment was up +2.7%, but production employment was down -0.9%. Full Analysis
Recent Discussion
Sal Passanisi on Dan Gillespie and Sal Passanisi Geek Out Over Pantone and Adobe’s Color Rift
Wanted to post a quick update for those who have not looked at pricing recently, Adobe CC for most creatives is about $54.00 per month, (all 20 CC apps), the price of Pantone Connect Premium is now $7.99 per month, so about 15% of whole 20 app CC sui… Full comment Reply
Eddy Hagen on Is Landa Finally Hitting Its Stride?
"(...) the "next big thing" that will create an enormous opportunity or disrupt your business is probably about 29 years old!", this is a quote from Greg Satell, who has been looking at innovation for a long time. The official story is that the La… Full comment Reply
John Zarwan on Is Landa Finally Hitting Its Stride?
(sorry for the dropped apostrophe!) Reply
John Zarwan on Is Landa Finally Hitting Its Stride?
It may take 2 drupas before an introduced technology can be produced and used reliably. but you know its been fully accepted when the press no longer writes about it. Reply
Magazine
WhatTheyThink Magazine is the resource for the Commercial Printing, Visual and Graphic Arts Industries. Industry experts share their ideas and technical knowledge on ways to improve operations.
WhatTheyThink publishes 2 editions of the magazine: Printing News and Wide-Format & Signage. Subscription are free to qualified industry professionals or via paid subscription.
- Value Stream Mapping in Inkjet. Finding the Easy Win
- Setting Up Papers in a Challenging Paper Market
- Free Whitepaper – Improving TCO and Customer Satisfaction with Inkjet
- Opening Opportunities – The Latest Inkjet in Folding Carton Print
- Transitioning From Conventional Print to Production Inkjet
- Beware The Commodity Death Spiral
- Coating and Varnishing for Inkjet
- Folding Carton and Inkjet
Smooth Sailing in the Production Process: How to Ensure Your Artwork Files Won’t Slow You Down
What’s Your Digital Transformation Quotient?
Where Brands are Headed with Mass Customization
Time is Money—The Spot Color Matching Challenge
An Internal Indigo Study—How HP Indigo Customers Fared During the Pandemic and What We Learned
© 2022 WhatTheyThink. All Rights Reserved.
Henry Boyle on What Graphic Communications Students Need to Know
As a graphic communications student, you'll learn about the production of printed materials and how to create them. Graphic communication is a broad field that encompasses many different aspects of design, art, and technology. I prefer https://master… Full comment Reply