Digital printing $s are bigger than volume

30 October 2015

Analogue printing – litho, flexo and gravure – accounts for 97% of global production in volume but only 86.1% in terms of value. However, the digital sector’s higher margin on the smaller volumes it produces is predicted to reduce slightly as it takes a larger slice of the pie.

A Smithers Pira report on The Future of Digital versus Analogue Printing to 2020, predicts that in five years time, digital printing will still only account for 3.4% of all print and printed packaging volume while earning 17.4% of the total value, a relatively smaller percentage. The acceleration towards digital will continue however, driven as much by the emergence of new markets for printing as it is by the transition from analogue.

The authoritative report examines the future of the two technologies in terms of economics, applications and business models. While acknowledging that printing technology will continuing to develop for analogue processes, it identifies the major developments as taking place in digital printing, particularly inkjet, which is enjoying major investments in R&D on printheads, inks, and finishing systems.

Smithers Pira has developed a costing model to compare the two and assist printers in deciding on investment options. This builds up the real production costs including capital cost, depreciation period, maintenance, shift pattern, labour rates, energy, make-ready time, plate costs, setup and running waste, print speed and press utilisation, and paper and ink or click cost at variable coverages. The final product can be varied and the model calculates the comparative cost as run lengths change, to show the economic crossover where one process becomes cheaper than another.

In terms of applications the report highlights the competition between electrophotography and inkjet, predicting the volume and value of electrophotography will continue to rise as colour applications grow. Printing businesses will increasingly take on board both digital and analogue technolgies, transiting from the earlier ‘either/or’ business model.

Digital printing $s are bigger than volume

Analogue printing – litho, flexo and gravure ­– accounts for 97% of global production in volume but only 86.1% in terms of value. However, the digital sector’s higher margin on the smaller volumes it produces is predicted to reduce slightly as it takes a larger slice of the pie.

Analogue printing – litho, flexo and gravure – accounts for 97% of global production in volume but only 86.1% in terms of value. However, the digital sector’s higher margin on the smaller volumes it produces is predicted to reduce slightly as it takes a larger slice of the pie.