Print Predicts Realignment, Innovation and Adaptability In 2021

In the second week of January, FuturePrint will publish our white paper report on the key trends for 2021. Here are a few of the comments from the key industry figures to give you a taste of what they think that 2021 holds.

Do you foresee pre-pandemic trends continuing to thrive in 2021?

Marc Graindourze from Agfa : Sustainable practices are gradually being implemented in our industry by all parties, not only by the printing companies, but also by the suppliers.

While inkjet printing has intrinsic advantages in terms of sustainability through its low waste, low inventory requirements etc., this is too narrow a vision.

Sustainability needs to be looked at from all perspectives; it is an attitude, and we are helping our customers in this respect.

It is also one of the drivers to use water-based inkjet inks where appropriate, especially for printing on paper and carton-based substrates, for instance for printing corrugated boxes. Digital printing will be a solution for e-commerce (the boxes today contain a high amount of air); clever designing and printing of box sizes will make them much more sustainable.

Francois Martin from Bobst : Pre-pandemic trends are now accelerating. Looking ahead to 2021, the digitalization will be the main driver for labels – all converters will seek for complete end-to-end digitalized solutions to optimize their production floor and innovate their production flow.

All that can be digitalized will be, enabling converters to deliver faster, with better quality and less waste, answering the growing demand for on-demand labels production. In labels we also expect inkjet to be the main driver opening a new chapter for label production.

Another area turned completely on its head by the pandemic is retail, which was already experiencing a great deal of upheaval pre-COVID thanks to the rise of e-commerce, changing consumer shopping habits, and the continued decline of the traditional High Street. Head of Sustainability at POPAI Steve Lister and consultant Nick Widdowson shared their thoughts in our ‘Retail Transformation, Innovation and Sustainability’ session at the October Summit.

From 2020 going into 2021, Nick believes COVID has made us more conscious of environmental impact anyway, noting that it has brought home how fragile we are and how fragile our planet is, and sustainability continues to be an increasing focus for brands and retailers.

Nick says: “It was a focus before, but obviously we saw that immediate response to the pandemic, and I think now we’re at a tipping point where we need to decide what’s next, how to adapt to our new world, and what do we do about sustainability? There is a reengagement and recalibration of everything we do, and going forward sustainability will be key.”

What else does 2021 hold for the industry? - look out for the full results and all the comments in our white paper report published in January.