Now it is the ‘Time for Change’

Printing is the biggest invention of mankind till date and it will not lose its importance even during the centuries to come. However, the technology – method of printing may change, but printing will remain always. No one in this world can remain untouched with printing several times in a day, maybe the residents of developed countries or developing countries, may be rich of poor, may be of any gender or class no one in this universe can remain untouched with printing. Printing is not only ink on paper, your cloths, your crockery, your furniture, of course, your money everything is a product of print in one way or the other. Printing is one of the largest and most useful industry globally, one that we are all proud to be part of. It is important to note that in today’s world of sound bites and fleeting impressions; the here today and gone tomorrow messages, that print lasts. It is its permanence and consistency – it is its reliability that generates the power of print. No one should every underestimate this power. You all know the glorious past of this industry and there is bound to be a promising future in this profession. So you are in a wonderful profession and you must feel proud to be a printer.

Over the decades, we have witnessed many a transformations; from the early age of a block printing letterpress, to offset then digital and today we celebrate printing electronics and 3-D Printing; a most exciting and revolutionary technologies mankind has witnessed in the printing industry. It is not that printing changed parse, but that it has also changed man’s way of thinking. We are noticing the change in system and style of business it is therefore to remain in forefront we have to adopt the change. 

Technological advances in this day and age is moving at such a rapid pace that what we thought fantastical and impossible in the past, are now a hair’s breadth away from becoming a reality. The print industry is one area that has been affected by major significant changes. Earlier, printing was considered to be an art, but over the years it has invaded the world of technology and with the adaptation of Offset, it has morphed into a combination of art, science and chemistry. In the age of computers, electronics soon became a part of its world and heralded the advent of Digital Printing. But the story of its expansion continues and printing has now embraced space science, architecture and biology. 

It is evident that population is increasing yes Many Folds, we were 36 crore at the time of independence, became 134 now and expected to be 140 by 2022. Persons are increasing, at one end it may be a good sign because we have so many hands to work, world’s largest number of young people live in India. But on the contrary requirement of working hands is decreasing because of automation. 

It is evident that the manufacturing ‘output’ is increasing but at the same time job opportunity for manufacturing these things is decreasing due to automation. As per a recent survey it is noticed that 47% work is being done by the technology which was earlier executed by human forces.  

Due to more automation and now due to Industry 4.0 revolution, it is expected that the work may be concentrated in few hands. Though production is going to increase, with sharp reduction in the wastage, thus there is bound to be a competitive stage for the small manufacturers and service providers. 

Time is changing and with the passage of time the rules for living and moving are also being altered. We have noticed some remarkable changes in our lifestyle for the last about 20 years. About a decade or so ago, PCOs were available at every nook and corner. Today we have more than this slice of world in our pockets on the move.  PCOs are now a rare sight. They have adapted with the change and converted their business into booths and that refill talk time and the like for mobile phones. Now that one is able to access even this service online at a touch of a button, the physical business will have to adapt to remain commercially viable. Have you noticed this change? Do you see where this is going? Have you noticed the change that today every 4^th or 5^th shop in the market is relating to sale, service, recharge, accessories, repair and maintenance of mobile phone?

Today we have a near cashless society and financial transactions are conducted from the comfort of your home at a click of the mouse. With the introduction of digital photography, the colossal of Kodak who held the global stage since 1888 for photographic film and paper, had to declare bankruptcy in the late 1990’s due to its lingering stances in transitioning into the digital arena. They emerged from bankruptcy five years later after selling much of their patents to other behemoths, who were aggressively building their own brands using current technologies. If this is the harbinger of the future, it is very possible that within the next decade, much of the world is going to shift drastically with a major portion of its industries shutting down, or having no alternative but to keep frantic pace with the rapid advancement in technology. In the world of print, the revolutionary technology that will keep us ahead of this predicament is the industrial 4.0 revolution. 

The system and style of business is also changing, the market is becoming customer driven. Things are being delivered at home only with click of mouse. In the present scenario, you, I mean a Printer, will have to change yourself, to remain in the business, yes there is bound to be great level of changes in the system and style of Print business also. Like you, your customer also has the right to get the things as per his requirement and at the most competitive prices. 

