Although printing has been in existence since Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1439, today’s printing businesses still tend to be small and entrepreneurial. More than ever before, innovation and the reinvention of business processes are essential to growth. Today’s print service providers are refining their business strategies and leveraging emerging technologies to sell new and profitable services, drive efficiency, and increase sales.

At a high level, a printer’s ultimate goal is simply to create value for clients at a reasonable cost. At the same time, however, the definition of value can vary from one client to the next—it might be as simple as designing a brochure, but it could also involve something more complex like enabling print manufacturing closer to consumption, version expansion, creating a new customer segment, or manufacturing on demand. These complicated service expansions were impossible when most printing businesses started out, but today’s innovative leaders are capable of meeting a wide variety of unique customer demands.

Although customers’ expectations are higher than ever, cost savings is an issue that remains at the forefront. It has never been more important to manage expenses by reducing manufacturing costs (e.g., materials, coverage, reliability) as well as productivity costs (e.g., labor, the ability to produce more jobs or higher utilization rates).