Third drupa Global
Trends report
indicates optimism
of growth in 2016
As the results of the Third drupa Global Trends
report have been published, what is inhibiting in the
report is that many printing firms in the markets
being hit adversely during the economic slowdown
in 2008 are now increasingly optimistic about their
overall business prospects in 2016, irrespective of
tightening margins and falling prices. Such positive
vibe in the industry is influencing the plans for their
investment in new production equipments.
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So far, three annual drupa Global
Trends reports have complemented two
drupa Global Insights reports, which
focus on technical trends and changes. The
first of these, The Impact of The Internet
On Print—The Digital Flood, assessed the
important and effect of new online media.
The second report titled Touch The Future
– Applications That Can Create Growth was
published in November 2015. The three
reports have drawn on a global panel of
about 750 printers to survey the state of
the printing industry and expectations about
its future over the three years leading up
to drupa 2016.
Invaluable reports
Sabine Geldermann, director, drupa, Messe
Düsseldorf, asserted that this year’s drupa is
a showcase for the latest developments in the
global printing industry. “By commissioning
the series of drupa
Global Trends reports,
we are able to put these
new developments into
the context of the state
of the industry as a
whole,” she added. Her
point is that anyone
visiting drupa this year
will find the reports
make an invaluable
backgrounder.
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The research and
writing of the drupa
reports were handled
by Richard Gray
and Neil Falconer
of Print Future, a
specialist consultancy
and market research
company. “The
previous report in
2015 was upbeat in
general, globally,”
mentioned Richard.
He further explained
that in the year 2016
the picture is patchier,
with some regions
thriving, such as North
America, others are
struggling, including some of the developing
regions. Similarly whilst packaging and
functional markets are in general doing
well, those in the commercial market are
more challenged and those in the publishing
market particularly so.
More positive 2016
In each report the responses of printers have
been gathered and averaged to produce a
barometer of economic confidence. Some
37 percent of the global panel of printers
described their current condition in 2015 as
good, although a significant 12 percent said
their condition was poor, giving a positive
net balance of 25 percent. Looking ahead,
printers were in general more positive
with 50 percent expecting their economic
condition to improve in 2016 compared to
just 6 percent expecting it to deteriorate –
a positive balance of 44 percent.
Taken by region, everywhere is more
optimistic for 2016 than 2015, but the biggest
increases in positive feelings are in Africa,
Australia/Oceania, Asia and the Middle
East. And taken by sector, all the 2016
forecasts are more optimistic on balance,
with commercial and functional (sometimes
called industrial) printing showing the
greatest increase compared to 2015.
Digital prospects
Observing some 14 common print processes,
the report found that, as might be expected,
digital technologies are growing fastest
(on an average of 28 percent per annum),
but that sheetfed offset lithography is also
seeing significant growth, particularly in
publishing (net positive growth of 7 percent)
and packaging (+12 percent). Flexography
is also doing very well in packaging (+18
percent), and gravure is also seeing a modest
but definite growth (+3 percent) in this
sector. Functional printing is a growth area
for screen printing (+11 percent), though
digital is very important here too.
While the bulk of turnover still comes from
conventional print, there is a steady increase
in the volume and value of digital print,
with the exception of packaging where only
13 percent reported that it represents more
than 25 percent of turnover, compared to
35 percent for commercial, 24 percent for
publishing and 59 percent for functional. The
ability of digital to print variable content
is important, with 59 percent of functional
printers and 35 percent of commercial
printers reporting that more than 25 percent
of their digital turnover was variable.
In the overall perspectives, web-to-print
seems to have stalled, with only one
percentage point of growth from 2014
(25 percent of printers had it) to 2015
(26 percent). Only North America as a
region and functional print as a sector
saw significant increases in volumes going
through web-to-print.
Growth limits
Both printers and suppliers cited strong
competition as the biggest constraint to
growth, with lack of sales being almost
as large a factor. When enquired about
the reason, the largest factor (58 percent)
was finding new customers, with finding
good sales staff second at 35 percent.
About 32 percent blamed lack of demand
for conventional print, but only 10 percent
said the same for digital.
Full report of the Third drupa Global
Trends report is released in English, with
its executive summary available in seven
languages—German, English, French,
Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Chinese
at www.drupa.com.