On the one end due to internet/digitation requirement of commercial printing is decreasing day by day and on the other hand such work may be accumulated to few hands due to fast and accurate supplies with consistency at most competitive prices. Like all other business ‘Survival of the Fittest’ also applies to printing. The small production/service house are likely to suffer because they may not be able to match the prices / quality / and above all service being provided by the larger production houses. The big question, in this scenario, is – what is the scope of small printer? How a small printer will survive? 

Due to digitation there are bound to be many changes in the coming 10 years or so. With industry 4.0 revolution one can produce anything without any infrastructures, I can quote some examples here: Uber, who own no vehicles, except a software or Airbnb, who owns no real estate. Alibaba, the world’s most valuable retailer owns no inventory, nor does Netflix, the world’s largest cinema provider, own a single theatre. Medical tests, legal advice, communication systems; they all have one thing in common; they do not need to invest in physical assets as much as in the past. 

Printing is not untouched there are the companies which do not own any printing press but are in the business of Print. Change is the only constant and with industry 4.0, revolution printing is going to change the way we think of printing henceforth. 

Those who resist change, will lose, 

what they want to keep 

and those who merely print will be under PRESSURE

HMT watches; Bajaj Scooter; Dynora TV; Murphy Radio; Nomia Mobile; Rajdoot Bike; Ambassador Car all these were market leaders one time, these were the quality products and there was nothing against their productivity, but these are now out of market only because they have not synchronised
themselves with the  changing time. Change in the law of universe, you will have to change your system and style of working to remain in the business. 

We have noticed that Printing is changing –through forces outside print, it is therefore_

Ink on paper is probably (definitely) not enough

You cannot stand still

Don’t be bounded by the way it is done

Challenge and thrive

Look at Packaging

Look at Industrial Print

We have two options, one is to produce quality in competitive price, the requirement of the future is extremely fast production with 100 per cent accuracy and consistency. It is therefore, we have to change the system of production, by way of installing most modern and up-to-date machinery and equipment so as to produce as per the demanded, production schedules and above all competitive price offered by the customer. It is one way to retain the customer.

There is another way also i.e. to Produce something different, and start printing from your brain to retain the customer. Don’t only print but provide the solution to the customer, in this way you can retain your customer. 

Print is changing and we have to look at new ideas and other fields of printing especially Packaging Printing. We are noticing the tremendous growth of population. In the explosion of population, you can find new opportunities. When there will be more people more food is required, yes more packaging may be required and it is therefore there is a great opportunity for packaging especially the food packaging. If the commercial printing is decreasing packaging is gaining a steep increase, we must look for the opportunities even in odds. Technology can substitute printing to some extent, but it cannot substitute Packaging it is therefore there are ample opportunities in Packaging. 

We have discussed two major points for survival 

Try producing in large quantities, to be competitive in the market 

Adopt packaging because it has great potential. 

There is another interesting way also, you will have to innovate new ideas as per the requirements and schedule of the customer. You can print something exceptional using your brain, you will have to evolve new ideas and these can be thousands. I can give some examples and great ideas but there are number of other opportunities available and you have sharper minds than me. 

Start Industrial printing (web-to-print) there are some players already in the market. Here I am giving a specific example of 3 ITI students who founded Bizongo in 2015 which is an online B2B marketplace. Started in 2015 with first job worth 20,000 the company is now serving 3,500 customers and the turnover is more than couple of hundred crores. In 2015, when they started this company, they hired five interns for business development who were in their fourth year of undergrad. Currently, all five of them have developed deep expertise in individual product categories and are heading their own category divisions. The fact is company do not own a printing press and very recently raised $3 million from existing investor Accel Partners as well as IDG Ventures in a Series-A round.

There are some other ideas for survival, to remain different in the market you may build your own ideas, there is need to learn, how to retain the customer and for that you will have to change your system and style of service. Instead of printing (ink on paper) start providing solutions to the customer. 

As already stated even for printing it has nothing to do with what kind of atmosphere, location, machinery, workers or raw material you have. With industry 4.0 revolution you can produce anything sitting even at remotest location anywhere in the world. You can think/dream of many such uses of the printing to retain your customer which is the only KEY of SUCCESS.