Printing Industry Commentary & Analysis

Greenfield and 100% Digital, ePac LLC Sets Its Sights Exclusively on Flexible Packaging

Digital printing for flexible packaging has been slow to take hold, but a start-up company in Madison, WI, says it is equipped and ready for a fast break into this potentially lucrative market.

Mixed Signals, Chaos, and Bureaucracy

Last week, the polls were wrong and Brexit rattled the markets. But the people most worried were central planning bureaucrats who wonder how to make sure it never happens again. The number of business establishments and microbusinesses are still growing. Durable goods orders send another recession signal. It’s another week of mixed and mixed up signals, something economists like because it makes them look busy.

Key Themes at drupa 2016 Bring Industry 4.0 to the Forefront

By all accounts, drupa 2016 was an amazing show for both exhibitors and attendees. In this article, Senior Editor Cary Sherburne highlights some of the important trends coming out of the show, including drivers bringing Industry 4.0 – the fourth industrial revolution – to print.

Changing the Conversation: Helping Customers Leverage Postal Promotions

Marketers understand that direct mail is one of the most powerful ways to communicate with current customers, especially when it comes to new customer acquisition and reactivating dormant accounts. The USPS’s recently announced 2017 Postal Promotions are designed to help direct mailers maximize the value of the communications that enter the mailstream.

Industrial Production Continues its Negative Turn

The Fed’s own data probably caused them to have a more dour outlook about the economy. The chart shows that US industrial production started slowing at the end of 2014 and has been in outright contraction since Fall 2015.

Predictive Analytics: The New Productivity Weapon For Commercial Printers

In many instances, predictive analytics is discussed in reference to improving marketing and/or sales performance. However, numerous industries today are benefiting from the use of predictive analytics to improve operational efficiency.

drupa 2016: the Package Tour (Part 2)

The business of printing labels and packaging is changing with almost unnerving speed. Made reassuringly clear at drupa was the fact that new technologies for label and packaging production can give printers the capabilities they must have.

Wide-Format 101: One for the Cutters

In the latest installment of our occasional Wide-Format 101 series, we offer a primer on basic finishing processes, specifically rollfed cutters and flatbed cutting tables.

Heidelberg: Delivering on the Digital Promise at drupa 2016

Heidelberg is already a champion of offset press manufacturing, but the firm demonstrated that it was equally serious about helping its customers make the transition to digital at this year’s drupa event. This article explores how Heidelberg is promoting itself as a solutions-oriented service provider that can productively and efficiently support customers in the digitization of their business models.

Advertising Rebounds in Q1-2016 v 2015; Publishing Still Struggles

Advertising agency had a much better first quarter than last year, up by nearly $3.9 billion on an inflation-adjusted basis (+16.5%) according to the most recent Quarterly Services Survey. Advertising revenues had slipped in 2014 and 2015, in similar pattern to the decline in durable goods and other manufacturing orders and shipments.

Prices for Advertising Rise for Magazines, Stable for TV and Newspapers, Down for Digital

The chart shows that magazine advertising has gone up by more than 20% since 2010, but it's hard to know how much might have been bundled in those prices. Pricing reports sent to the Bureau of Labor Statistics are supposed to be in constant units, but it's hard to determine those in service environments, and it's hard to quantify a wink or a nod in an advertising agreement.

The User Experience is the Print Software Product

User experience is the product. 1,000 features does not necessarily equate to a valuable product. When features are embedded into a confusing an cumbersome user experience – they don’t get adopted.

drupa 2016: the Package Tour (Part 1)

drupa 2016 wasn’t exclusively a packaging show, but for label- and packaging-minded visitors, it might as well have been—there was that much to see and be impressed by.

Sticky Discipline for the Label Business – May 2016 M&A Activity

CCL Industries’ establishes international niche positions acquiring label printers at a steady pace, Oliver Printing transitions to carton printing and forms platform company for Pfingsten, M&A activity resumes in commercial printing segment, Dex Media files “Chapter 33”, and more.

Wide-Format at Drupa—Wrapping It Up

Week two of drupa brought few major announcements, but wide-format offerings were hardly inconspicuous.

drupa 2016: About Adding Value to Print!

