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Trend Watch Study on Direct to Plate Suggests Changes
Ahead
January 11, 2000 : Direct-to-plate is about to dramatically change the
print industry (for real this time) and unfortunately some players won't
be on stage for the show. In our most recent survey, almost one in four
(23 percent) of printing establishment owners are concerned about the
negative effects of this technology while 40% are looking for its positive
effects.
The differences in these groups are commercial printers versus prepress providers. More than half of commercial printers (51%) expect direct-to-plate will positively affect their businesses in the next two years. On the other side of the coin, 35% of service bureaus and 43% of color separators are concerned that direct-to-plate will negatively affect their businesses. (Like they didn't have enough to worry about as they try the survival strategy of the month).
We think that 2000 and 2001 will finally be big years for direct-to-plate adoption. Direct-to-plate is just one of the disruptive forces moving to collapse time in production workflows as the industry copes with declining prices, employee shortages, and technological upheaval. Prepress is migrating out of the hands of printers and into the "wild west" of the desktop, and the only vestige of it in the long run will be the plates exposed electronically in the pressroom. Getting there may not be pretty. Can your company find opportunities in all this confusion?
Contact Dr. Joseph Webb or James R. Whittington, CMC, TrendWatch partners (info@trendwatch.com) or call 800-283-8063.