Thought Leaders from WhatTheyThink and Roland Present a Blueprint for Success

Irvine, Calif. – As part of an initiative to help commercial printers expand their offering into the lucrative wide-format market, Roland DGA Corp. is offering businesses a free white paper titled “Going Wide: Understanding the Opportunities in Wide-Format Printing.”  

Written by Richard Romano, senior analyst at WhatTheyThink, the white paper discusses emerging trends and best practices for commercial printers entering the wide-format industry.  Findings from the new white paper will be presented in a free Roland Academy webinar to be held Tuesday, Aug. 13 at 9 a.m. PDT.  

According to Romano, “Researchers across the board have been tracking wide-format graphics as an expanding market—a rarity in printing today—but this reflects the fact that many wide-format applications either cannot or will not readily be replaced by electronic or digital alternatives.”

In fact, Romano cites research done by the Specialty Graphics Imaging Association (SGIA), which projects an average growth rate for wide-format businesses of around 19.2 percent in 2013.  By contrast, the commercial printing market has been in decline in recent years, leaving many commercial printers searching for new revenue sources.  

Further emphasizing the wide-format opportunities for commercial printers is a recent study by InfoTrends which found that commercial printers are the first choice of more than 39 percent of buyers looking for wide-format graphics.   

To get into wide-format successfully, commercial printers must make an investment in new technologies and shift their business approach, says Romano.  “One of the biggest challenges we find is that despite the emphasis on the items that wide-format equipment produces, you are not really selling products.  You are selling a service. Wide-format printing is all about variety, but it is first and foremost about helping the customer increase his or her own sales via compelling graphics.”  

According to Romano, by variety he is referring to the expansive range of graphics that can be produced on a wide-format printer.  While the most popular applications include banners, window displays and wall graphics, wide-format technologies also produce everything from signage, trade show graphics and posters to apparel heat transfers, labels, textiles and vehicle wraps.  In addition, they can serve as proofing and package prototyping devices, further increasing their value proposition.

According to Andrew Oransky, senior director of marketing and product management for Roland, “The return on investment for a productive wide-format printer is among the highest in the printing industry today.  Demand for short-run, highly customized graphics is on the rise, and new advances in print head, ink and media technologies have greatly increased the profit potential of inkjet devices.  Consider also that most commercial printers come into the market with a deep understanding of design and printing processes and the right customer base to get started successfully.  Wide-format is simply a great fit for these companies.”

For more information on Roland wide-format printing technologies or to obtain a copy of the white paper, visit www.rolanddga.com/commercialprinting. 

To register for next week’s commercial printing webinar, visit Roland Academy online here.