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"Similar to IT, the knowledge, expertise and skill of the print industry meant a profitable existence which in recent times has come under pressure," he said.

Referring to the impact of globalisation, Towell said that consolidation is happening in every industry across the world, with businesses getting cleverer at compartmentalising and addressing individual customer needs. Whilst this provides a perception of choice, many brands are owned by the same company.

Fuelling this, the industry is being hit on a number of fronts including the growth of offshore printing options, especially China; the accelerating speed and take-up of new media; and the industry's need to modernise.

"What's driving this is customers, and if we're not listening to customers, we're dead. As a generalisation, printers forgot this along the way and allowed other participants to come into the industry. As customers get bigger and more sophisticated, they want suppliers to be more sophisticated and offer a broader range of products," he said.

"Companies are also looking to drive down costs wherever possible. If we don't find cost-efficient solutions, others will. We need to address our supply chain and get our cost to manufacture as low as possible."

Towell cited how in five years, China has moved from sourcing zero to 15 per cent of USA's annual printing needs, and cut delivery times to Australia from 16 to 6 weeks. Whilst clearly this sends the signal that China is looking for major targets and opportunities, he said there was more the local industry could do to address this.

"We need to impress on people that when they buy locally they get guarantees in terms of environmental sustainability - for example, when sourcing from overseas we don't know if pulp has come from, for example, fine old growth trees from Brazil."

In terms of the growth of digital, Towell said the industry needed to embrace the new technology and be part of it. He said paper remained a powerful medium - unique in its shelf life and imagery potential - and personalisation of direct marketing pieces offered exciting growth opportunity for the industry.

"People are getting sick of electronic media. The delete button is the one used the most, and response rates are going down. We have to remind people that print as a medium is very, very powerful."

Towell said the industry should look to other sectors for inspiration and best practice.

"We are a great industry but we need to re-invent ourselves and become more relevant in a fast-changing world."

Pictured: Gordon Towell addressing the crowd.




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