By Marcia DeMinco, Manager, Industry Analyst Relations
“Is print dead? It’s supposed to be, after all it’s all about digital transformation and getting rid of the paper right? Well we got curious. It seems like plain old printing is experiencing a comeback.” This is the opening of Pat McGrew’s and Kevin Craine’s “Is Print Dead?” podcast, where they explore the question through discussions with industry influencers, print practitioners and experts.
Pat is president of McGrewGroup LLC and co-host of “Is Print Dead?” Kevin is president of Craine Communications Group.
In episode 8, they put the question to Ragni Mehta, vice president and general manager of Xerox’s cut-sheet business.
Ragni’s segment in episode 8 begins at the 3:07 mark.
$150 billion digital print market by 2021
Ragni explained that print is not dead, “certainly not digital print,” which enables our customers to have personalized communications with their customers. Solutions around automation, color management or digital embellishments that go beyond the standard four-color page make digital presses more compelling. Of more than 50 trillion pages printed worldwide today, only two to three percent are digital. The digital portion is expected to grow by double digits. She pointed out that revenue for this market is expected to reach over $150 billion by 2021.
“So we know that [according to industry experts], 25 billion pages are going to be printed using digital enhancements by the year 2020 … and customers can charge more for value added enhancements,” Ragni said. “These are the areas print service providers are looking at and Xerox can deliver.”
These enhancements are delivered by specialty inks, and they come in two value-add flavors: Those that enable special effects, such as clear inks, and those that boost quality by, for example, extending the color gamut in order to match a brand’s color.
Specialty dry ink from Xerox
The Digital Printing Hot Spot blog explains how award-winning white dry ink from Xerox helps printers achieve favorable profit margins
Xerox Specialty Dry Inks — including Metallic, White, and Clear — make it easier than ever to create stunning, premium effects that deliver impactful results.
“The important thing is really to understand what the application set that their end customers are looking at today. Look at what the difference is,” Ragni explained. “And help them understand that working with a partner like Xerox can really help them to raise the bar to offer more opportunities.”
After their segment, the two hosts dissected the interview. “I’m still trying to understand the applications behind the value added enhancements, how can that be applied to businesses?” Kevin Craine asked of his co-host Pat McGrew.
“A lot of online internet businesses are looking for ways make the delivery a unique unboxing experience. With the applications that Ragni explained… when that product is delivered to you, the unboxing is a luxury experience,” Pat explained.
Xerox has positioned itself strategically in the digital print market with products and applications for our customers and partners. We’re doing well and we’re honored that industry experts agree. Here are a few awards Xerox has won in the graphic communications sector in the past year.
Print 17 Must See ‘Ems
Every year, the printing industry’s top vendors submit their best products for the “Must See ‘Ems” recognition. In 2017 Xerox won two categories:
- Prepress and Premedia for Xerox Specialty Imaging.
- Pressroom: Digital Presses for our Trivor 2400 High Fusion Inkjet Press and iGen 5 Press with White Dry Ink.
Full list of the 2017 Must See ‘Ems Award Recipients.
Gold Ink Awards
Gold Ink Awards are one of the print industry’s most prestigious print competitions. It is open to all creators and producers of printed materials, and encompasses nearly 50 categories within commercial printing, magazines, books, catalogs, digital printing and packaging. Xerox snagged a Gold, a Silver and 6 Pewter awards in the Digital Printing space, and a Bronze in the Consumer Catalogs category.
View the list of the 2017 Gold Ink Award winners.
2017 Gartner Magic Quadrant for CCM – Xerox (XMPie)
Gartner* placed Xerox (XMPie), in the Leaders Quadrant of the January 2017 Magic Quadrant for Customer Communication Management (CCM) Software. Said XMPie president Jacob Aizikowitz, “by marrying media personalization with marketing automation and analytics in an all-in-one platform, we provide a true one-to-one in one solution.”
View the full Press Release by XMPie.
BLI Production Printer PRO Award 2018 for Versant 180 Press
Xerox was awarded the BLI Production Printer PRO Award 2018 for the Versant 180 Press with Fiery EX 180 EFI Printer Server in the Outstanding Color Light Production Device category. This award is granted annually and acknowledges the products that gave the best performances in BLI’s rigorous production field tests over the previous year. The Versant 180 Press stood out due to its performance across 50 print scenarios with its vibrant photographic images and its consistently high output quality.
Keypoint Intelligence featured a full breakdown of the report on their website.
*From the editor: Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
