Sean Smyth, print consultant and author of several Smithers market reports, set the scene for the event by talking about megatrends for print. Geopolitical events and supply chain issues weighed down on print in recent years. Yet he sees a new, major threat in cash flow issues for underfunded printing companies caused by aluminum, ink, and paper price rises. Rising interest rates can also be a killer if those must be financed. After many years, inflation is suddenly playing a major role and obscures the fact that inflation-adjusted print revenues were flat in recent years and will stay that way despite nominal revenue increases. Likewise, the number of pages printed is expected to remain flat. There is a shift within print applications, however, from publication and commercial print to packaging and label print. At the same time, print technologies are changing. Sustainability is a driver for processes, with digital print having an advantage. Also, digital print is more profitable. Digital print is gaining in volume and value, although the volume share is still relatively low.

Besides the current geopolitical factors there are a couple of trends affecting the printing industry:

A session on inserts and door-drop printing was presented by Johannes Helmberger, owner of the German web offset printer Niedermayr Group and a large heatset offset user. He stated that challenges always existed, only the types of challenges have changed. In the past it used to be technology and competitive industry leaps in a growing market. Now, laws and ordinances on environmental and energy conservation issues weigh down print businesses in a slowing market. In addition, monopolies are emerging in supplies for heatset offset, like plates, pigments, and paper. This drives up costs and makes the supply chain more susceptible to disruption.