According to Smithers, a market research and consulting firm, the sheetfed offset litho print sector is expected to experience modest growth from $183.7 billion in 2014 to $192.6 billion in 2024. This suggests actual contraction of volume due to inflation primarily driving the growth in revenue across this period.
In contrast, the digital print sector is projected to grow strongly during the same period. It is estimated to expand from $103.1 billion in 014 to $180.9 billion in 2024. This indicates significant growth and a larger market size for digital printing technologies over the specified timeframe.
Analog printing, which encompasses various traditional printing methods, is expected to experience modest growth as well. The analog printing market is predicted to grow from $664.3 billion in 2014 to 681.7 billion in 2024. The growth in analog printing is mainly attributed to the increased demand for flexo and gravure printing in packaging applications.
Overall, while sheetfed offset litho print is likely to continue a decline in volume, the digital print sector is anticipated to exhibit strong growth, and analog printing, driven by flexo and gravure printing in packaging, will experience modest growth as well.
SPL Consulting, LLC. believes this creates a significant opportunity to rethink strategies for the offset industry to improve performance in their core processes and explore new markets. This requires thinking outside the traditional litho box. Reviewing the talent and experience you have and identifying gaps in skill that need to be addressed to create the future talent plan is necessary. Brainstorming and research on new target markets is also critical to lay the foundation and strategy for action.
During the process of Strategy Development, focus and not getting too broad in scope is key to success. SPL Consulting, LLC. worked with a client on Sales Strategy and together we completely changed their approach. Their approach was to target entering or quoting a new market each month. During our Strategic Planning session, we identified an extremely sizeable market that they had technical and production capability to participate in. We focused the sales team on that one market, learned the nuances of that market, and achieved their ten-year sales growth objective in four years. This was accomplished while jettisoning over $3,000,000 of business in a market segment that had extremely low commodity pricing, freeing up resources to bring on new higher margin business!
Combining Strategy with Lean Enterprise creates the “how” to execute and make dramatic improvements in both office and manufacturing processes. Reducing the time it takes to enter orders, process invoices, changeover presses and manage inventory creates capacity and improves profitability and cash flow. These methodologies also result in scalable processes that are standardized and predictable, making it easier to train new team members as you grow.
Marty and I encourage you to explore some of the concepts discussed above as a path towards future success in the ever-changing landscape of Litho.
Brian Van de Water
CEO
SPL Consulting, LLC.
414-588-3008
vandewaterb@outlook.com
