So OK. after cruising drupa and seeing what's going on in inkjet outside of the usual large format and desktop stuff, this toner-head is willing to admit that inkjet has a lot going for it and is going to be a real force in the industry. Just as electrophotographic (EP) printing before was a disruptive influence, and has gradually changed the printing game, IJ will do the same. But what is really being shown here at drupa is the potential IJ has to provide a compelling alternative to analog printing and some digital technologies. It will be especially interesting to see how early adopters of the new production class systems fare as they adapt their workflows --and their customers-- to IJ technology. Those are the ones to watch.

Yet for some of the IJ market --notably a large chunk of the large format segment-- it is business as usual, aided and abetted with incremental improvements in speed, quality, reliability, and durability of the prints. Still, there are some game changers here at drupa that will disrupt both digital and analog large format markets. There's one new large format printer that's poised to offer screen printers one of the first real digital alternatives to their time-honored processes. Likewise, some new ink technologies offer environmentally friendly alternatives to solvent printers for a number of applications. Such advances add value to their respective segments, and some of their success will be because they changed the playing field while adding value for their users.

The adding of value part is vitally important. Over this first drupa weekend, I spent a couple of hours with top level executives of two major digital press manufacturers. Both stressed that while digital technology will gradually account for a greater share of all printed materials, the actual percentage share of all printing that is done digitally is not all that big a deal. What is important, though, is digital print's share of the total value of print, whether this is measured by retail sales or some other metric. That's the goal that these and other digital equipment makers are going after. What all these firms are selling is the promise of their technology to either add value to the document (so it has a higher price and greater margin), deliver profitable new applications, or offer a more efficient means of production at more cost effective print volumes.

These have always been the goals and promise of digital printing, but EP has often fallen short of delivering the promise across a truly broad swath of the print market. It is still being refined, and will capture more of the total print volume even as it competes with IJ over the next couple of decades.

And inkjet's day is still to come. Technical issues will be resolved, just as they continue to be for EP presses. And with a couple years before the newly announced machines reach the market, there is time to figure out many of the gotchas. Then a whole new adoption cycle has to take place, and as it does, new potential applications --and more value-- are waiting to be found and tapped.

This still isn't the inkjet drupa, but it is a great time to be in the printing industry.

Noel Ward
WhatTheyThink.com
Brimstone Hill Associates