A Printing Technology future full of surprises

There are so many young people who go around pulling pranks – a practice joke or mischievous act – on people and the reactions most times are priceless. The surprise element can be pleasant or otherwise but it is of my opinion that you have to first embrace a surprise before you can engineer it (or make it work for you).

Many don’t like surprises yet Boris Pasternak has said “Surprise is the greatest gift which life can grant us”, yet either we like surprises or not life will always play it’s surprise! surprise!! game on us, the world hasn’t fully recovered from the pandemic shock and only wise people in the printing industry will start to anticipate the surprises that are most imminent in the near future.

We have gotten to that point in the world of today where we all have to become comfortable accepting surprises, becoming comfortable with ambiguity, drastic change, uncertainty and even begin to learn how to engineer surprises as a skill.
A pranks get people curious, excited or even angry for a season, surprise is beginning to look like a tool to get people’s attention and touch on their emotions on what you have to offer.

Truth is nature also play the surprise game on us.

The printing industry is likely to see several surprises in the near future, some will be including:

1. Advancements in digital printing technology: Digital printing is becoming more sophisticated and efficient, allowing for faster and more cost-effective production.
   User friendliness, quicker “get to market”, “wait and get” characteristics and getting done multiple variable data printing at the click of a button are some attributes of the new digital advancement. Manufacturers are however under gross pressure to reduce the cost of this equipment usage parts for better profitability.
2. Increased demand for sustainable printing practices: There is a growing demand for environmentally friendly printing practices, such as using recycled materials and reducing waste.
   Paper and paper products will continue to get the “ride on” nod while plastics and related products will continue to get regulated. Wise producers are already embracing the sachet economy because of this and other numerous benefits.
3. Emergence of new printing applications: The development of new printing technologies is likely to lead to new applications for printing, such as flexible and transparent electronics, wearable devices, and more.
   Those who have doom preached printing is dead will be in for the surprise of prints new evolving. I personally believe the every big print shop must wear the equipment of both digital and conventional as the new printing fashion statement.
4. Expansion of e-commerce and online printing services: The growth of e-commerce and online printing services is likely to change the way printing is done, making it easier for businesses and consumers to access printing services from anywhere in the world. As they say “The world is one tiny global village”, and this is no longer a surprise to smart print shops who are already offering their services to leads outside their geographical location. Many printshop are already becoming masters in logistics to give their printing ecommerce life some succor.
5. Greater focus on data-driven printing: The use of data and analytics to inform printing decisions is likely to increase, leading to more efficient and effective production processes.
   These are some of the key trends and developments that may surprise the printing industry in the near future. Did I hear you how? This indeed will be a topic for another.
6. The revolutionary future of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already here: The wave making attributes of AI in other industry will never leave out the printing industry, what AI is bringing into printing is innovative, advanced and efficient, AI is beginning to change the game in the automation of the printing process – from pre to post-press, AI algorithms can optimize production, drastically reducing the need for manual intervention, increase accuracy and add to the bottom line of time and cost savings. The algorithm can also analyze customer data and preferences to create extremely unique personalized products like business cards. This attribute will increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. The design process can be enhanced by AI, suggesting designs that align with a customers preference, saving time and effort for both the client and printer.
7. Let’s quickly have a look at 3D printing which is rapidly evolving, it has the potential to revolutionize many industries – manufacturing, medicine, architecture etc – where we will see a wide range of applications including creating custom made models, constructing buildings and printing human organs for transplant – ok may be not to this extreme yet but one thing that is worth noting is the new possibilities that the advancement in material science is bringing forth, it is very certain that we are expected to see many surprising advancement in this field in the coming years.

In conclusion, the future of printing all be it is still bright, in the meantime, why don’t you be the one surprising your own printing world before it does surprises you?