Nearly every industry is undergoing a major transformation that is being driven by new and emerging technologies, and none has been more heavily impacted than the printing industry. This is only exacerbating the challenges that business owners already face today. Josh Linkner’s recently published book entitled The Road to Reinvention: How to Drive Disruption and Accelerate Transformation provides a clear path for firms that want to transform their business models to achieve success today and in the future.

Linkner notes, “I’ve seen leaders freeze in the face of oncoming upheaval rather than act because they’re so concerned about the negative consequences of change. They overestimate the resilience of the status quo and underestimate the need for driving innovation.” According to Linkner, businesses can struggle for a variety of reasons, yet one of the most common—and easily avoidable—is failing to reinvent. This article discusses how McBattas Packaging and Printing recognized the need for change and took the necessary steps to remain competitive in today’s evolving industry.

McBattas Packaging and Printing (Fairbury, NE) recognized the risk of commoditization in the traditional printing world and saw an opportunity for reinvention in the digital packaging arena. Owner Fred Arnold realized that packaging represented a large and stable opportunity for the printing market. Almost all items are sold with some form of packaging, and the desire to maintain a competitive edge in the marketplace often prompts brand owners to change their packaging designs more often than they change their actual products. This creates a continual demand for prototypes, short-run printing, as well as custom printing and cutting. In addition, the application of digital technology to the packaging market means that brand owners can make their manufacturing supply chains more cost-effective by significantly reducing time to market and waste from obsolescence. Digital technologies can also bring enhanced efficiency to customers by moving production to a just-in-time environment that diminishes warehousing and inventory needs. In addition, converters and print service providers understand that the need for packaging grows with the human population and economic development. Most importantly, it is not being displaced by electronic documents.