Many printing companies attended drupa 2016 to understand the latest industry innovations that would increase business and improve profitability. The vendors that participated in this year’s event were focused on demonstrating applications that expanded margins and helped service providers identify new markets and opportunities. This article explores just some of the ways that the industry continues to bring new value to print.

Smaller Printers Are Giants in Profits

The changes in the media markets led to the declines in magazines, catalogs, newspaper inserts, and many of the products produced by large printing organizations. For years, these companies were giants in the industry, but recently this sector has been restructuring through consolidations. Writedowns in goodwill and for closed plants have cut the profits of these organizations.

Q1 Printing Profits Rebound; Large Printers Still Lag Smaller Establishments

The profits before taxes of US commercial printers rebounded in the first quarter. Profits for the quarter are estimated at $1.37 billion, the highest level since the third quarter of 2013, when they were $1.42 billion adjusted for inflation. Profits were $810 million for the first quarter of 2015, making this a significant turnaround.

Innovative Labeling Solutions Ramps Up in Flexible Packaging

Ohio based Innovative Labeling Solutions and HP Indigo are out to demonstrate that digital printing can become as widely used for flexible packaging as it is for labels.

Consolidating Printing Employment, Shipments End a Streak, and an Ugly Employment Report that Dresses Nice

Things are not what they seem. Streaking was not good in the 1970s, it’s definitely not good on presses, but streaking is great when it’s a growth streak in printing shipments. Unfortunately, the latter has ended, so let’s start a new one. The employment report was bad but that made interest-rate worriers happy. There’s nothing like getting statistically giddy over the numerical misfortune of others. Maybe they need to find a niche like a very happy Vancouver printer did.

Wide-Format at Drupa—That Was The Week One That Was

Drupa 2016 thus far has not had a lot of wide-format announcements per se, but corrugated—one point where wide-format and packaging meet—is playing a big role this year, with some major announcements.

Frank's drupa Notebook: Kodak 3.0

The yellow box is glowing again. You sense it as soon as you enter the Kodak booth at Drupa 2016. It is the most creative booth I have seen in my eleven Drupas. Every product and service is showcased. Customer samples abound. It is Disneyland for printing geeks.

Frank's drupa Notebook: Important themes of drupa

Frank covers 12 important themes of drupa 2016 that he thought worth sharing, including new inks, corrugated digital presses, digital approaching offset speeds, and more!

HP Indigo Scores Big at drupa with Cimpress and Shutterfly Deals

Just two days into drupa 2016, HP Indigo has announced two large deals: Cimpress and Shutterfly. Combined with some other smaller transactions, the company has already chalked up sales of about 50 HP Indigo Series 4 presses, with likely more to come, making this an exciting show for the company. Senior Editor Cary Sherburne spoke with Indigo General Manager Alon Bar-Shany to get the details.

Drupa 2016: The Future of Inkjet

The overriding message for drupa 2016 is that inkjet is now ready for prime time across a range of applications and is positioned to displace key conventional printing processes. This article provides a brief overview of the factors that will drive the expansion of the inkjet market during the drupa event and beyond.

Q1-2016 Real GDP Revised Up to +0.8%; Economy Already Recovering from Mini-Recession

The first estimate of Q1-2016 GDP was +0.5%, and that was revised up slightly to +0.8%. The concerns about recession are being reduced lately with some better economic news that show the economy on its sluggish pattern of sub-par growth in the +2% range, well below the post-WW2 average of +3.3%. As noted many times, there are numerous economic indicators that have yet to reach their pre-recession levels. Since this pattern has been so long in duration, even non-money denominated statistics, such as employment, have to be adjusted by population growth to discern true underlying levels. The chart shows Real GDP on a more conservative year-to-year basis as reported and with the volatile effects of inventory changes removed. The economy still seems to be digesting some long-term inventory rebalancing, some of which is related to global currency and other economic issues. The slowdown of the first quarter still seems to be limited to the first six weeks of the year. At the time of this writing, the Atlanta Fed's GDPNow estimate of Q2-2016 is at +2.5%. While that is a disappointing level, it is consistent within the lackluster level of economic growth that has come to be known these past years as “new normal.” Since 2011, real GDP has averaged only 2%. The difference in the average may not seem a lot, but a 2% annual growth rate will result in an economy doubling in size in 39 years; at 3.3%, it doubles almost 16 years sooner.

