Exclusive Interview with Sean Smyth, Smithers Pira Executive Print Retreat 2010 speaker

01 September 2010

Smithers Pira Executive Retreat: Global Print Markets
29 - 30 September 2010
Exclusive Interview with Smithers Pira's expert consultant Sean Smyth

You have been in print for some time - can you summarise the key changes that have brought us to the current state of the industry?
I'm a print technologist and it has to be the inexorable rise of digital, design and prepress are unrecognisable and the number of pages (or packs/posters/pos/envelopes etc) have exploded inexorably. There are new high volume and high quality imaging methods but applying digital techniques to litho, flexo and gravure have greatly improved their economics. At the same time print has a real competitive (rather than complementary) media in the Internet and the industry is still coming to terms with this challenge, and the environment is too often seen as a challenge rather than an opportunity. The mix of skills and ingenuity, imaging technology, material science and the eye for a potential market make it a fantastic, dynamic environment.

What impact has the 2009 recession had on the industry and what changes have resulted?
The recession has been bad for investment with conventional manufacturers suffering as printers took all steps to conserve cash. I think it will be seen as a tipping point. There are great bargains to be had but printers are now looking at digital technology, particularly inkjet, as the future and when the survivors come to invest inkjet solutions will benefit hugely. The other change that will not be reversed (technology is like Pandora's Box, once opened it cannot revert to the pre-opening stage) is continuing automation, with administration being changed most radically with web-to-print and workflow automation speeding up.

What are the most significant consumer trends driving the future of the print industry?
Printers supplying consumers is a relatively new phenomenon, enabled by slick workflow with digital and conventional suppliers. End users are now being considered so I expect more personalisation and versioning. To succeed, print must be better for an individual user than ever and being relevant and high quality is critical to be noticed in this incredibly media-rich world.
I also think that the security and virus-free nature of physical print are great strengths against electronic.

The conference closing panel will look at 'Print Winners and Losers' Can you give some examples of business models that are currently working well and why?
I have long been impressed with St Ives, focussed and efficient and continually making money in an incredibly tough environment. The other winner although there are casualties are the print managers. Many have a bad press but companies that treat suppliers fairly (and help reduce their suppliers selling costs) and add value to customers still have some life.

We have a session on social networking and digitalisation what impact do you think these trends will have on the print supply chain?
There are only a few companies in the print sector with real experience, Vistaprint is a great example as they deal with individual and micro-businesses. Offering success stories of how a campaign worked is a great way of promoting a "Copy-cat" print job and creating demand. Printers will have to come to terms with their customers rating them publicly, and I expect to see a take up of print price comparison websites offering buyers he service of generating multiple quotes.