The UK print sector is a £14bn industry. It’s made up of many small to medium-sized businesses, and a few very large enterprises. And they’ve all faced the same challenges in recent years. But it’s not just overcoming global or political events – it’s also the rapidly increasing influence and importance of digital technology.

Print may traditionally involve high-volume generic output, but these practices are moving aside for smaller volumes, targeted at specific audiences and often integrated with digital media. Leading print businesses are already adapting their processes to meet these trends.

But how do you move your own business forwards? What are the right steps to take; technologies to integrate; partners to collaborate with? We’ll find out in this article as we uncover the concept of Anything in Print.

Where does the print industry currently stand?

In a very exciting place! Today’s print technology is at the cutting edge, advancing all the time. The market the industry serves is restless, demanding new innovation and pushing the boundaries of creativity and performance. Print is on the precipice of new ways of working that will produce more value, impact and levels of excellence.

But if the print industry is to embrace that opportunity, it needs a new mindset. One which says: Anything in Print is possible.

What is an ‘Anything in Print’ mindset?

An ‘Anything in Print’ mindset is one which finds a way to adapt to changing customer needs, which makes bold moves and fundamental changes where necessary, which understands where traditional print remains strong, and how it can be effectively augmented by new media.

“Despite recent challenges, we’ve continued to invest because our vision for the business remains the same – to be the trusted expert of choice for contemporary integrated communications. We’re piecing together a formidable portfolio of technology and hardware which will allow us to continually enhance our capabilities, processes and expertise for the benefit of our clients.”

Rachel Nevins, CEO, Adare

What will success look like?

Different from even just ten years ago. It will be motivated by value, not volume. It’ll sound like classical music, rather than heavy metal. And it will blend the experience and skill of your people with automation and new technology – wherever it makes sense.

It’s all about where you invest. Identify the right technology, find the best fit for your people, work with experienced partners and start planning how you will transform your business.

“I was becoming conscious that, in terms of quality, we were in danger of becoming a commodity printer. As soon as that happens, you’re just battling on price. We’re investing in technology that gives us something extra, above and beyond our competition.”

Steve Beeching, Managing Director, FCS LaserMail

Finding a partner with an ‘Anything in Print’ mindset

The print industry has long been a cut-throat competition. A battle to win the work that keeps the presses rolling. But like in many other fields, it’s waking up to the idea that collaboration is the best way to create growth: we don’t have to tackle new challenges in isolation, and it’s better to have a smaller slice of a bigger cake.

Progressive print businesses have already seen that working together can increase the prize for all involved, whether through short-term teamwork or formal partnerships. Sharing skills, expertise and processes with other people in the sector, and wider creative and marketing industries, enables your organisation to scale up and skill up in new directions, start new conversations, and deliver a more excellent service.

Ricoh – your people-first ‘Anything in Print’ partner

After recently researching and reflecting on the opportunity that lies ahead with an ‘Anything in Print’ mindset, Ricoh has recently published the aptly named Anything in Print, which covers the possibilities that exist for print companies if they adopt this approach to market.

And you can choose to collaborate with Ricoh as your people-first partner, drawing upon their expertise, learnings, and support to provide your business with the technology, processes and practices it needs to not just survive, but thrive in the next era of print. As Ricoh would say, anything in print is possible.

“The biggest benefit to our partnership with Ricoh has been the access to talent… We needed a production partner that could work with us long-term, developing our business – and Ricoh certainly fit that bill.”

Nick Green, Founder, Printed.com

Learn and discover more about Ricoh’s Anything in Print mindset with our guide.

Click to read Anything in Print

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Simon Isaacs is the National Sales Director for Ricoh UK. He believes OEMs who can provide end-to-end service and control their manufacturing process will be more likely to see success. This, says Isaacs, is why Ricoh has a significant advantage in the market. Despite being a relative newcomer to the wide-format sector, Ricoh has a unique heritage in inkjet development that stretches back to 1973.

“Most people don’t realise what we offer, as we have the broadest solutions portfolio in the print industry,” Simon said. “Plus our clients also have access to our other SMB and enterprise solutions, such as IT services and workspace products. We have learnt from experience and have great expertise in providing printheads to the industry. Currently, we are providing approximately 30% of the printheads used in the wide-format print market as a whole. It’s a great example of our innovation and commitment to supporting PSPs in achieving their goals. Above all, we are always working to improve our offering and bring new, innovative solutions to market.”

Leading wide-format print with purpose

Some of the most recent developments for Ricoh’s future wide-format print strategy come in the forms of acquisitions and collaborations.

For example, recent additions to our portfolio include digital inkjet printing software specialist ColorGate, 3D print surface print expert LAC and workflow solutions provider Avanti. Beyond these acquisitions, there are also exciting collaborations. These include the textile ink company Farbenpunkt, finishing specialists Comagraf and wallpaper and paper houses Summa and Valiani.

Together, these acquisitions and collaborations position Ricoh as an attractive end-to-end solutions provider for the wide-format sector. “Ricoh leads with real purpose,” Simon said. “For instance, we have the breadth of experience to look at the big objective and help create a system that takes a business closer to realising its goals. Yet we are also able to help at a much smaller level. We can consider the purpose of every process, every document, every touchpoint in the business. Above all, we are able to find ways to improve and maximise our customer’s contribution towards attaining the wider objectives.

“As a result, it gives Ricoh a far more profound purpose of its own rather than simply selling things. Instead, we are value adders. We help customers implement their own digital transformation.”

Ongoing growth in wide-format print

With constant development a major part of Ricoh’s wide-format print strategy, Ricoh keeps up to date with the latest advancements in the wider market. Both in terms of the technology available to PSPs and the types of work that is driving growth.

Looking at printing hardware, Simon has no hesitation in recommending UV and Latex technology over solvent, analogue or screen machinery. UV and Latex presses offer a much more environmentally friendly option than the alternative technologies. As a result, an increasing number of PSPs are opting for this type of kit.

Simon said investment in UV and Latex wide-format printers – such as the solutions on offer from Ricoh – also allows PSPs to take advantage of the work sectors that are proving to be most profitable and active in the wide-format print arena.

“At Ricoh, we’ve seen significant increases in the amount of personalisation, customisation and on-demand print work being produced by our customers,” says Simon. “These trends have been apparent for some time now and demand for this type of work shows no signs of slowing down. Similarly, demand is growing for bigger large-format work such as applications in the interior design market. Ricoh’s expertise in inkjet allows our customers to access profitable work in this growing sector.”

The future for wide-format print

What is next for Ricoh in wide format? Ricoh already has an extensive range that caters to commercial print, corporate print and the signage market. And the business is experiencing growth in each of these sectors year on year. However, Simon said that Ricoh is not a company to rest on its laurels and will continue to commit significant R&D resources and spend to continuing to improve its solutions in the wide-format market and beyond.

“We are constantly improving. We always listen to customer feedback and we release new technology to the market on a regular basis,” Simon said.

“Constant innovation will always be a core focus for us at Ricoh. Some 30% of all R&D global spend is committed to production print, where we see huge growth potential in 2021 and beyond.”

To find out more about Ricoh’s range of wide-format and large-format printers, please click here.

First published by Large Format Review, wide-format blog and print industry news portal.

The post Ricoh UK’s roadmap for wide-format print appeared first on Insights - Empowering Digital Workplaces.