As the industry transforms, research indicates that the value of in-plants will increase.

By Barbara A. Pellow

The Importance of Color

By all measures, the digital color market is experiencing strong growth. This growth is tied to services beyond printing that incorporate super-efficiency. InfoTrends’ surveys confirm that digital color and the value-added applications that drive it will generate significant growth for print service providers. Cost reductions, productivity enhancements and improved workflows will likely increase color printing volume. The highest growth in the printing market will occur in the digital color arena, and savvy in-plants will be able to capitalize on color to grow in-plant volumes.

InfoTrends expects the U.S. print-on-demand market to experience an 11 percent CAGR (compound annual growth rate) between 2006 and 2011. This will bring the market to $79 billion in terms of retail value of print by 2011. Nearly $70 billion of this total will be attributable to pages printed on color devices. Color is expected to rise at a 14 percent CAGR, while black-and-white will decline by 2 percent.

Digital color presses are clearly a key enabling force that is driving this market. Since the price/performance ratio and quality of these presses has improved, organizations can more easily and cost-effectively colorize documents and promotional messages.

THE IN-PLANT market is probably the most underestimated user of digital printing technology. The influence of the in-plant is apparent from an examination of the segments where on-demand devices are being placed. The in-plant market drove the adoption of black-and-white digital printing and currently accounts for 40 percent of high-speed monochrome print-on-demand cut-sheet installations. The in-plants are also leading the color charge, accounting for 30 percent of placements in the 24-59 pages per minute (ppm) production color segment and 20 percent of the convenience color copier/printers and production color devices in excess of 60 ppm.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 All Next »

0 Comments

View Comments

Barbara A. Pellow Author's page

Barbara Pellow is the owner and founder of Pellow and Partners. With her long history focusing on digital communications and print technology, she works with both print service providers and equipment and software manufacturers on the development of strategies to improve revenue and profitability and grow market share.

It’s Transformation Time for In-plants