30 email: editor@printmonthly.co.uk January / February 2025 - Issue 352 I think the biggest advice I would have going into 2025 is for print businesses to really look at what is highly profitable within their companies and look at what their significant strengths are. Focus on those strengths and what is profitable and utilise the network of trade printers that we have at our disposal. Companies have to stop doing work at cost or work that is not profitable that they are doing purely just to keep customers in the door. I’d recommend people move into using the variety of trade printers we have in the UK and utilise their services so you can take a higher margin of profit from that work. At the Independent Print Industries Association (IPIA), we often have SME printers saying they can’t buy the paper as cheaply as the trade printers can produce the print. Our advice to them is that the trade printers are their friends and that they should use them and build connections with them. Diversify and build your product portfolio without having the big overheads yourself. This way you can grow your business and focus on your strengths. Businesses and individuals also need to make sure they get out there, network, and meet as many people as possible at events such the IPIA conferences or The Print Show in Birmingham. Even if all that you do is call five print businesses in your local area that you would deem competitors, that you’ve never spoken to before, then you are making new advancements. Speak to these companies, have meetings with them, take them for lunch, and see where you can share each other’s strengths, and see where you can help each other, rather than compete. In our own membership we have seen this as a significant route to growth. AI will continue to evolve and disrupt the mainstream print industry. Integrating AI into existing workflows can help printers work a little smarter, complementing rather than replacing the skills of the print industry workers. This will help printers be more efficient and flexible, making hyper-personalised and custom printing much more accessible to more businesses. Sustainability is still a major trend, to the extent that you can argue it’s no longer a trend at all – it’s the new norm. It isn’t some niche thing anymore and most print customers will be looking for ways to meet their sustainability goals. This means there’s a real focus on solvent-free or biodegradable inks, new recyclable or recycled substrates, and energy-efficient processes. Of course, this puts the focus on quality control, as different inks and materials can affect the appearance of printed colours. That means pre-press and reprographics, so often treated as supporting players and unsung heroes, will become headline acts in 2025. Utilising AR technology in combination with printed materials will continue to blur the line between the physical and digital worlds. This opens up unlimited creative possibilities – now something as simple as a flyer can be turned into a fully interactive, 3D digital experience. Wide-format designs can turn flat billboards into blockbuster experiences – imagine a movie poster that pulls characters and fantastical creatures into the real world via your smartphone. On-demand printing and web-to-print (W2P) shops will also grow in popularity, because people need their print, and they need it now. Customers increasingly expect printers to accommodate short run just-in-time jobs, meaning printers need to incorporate more automation into their workflows to keep up with demand while maintaining quality. This is where solutions like Switch come in handy, as it can seamlessly integrate into virtually any tech stack – and what will separate businesses in 2025 will be how efficiently their digital workflows are integrated into the rest of their processes. For many operating within the printing industry, the last few years have seen considerable flux and challenges at STREAMLINING, SUSTAINABILITY, AND SOFTWARE TO DOMINATE 2025 As everyone gets ready to see what the new year will bring, Print Monthly asks professionals in the print industry what trends, challenges, and opportunities individuals and businesses should consider when heading into 2025 2025 PREDICTIONS Brendan Perring, general manager at IPIA Piet de Pauw, head of marketing at Enfocus Andy Gregory, sales director at Hybrid Services, Mimaki’s exclusive distributor for the UK and Ireland
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