Defining Product Workflows for Web-to-Print

A Product Workflow is a term I use in web-to-print projects; it defines the different offerings you enable online through self-service user interface. Defining terms is critically important to any project, product workflows is one of the key terms to every web-to-print project.

drupa 2016 to Shine a Light on Packaging

SKU proliferation and the difficulty of staying relevant are challenging brand owners as never before. The answers they seek in digitally printed labels and packages await them in abundance at drupa.

The Value of Tradeshows… As I Head to drupa!

Although some will always question the value of tradeshows, these events are generally worthwhile endeavors. As we head into drupa 2016, this article evaluates some of the unique benefits that tradeshows like drupa can offer to exhibitors and attendees alike.

Metzgers of Ohio Hosts Pre-drupa Event for RMGT of Japan

Nobody ever said that the sheetfed offset equipment market is easy to do business in. But RMGT, a partnership between two of Japan’s best known press manufacturers, thinks it has what it takes to make the most of the opportunities that the market still holds.

Retail Sales Growth Rates Reflect Changes in Competition and Consumer Preferences

Department stores are still having problems. Their year/year growth rate has been negative for more than a decade. E-commerce sales are maintaining a 15% growth rate. At that rate, they double every five years. The last peak in growth for retail sales excluding motor vehicles was in late 2011, and that rate, unadjusted for inflation, has slowed to the 2% range. Retail sales are a function of household income, and their costs, and they remain sluggish as median household income has still not reached the level it was at the beginning of the recession. In the meantime, shopping malls, the department stores that anchor them, and mall owners are having problems. A Weekly Standard article about Amazon has some insights into it. The downslide of brick and mortar retail stores and malls can create collection problems for printers who sell to them, but there are changes underway that might hold some opportunities for those printers who seek them. Developers are using mall complexes for new buildings that include office space and even hospitals and hockey rinks. There are also new efforts to treat the shopping experience not just as a matter of location, but holistically to include all digital touchpoints inside and outside the mall. How will much of this be communicated? It will often require signage, working closely with store owners and local mall management. Those printers, attuned to the nature of communications logistics and data management, can find opportunities there.

Web-to-Print: Stop Forcing an E-Commerce Workflow

Print is a communication challenge solution. Typically, the printed product is but one part of a much larger challenge. When your sales people learn to take their “print googles” off and uncover the bigger picture challenge, they embed your company deeper into your customer’s business process and ultimately uncover more opportunities for printed products.

Inkjet drupa 2016 – Continuing the Story – Xerox

In this article, David looks at the current state of Xerox. The integration of Impika has produced some exciting collaboration, resulting in some new product introductions at drupa 2016, and perhaps a glimpse of the company’s future direction

Drupa 2016 from a Wide-Format Perspective

drupa opens at the end of this month and while drupa has not traditionally been one of the go-to shows for wide-format printing, as wide-format has become a hot topic in the general commercial printing market, it is taking a bigger role at this year’s show.

KBA and Xerox Target Folding Carton Market with a 40 Inch B1 Sheetfed Production Inkjet Press

KBA and Xerox have created a partnership to create a unique B1 sheetfed Production Inkjet Folding Carton Press. This new relationship allows KBA to continue to build the production inkjet product line to support the transition of its clients to the opportunities that production inkjet affords them. For Xerox, it expands the reach of its inkjet offerings beyond its smaller format production presses.

Government Shipment Revisions Make Everything New Again (Not Really)

Eventually, the numerous economic data published by the Federal government are right. Like wine, it takes time. As businesspeople, we can’t always be that patient.

Self-Serve Omnichannel Marketing Campaigns - Taking Web2Print to the Next Level

Most printing companies have either adopted omnichannel and web2print solutions or are planning to. With XMPie’s upcoming ‘Campaigns-on-Demand’ feature - an enhancement to both its Cross Media and Web2Print solutions -- the benefits of multi-touch 1:1 campaigns and a more efficient ordering workflow are no longer mutually exclusive. Learn more in this interview sponsored by XMPie.

