Production Inkjet: Welcome to the Revolution—Time to Take Stock
Production inkjet solutions are proliferating at an ever-increasing rate. The quality of many of the solutions has finally reached that of offset, and the productivity has surpassed that of toner.
We now have a fairly extensive range of web and sheetfed presses and technologies, and drupa 2020 is right around the corner with the promise of even more. Inkjet press placement growth is continuing at a steady rate according to IDC, with Continuous Feed (CF) at a CAGR of 17.2% and Cut Sheet (CS) at a CAGR of 25.1% projected through 2023 as seen in the chart below.
© IDC 2019
Things Are Changing
While production inkjet is not a new technology, there have been a lot of developments in core technologies as well as market application development. I believe that as an industry we may have become a bit numb toward production inkjet news of late. It’s probably understandable, since equipment manufacturers and the media (myself included) have been flooding the airwaves with lots of information—some of it of regarding incremental improvements, it may seem, so that after a while you just become numb to the continued stream of information. However, there have been many significant developments that you should be aware of as a print or packaging service provider. Those include the growth and segmentation of both inkjet products and market applications, which adds new opportunities but also some confusion to the process.
As with any new or disruptive technology, some people are waiting on the sidelines for that one unique solution to come to light. Although, if you step back and take a hard look, the production inkjet market is maturing, and it seems as if market opportunities in print and options in inkjet press equipment seem to be coming into alignment.
I have written before about hybrid and bespoke print solutions that may be better-suited to certain applications. However, even the more structured press solutions are now better matched to the market requirements. Continuous-feed (CF) inkjet web presses have been around the longest, and their adoption offered a fairly obvious platform for the natural transition of transactional toner-based production. Now, since the quality and media compatibilities with inkjet have started to sort themselves out, those CF presses are producing more direct mail and commercial applications, displacing both toner and offset production.
Lower Cost Options
There is a growing segmentation of the continuous-feed web press space with the introduction of lower-cost “entry-level” machines, bringing lots of options to support the requirements. As is the case with CF solutions, there is a growing segmentation of product by cost and application in cut-sheet (CS) presses. As more lower-cost devices continue to enter the market, the barrier to entry is reduced, as is the average price of the machines. This expanded choice of options will undoubtedly remove some of the entry and growth barriers for many who are interested in production inkjet.
© IDC 2019
Plenty of Room for Growth
Inkjet print production is surpassing toner-based print production as well. A recent market forecast by Keypoint Intelligence–InfoTrends shows that while even the growth of toner print volume is healthy, the shift from toner to production inkjet is moving along at a much faster pace.
© Keypoint Intelligence–InfoTrends
We have already seen that production inkjet—or any printing technology, for that matter—is not necessarily good for all applications for many reasons. Those could be productivity, operating cost, market segment requirements, etc. Although, according to Smithers Pira, “In 2018 advertising—direct mail, promotional leaflets and fliers, display and signage—remains the most significant end-use market for inkjet printing. It will account for 55% of global inkjet revenue in 2018.”
© Smithers Pira for HP
When all of this is taken into account, it really paints a picture of healthy market opportunities and corresponding press equipment options. Of course, with all of these options and opportunities, it also does add some confusion at the more granular decision-making level. Keeping that in mind, we will continue to help guide you through the Production Inkjet Revolution as we ramp up to Labelexpo 2019 and drupa 2020.
More to Come…
I would like to address your interests and concerns in future articles as it relates to the manufacturing of Print, Packaging and Labels, and how, if at all, it drives future workflows including “Industry 4.0.” If you have any interesting examples of hybrid and bespoke manufacturing, I am very anxious to hear about them. Please feel free to contact me at [email protected] with any questions, suggestions or examples of interesting applications.