Impact: Blending Inkjet and Data-Driven Marketing

Since its founding in 1983, Impact has been providing services in direct mail, fulfillment, data management, critical documents, e-mail marketing, creative, and print management to drive marketing communications. This article provides a brief overview of how the company’s expertise in applied technology, analytics, and production services can help its customers connect with their clients.

Global Graphics Fundamentals Offering Set to Help Production Inkjet Press Manufacturers Increase Functionality and Speed Time to Market

As production inkjet continues to expand its horizons, it can be a challenge for inkjet press manufacturers to have all of the skills internally to take their products to the next level. Global Graphics’ announcement of their Fundamentals service for manufacturers of inkjet presses can help manufacturers overcome some of those hurdles.

Printing Industry Shipments Revised from 2007 to 2016, with Minor Changes Since 2009

The years 2008 through 2013 had slight revisions higher; the end of 2013 to present had slight revisions lower. The Commerce Department's revisions to all manufacturing data are leading up to a multi-year revision of GDP data at the end of July.

Manufacturing Still in Contraction

The latest Federal Reserve industrial production index showed a slowdown since late 2014 and an outright contraction since mid-2015 is still in process. The business press focused on the comparison to the prior month, which looked like an improvement. The chart, however, compares to the prior year. Recent consumer retail data have been more optimistic, and the premise that we had a “micro-recession” at the beginning of the first quarter seems to be justified. There is growing pressure to weaken the US dollar to make manufacturing exports less expensive to international customers. The Atlanta Fed's GDPNow estimate for Q2 GDP is now +2.5%. At that rate, it would be a rebound from Q1's +0.5%.

HP Set to Revolutionize Prototyping/Manufacturing with Jet Fusion 3D

It’s been some time since HP first announced it would be entering the 3D printing market with a production-class printer and it is finally show time. The HP Jet Fusion 3 Printing Solution will be unveiled at RAPID, the largest 3D additive manufacturing conference. As promised, the printer is 10X faster and half the cost of its nearest competitor.

My Favorite (Mostly Free) Software Tools

Communication is the primary thing we all do for work. This article outlines some of my favorite tools for communicating, tracking how we use our time, capturing our ideas, organizing projects, and improving remote meetings.

Lack of Speed Kills: Lessons from Durst’s Retail 2020

The biggest issue facing print buyers for retail brands is turn time and speed to market. How can print service providers best help retailers solve this problem?

HP Indigo 10000 Opens New Doors for Denver-Based Hampden Press

Denver-based Hampden Press recently added an HP Indigo 10000 Digital Press to its fleet of offset, digital and wide format presses and has been able to not only increase capacity and produce many brand-new applications, but has also seen revenues rise 10% as compared to last year, largely due to the HP Indigo 10000. Read more in this article sponsored by HP.

HP Set to Revolutionize Prototyping/Manufacturing with Jet Fusion 3D

It’s been some time since HP first announced it would be entering the 3D printing market with a production-class printer and it is finally show time. The HP Jet Fusion 3 Printing Solution will be unveiled at RAPID, the largest 3D additive manufacturing conference. As promised, the printer is 10X faster and half the cost of its nearest competitor.

The Printing Industry and Patent Trolls – The Industry Responds— What to Do and Not to Do

This is an update to my previous two articles on the growing issue of patent trolls attempting to extort funds from print service providers and OEMs by claiming patent infringement, mostly on bad patents that can easily be invalidated through Prior Art.

Video Meets Print: Two Worlds Collide

Marketers see video as a more engaging alternative that is capable of delivering a message more succinctly. The worlds of print and video are beginning to merge, and this article explores how companies like Americhip are bridging the gap between the technologies.

Inkjet drupa 2016 – Continuing the Story – Fujifilm

In this article, David looks at the state of Fujifilm imaging, its successful reintroduction of the J Press 720S, the J Press 540W, and a new technology demonstration at drupa, as well as some of its other current technologies.

Graphic Design Employment Up +6%, Agencies up +2.8%

Content creation is in a strong uptrend based on the latest employment data. Graphic design employment is up +6%, and has taken over from public relations employment as the surging area of hiring.

Dr. Joe's Reading for a New Day

Recommended reading from Dr. Joe Webb: It's the end of days for London's print newspaper New Day. Atlanta Fed's GDPNow Model Estimating Q2-2016 GDP at +2.2%, Lingering Effects of Recession, Justice Denies Staples and OfficeDepot... Again. Rubbing Sahl in an Old Wound

A Puzzling Future for Specialty Magazines – April 2016 M&A Activity

April 2016 – Mergers, Acquisitions & Restructuring in the Printing, Packaging & Related Industries

Working In vs. Working On Your Print Business

The temptation is to roll up your sleeves and work in your business. The only job that you can’t delegate to anyone on your staff is working on the business (future plans, strategy, diversification).

New Leadership at NPES/GASC: A Conversation with Thayer Long

A little over a week into his new role as President of NPES/GASC, Thayer Long, who has taken over from Ralph Nappi, speaks with Senior Editor Cary Sherburne in this WhatTheyThink exclusive interview about why he is excited about his new role and what he expect to achieve moving forward

Pride of Place for Labels and Packaging at Pazazz

Warren Werbitt is a passionate printer, and one of his most successfully cultivated passions is the production of high-quality, high-margin labels and packaging.

The Latest Latex Wideformat Printers

Last week, HP announced two new series of Latex printers, so this seems as good a time as any to offer a little “Latex 101” primer for those who may be new to the topic and technology.

Do You Have a Culture of Honest Data?

The latest employment report had analysts scratching their heads. One ugly report does not a recession make, and things may not be as bad as it seemed. It could just be the same old lackluster recovery. Joel Quadracci had some interesting comments about Quad's restructuring efforts that have a good lesson for all managers. Honest data can take a beating in politics, whether they're in elections or in business offices. Does your business have a culture of frankness in the way it reports information?

Ink Ado: Frank Visits with Benny Landa

Benny Landa drives fast. I think he is in a hurry to reach the future. We had been on a whirlwind visit to the several Landa facilities in Tel Aviv, Israel and we were heading to a secret lab buried in the bowels of a non-descript industrial building.

Selling to SMBs: It’s Time to Get Your Digital Game On!

Just like large enterprises, small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) want to look credible and professional as they spread the word about their businesses. This article explores the top business priorities of today’s SMBs, how the marketing mix is changing, and what it takes to win in this market.

19 Consecutive Months of Improved US Commercial Printing Shipments

US commercial printing shipments have increased compared to the prior year for 19 consecutive months. March 2016 shipments were up +$85 million (+1.1%) in current dollars compared to 2015, and +$22 million (+0.3%) after adjusting for inflation. February 2016 shipments were revised up by $2 million.

Recovery Indicators Better than the Recent General Economic News

The recovery indicators are more positive than the general economic news. One of our indicators, the NASDAQ, is down -1.7% since last month. It's been on a rocky road for the last three quarters. Its recent peak was 5218.86 in July, and it has not gotten really close since. Stock market concerns have focused on a decline in the rate of corporate profits, and Apple's recent financial report did not really help matters. There was a bullish rise in non-manufacturing orders. Manufacturing new orders index might look like a decline, but it is still indicate moderate growth. Proprietors income, a measure of the health of small business, was up only slightly. Other reports of small business health have not been good, especially the recent NFIB Small Business report. This month's recovery indicators don't indicate recession, a word that is bandied about with greater frequency lately, but support the continuing unsatisfying levels of slow but positive growth.

Top 5 Priorities for Your Print Business Website

Your print business website should be a living, engaging, and a results delivering part of your business growth plan. For business-to-business printers, this means delivering qualified leads to your sales team.

Pitney Bowes Seeds the Cloud with a New Set of Commerce Enablers

The company, traditionally known for postage meters, sees a $40 billion marketplace for its digitally enabled shipping and transaction services.

Innovative Digital Print Production Strategies Drive Dramatic Growth at Quality Tape and Label

In 2008, this full-service label & packaging company saw the writing on the wall with respect to the looming impact of digital printing technologies on its business and wanted to get ahead of the curve with digital adoption.

Eyes on the Packaging and Labels Prize: an Interview with Sappi’s Mark Odgers

Sappi’s credentials as a supplier of coated fine papers are impeccable. Now the company is taking steps to achieve the same high profile as a source of papers for packaging and labels.

Software for Wide-Format: Beyond the Creative Cloud

Two weeks ago, at Roland’s second annual ImagiNATION user conference, Giveme Help’s Mark Rugen ran down a list of some lesser-known image editing programs and other utilities for professionals doing design and production for wide-format graphics. Here are some highlights.

Infographic: Driving Smarter Customer Engagement

IDC recently conducted research to gain insight into the evolving Customer Communication Management (CCM) landscape. The study focused on the healthcare, a traditionally document-intensive industry. This infographic provides key insight into the document strategies used within the US healthcare system.

Q1-2016 GDP +0.5%; Inventory Correction Finally Arrives

US real GDP for Q1-2016 was reported at annual growth of only +0.5% compared to Q4-2015. On a year-to-year basis, the growth rate was +1.95%. The inventory adjustment that the economy has needed finally came, with the lowest net inventories in two years. Real GDP growth less inventories was +2.3% on a year-to-year basis.

Harte Hanks Leverages Technology and Direct Mail in the Multi-Channel Customer Journey

As marketers seek techniques to create effective direct mail, technologies like high-speed, full-color inkjet are creating opportunities to produce personalized and customized direct mail items that will truly capture consumers’ attention. This article explores how Harte Hanks has leveraged advanced digital printing capabilities to effectively deliver targeted, personalized direct mail touches that weave seamlessly into the multi-channel customer journey.

S&P 500 Revenue Per Share Still Lags Economy

Everyone knows that the stock market is up from its lows at the bottom of the recession,but one obscure but key measure underscores how sluggish the economy has been. The S&P 500 should have a bias of steadily increasing revenues. It has most of the best companies in the world, with international presence in the globe's growing markets and a foundation in the established ones. It is rare for companies to be dismissed from the S&P 500, but companies are added all the time. When S&P companies merge, they create a new entity of combined revenues, and another company is added with new revenues to add to the index. The other upward bias should be the high level of stock buybacks buy these large companies, as they borrow money at low interest rates and create “shareholder value” by reducing the number of shares and increasing the value of each share of stock. We've called this cowardly, as it increases earnings per share (EPS) without needing to increase total profits. So this revenue per share should be steadily increasing with a growing economy in a recovery that started in mid-2009. It seems that companies have done a much better job of financial engineering than they have in creating revenues.

Growing a Modern Print Business: Sales versus Marketing

Growing your business is more about marketing than it is about hiring more sales people today. The sales cycle is moving online where good marketing programs can nurture prospects from initial inquiry to paying customer.

"Best Dscoop Ever!"

This is the refrain Senior Editor Cary Sherburne heard over and over again during and after Dscoop 11, held in San Antonio TX. The conference attracted double the number of companies as compared to last year and featured outstanding keynotes, content and activities.

Inkjet drupa 2016 – Continuing the Story – Kodak Enterprise Inkjet Systems

In this article, David looks at current and future state of Kodak Enterprise Inkjet Systems Division (EISD), the Stream and ULTRASTREAM Technologies as well as PROSPER products and future technologies.

Personalized Packaging is Here

For printers and packaging converters looking to take advantage of the market opportunities offered by customized or personalized packaging, the Zoxxbox story is an interesting one. Learn how the company is leveraging digital tools to make customized packaging an affordable reality in this article sponsored by XMPie.

ISA Sign Expo: Beyond Signage

If the ISA Sign Expo 2016 demonstrated one thing—and it demonstrated far more than one thing—it was that “signage” is part of a much larger graphic ecosystem than can include products and applications seemingly far-removed from signs.

Less Gets More, Models and Supermodels, and Why True and False Should Add Up

The latest government data show fewer commercial printing establishments, fewer employees, but higher pay. Now that more economic data are negative, we should really know if forecasting models economists use make any sense beyond predicting the past. Many of those models use spreadsheet software, and some programs can't make what's true and what's false add up. Yes it's a Dr. Joe potpourri.

Inkjet Summit 2016: The Market is on the Move!

Now in its fourth year, nGage’s 2016 Inkjet Summit (April 18-20) focused on critical trends and new applications in direct mail, book publishing, commercial printing, and transactional printing. This article provides a brief history of the event and also discusses some of the highlights from this year.

At Last, Nano Is Now as Landa Nanographic Printing Presses Line up for Market Entry

The wait has been long, and the anticipation has been intense. But, Landa Digital Printing believes it can amply reward both with what it will debut at drupa 2016.

NFIB Small Business Index: A New Recession for Main Street?

Economic data have been conflicting of late, but there is one consensus in the data that is clear: the small business economy did not recover from recession, and looks like it’s back in recession territory. There are many indicators we use for small business but one that is watched often is that of the NFIB. It is published monthly and has a long history. US government data focuses attention on the largest businesses because they represent big chunks of the economy and report some kind of data, especially payroll data, with great frequency. Think of it as counting whales rather than minnows. Their recent analysis said “The small business sector... is underperforming, doing little more than operating in maintenance mode. Slow economic growth is now just a result of population growth, more haircuts, retail customers, health care patients, etc. But there is no exuberance, no optimism and not much hope, the numbers make it clear.” Economies stuck in +2% growth mode tend to do that.

The Patent Trolls Lose and the “Good Guys” Win One – The HQPI Cases Dismissed

In one of the latest and most visible cases, High Quality Printing Innovations (HQPI) a shell company, under the troll company of Modern Universal Printing, LLC v. numerous print service providers and OEMs, all of the lawsuits were dismissed.

The Trapped Data of the Print Industry

The print industry’s technology is too closed, too proprietary, making it overly difficult for print businesses (the entities that make this whole ecosystem work) to access, use, distribute, and learn from the data their business’ generate every day. If we keep at this, we will choke off the only thing that matters (growing print businesses).

2014 US Commercial Printing Capital Expenditures: New Purchases Down, Used Purchases Up

The US Department of Commerce recently released its Annual Survey of Manufactures Capital Expenditures report, issuing data for 2014.

HP Previews Extensive Catalog of Print Innovations for drupa 2016 (Part II)

HP’s sense of itself as a change agent for digital printing is strong. The very broad range of digital solutions it will show at drupa 2016 befits the size of its ambition.

New Avenues of Success: Landaal Packaging Systems Thrives On Adversity

When the auto industry crashed and burned in 2007–2008, and their biggest client pulled most of their business, Michigan’s Landaal Packaging Systems saw an opportunity to reinvent itself with digital wide-format printing.

Inkjet drupa 2016 – Continuing the Story – HP Indigo

In this article, David looks at HP Indigo, the technology, and what we can expect from them at drupa 2016. Even though Indigo is not inkjet, there will be a number of new products at drupa and it is worth covering in these series.

Print: Changing the Customer Experience with Augmented Reality

Motivated by an increasingly sophisticated range of online and offline shopping opportunities, consumers are eager to experience higher-quality shopping experiences. Retailers can delight their customers by providing an experience that is relevant, personalized, and engaging. This article provides examples of augmented reality applications that are designed to deliver much more effective and engaging communications

The Fed Never Really Stopped QE3

This week’s chart shows the aggressive actions of the Federal Reserve after the housing bubble. For decades, the Fed’s balance sheet increased by about 6% per year, averaging about half inflation and half economic growth. The rocket-like rise when the bubble burst is clear, and then the three steps up of each of the quantitative easings are plainly seen. The Fed has wanted to raise rates for some time, but they have also wanted to stop the buying of government instruments that characterized the QE programs. They create shortages of publicly traded bonds which increases their prices, which makes the effective interest rates low. Rather than ending their purchases, the Fed has been replacing matured obligations. In effect, this keeps QE3 going. Can the Fed ever end it? They may hold on and hope that over time that economic growth and inflation catches up to them in time, but that can take forever, or perhaps longer. It will be difficult for the Fed to end its policy without robust economic growth that will give them the flexibility and opportunities to unwind their holdings. Should a recession begin, or a new financial crisis emerge (even an internationally) the Fed might need to create an additional QE effort.

ESKO: Driving Change in Flexo

At a pre-drupa briefing last month, duomedia hosted a large crowd of press and analysts from around the world to hear from eight different companies about their drupa plans and general strategies. This article includes links to other WhatTheyThink reporting on these announcements as well as a focus on the announcements made by the Danaher family of companies including Esko, Enfocus, X-Rite and Pantone. This included a flexo platemaking breakthrough announced by Esko that is set to create a shift in that market.

Web-to-Print Product Spotlight: Infigo

Technology decisions can be costly, not just in licensing/subscription fees but in the time and effort it takes your team to implement, learn, and launch technologies to your customers. One of the aspects of the Infigo product suite is the ability to add modules as you continue to diversify.

Inkjet drupa 2016 – Continuing the Story – HP PageWide, Corrugated, and PageWide HD

In this article, David looks at HP, and its drupa 2016 introductions of the PageWide Corrugated and HD production inkjet presses.

Justice Department Saves Newspapers (really?)

March 2016 – Mergers, Acquisitions & Restructuring in the Printing, Packaging & Related Industries

USPS, Shiny Objects, Recovery, and Recession

The USPS exigent price increase has expired, and USPS says they “will lose approximately $2 billion in annual revenue resulting from a price reduction” which they knew was going to expire. The increase was to help “recover for the massive volume and revenue losses resulting from the Great Recession.” Yet, Dr. Joe shows that the declines in USPS volume kept declining after the economic recovery began in mid-2009. Then Dr. Joe talks about recession in light of recent economic data. Yeah, they’ll be calling him Dr. Doom again.

Personalization: The Missing Link

Today’s consumers have grown comfortable with the ideal of establishing a one-on-one dialogue with marketers, and many consumers have come to expect this level of intimacy. This article cites recent research to explore consumers’ practices and preferences when interacting with direct mail and other types of content.

Peer Collaboration and the Optimization of Print Software

Find peers to collaborate with at all levels of your company. When your web-to-print person gets stuck, they should have life-lines to other printers who have the same technology. Don’t rely solely on the vendor. Industry events are the best places to meet peers who share your challenges.

Can USPS Price Increase Rollback Get EDDM Moving Again?

The USPS is always in the news, and last month's Annual Compliance Determination report was not particularly positive. “The majority of products failed to meet service performance targets for FY 2015” read the Postal Regulatory Commission press release. The PRC directed “the Postal Service to improve service performance and provide a comprehensive plan within 90 days.”

HP Previews Extensive Catalog of Print Innovations for drupa 2016

If you are planning to attend drupa 2016, make sure your agenda gives you plenty of time to review what HP will be bringing to Hall 17. There is going to be a great deal to see.

Twenty-one Months of Consecutive Increases for US Commercial Printing Shipments

The US Department of Commerce issued its latest report of US commercial printing shipments (NAICS 323) and the data show 21 consecutive months of positive comparisons to the prior year current dollar shipments. The trend started with June 2014, and has been an average increase of +3.3%, +$225 million per month, for that period.

Recovery Indicators Say “Recession? Don't Know the Word”

We may have gone through the first six week recession in history. That's said a bit tongue-in-cheeck, but many of the economic measures seem to have bottomed or are in the process of doing so. Besides that, recessions are measured in quarters, not weeks. The doom of the global economic slowdown and the worldwide currency crises seems to have left with a whimper.

How Labels and Packaging Can “Touch the Future”: an Interview with drupa’s Sabine Geldermann

A decision to attend drupa 2016 represents a major investment of time and travel expense. The director of the global event talks about why label and packaging producers are among those who should most seriously consider making it.

Zazzle: A Modern Success Story

Senior Editor Cary Sherburne has been a long-time customer of Zazzle and was thrilled with the recent opportunity to visit the company’s manufacturing sites in San Jose CA. Learn more about the successful business this unique company has built in this article sponsored by HP.

Commentary & Analysis

Insight You Need. Analysis You Trust.