News
Stationers debate finds print does have a future
More than 100 delegates took part in a debate on the future of print and paper this week agreeing that, while the industry does need structural change, it does have a bright future in partnership, not conflict, with digital media.
The Stationers' and Newspaper Makers' Company event dubbed 'Are Print and Pixels Competitive or Complementary?' followed the summer publication of its controversial report, which predicted widespread decline in the demand for paper and print over the next 11 years.
According to the study, the key findings of which were presented to the audience by the report's author NKL Associates principal Richard Harris, the total demand for graphic paper and print will decline by almost a third between 2008 and 2020.
The findings split the debating panel. St Ives group technical director John Charnock agreed with the reports findings in principal – but added that pixels and print should be regarded as complementary and said that paper and print would continue to have a value and relevance and that the reduction in demand could and should be accounted for by a reduction in waste.
"There's a lot of waste in high-volume manufacturing industries like ours. But the key area is relevance. We have to make sure that the content of a product is relevant to the recipient, because reducing irrelevant content alone could easily account for the 30% reduction," said Charnock.
Bob Latham, sustainability director at Paperlinx Europe highlighted that, while the pessimistic findings may ring true for some sectors, for others, such as communications advertising, it will be a different story.
"The message is that you need to be extremely careful about the parts of the market you're exposed to," said Latham.
He also defended the report's findings, which have drawn some criticism: "I don't think the headline numbers matter very much; it's about the direction of the tide, not how high the waves are."
This was countered by Will Oldham, UPM UK general manager, who said that the report was unduly pessimistic and that he believed the paper and print industries would prove to be "surprisingly resilient".
While he agreed that the industry needed to restructure, he questioned the report's findings on how the different generations would consume information in the future and said that he thought it would be much more "nuanced than a simple shift away from paper to digital media".
This was echoed by Bertrand Lousteau, Sun Chemical marketing director, publication inks, and Publishers Association chief executive Simon Juden. Lousteau added that information continued to be easier to digest on paper compared to on screen and highlighted the environmental benefits of paper over electronic media.
Times Online assistant editor Tom Whitwell dismissed the negative environmental arguments and said that print and paper should focus on highlighting its positives, such as the growth of digital print and the perception of high value that a physical product has.
However, all of the panel, which was chaired by HH Pegg chairman Nick Steidl on behalf of the Stationers, agreed that the industry needed to do more to promote the benefits of print, through initiatives like Two Sides.
To obtain a full copy of the report, Future of Paper and Print in Europe 2008-2020, visit www.stationers.org.
Stationers' Hall: delegates debated the future of print
Comments
Jon Fennell - 11 November 2009
Sounds far more like it, makes you think the Times Online guy may have other reasons for being dismissive, on environmental issues.
Digital will grow where its technology allows but currently its not a universal fix, printers have already engaged in digital methods but that does not apply to all, depends on their own market and client demands.
As far as capital cost of digital kit v litho investment is not such an issue, but current unit costs on general print dig v litho are, both techniques exist togther. I am not sure why the digital fixation has come about its been used for 10 years + yet the techonology still isn't seen as consistant or the consumables competitive to allow digi into the mainstream. Mailing houses use four colour digital as a progression from black laser, this is a process of evolution rather than shock change, just as was seen with Letterpress to litho.
The perception that printers are stuck in a mental block with new tech is not true any more than its resisting change. What is unclear is the scale of change and accuracy of predictions. Online is still in infancy and the extent of experimentation currently seen with clients, will it stick?. The debate sits on response rates at many levels and to whether the online sector can continue with 'free' services, the combination of subscription and low response v costs may well see a change.
The green impact of online is still yet to be tested, this could well affect 'corporate green policy' and thinking. Until some of the variables are laid to rest, predictions are unlikely to be accurate, printers will have to follow demand but should act on information available and not hunches and knee jeek to what is said. Capacity reductions are inevitable, as to the scale for now who knows, better chance of predicting next weeks weather.
Kelvin Bell - 17 November 2009
To be fair it was a good event, but the paper and Ink guys were so far of the mark with their facts concerning technology/media \(obviously as they are under threat) the discussion after the report overview was tainted somewhat.
My issue is; five years ago no one in their right mind would think a spotty \(allegedly) kid would turn a way of meeting girls into a 1$ Billion business with 300+ million users \(Facebook) so how can one guy predict how technology can effect an industry over the next 10+ years when it moves so fast and has proven to be so diverse. Just look at the range of technology available to our sector now, granted some if it is useless but there is a good range!
Kelv - vpress.co.uk
Moaner Lisa - 18 November 2009
'Paper an' Ink Guys' - I's takin dat to mean printers? correct me if I's wrong, but jus 'cos de spotty kid who hinvented hinternet datin' made a fortune don' hexactly mean de face of de earth is gonna change completely! 'E dint predict nuffink, apart from dat loads of horny blokes might react to some floosy sendin out hadvertisements habout dere moral adventurousness! Peoples bin' doin dat in de windows of phone boxes for decades, jus' 'e found a way to make money out of it! De social networkin' is hexactly what it say on de tin, nuffing wrong wiv dat hexactly, but nuffink wrong wiv talkin to real people in real life neither (an' de sex, it better, me seems to vaguely remember). Sooner or later de real cost of de hinternet it gonna hit home hard, an' metink de telephone box window it' gonna be gettin' popular again. Me's also tinkin de hinternet biggest user bein' de pornographical hindustry still sayin' volumes for where de revenue streams deys comin' from, but there aint too many uvver tings dat people will pay de proper cost for on-line. Dere is indeed a good range on line, an' I is in total hagreement dat some of it is useless, but mos' of it bein' paid for by off-line, so don' go countin' chickens jus' yet, de traditional media it got a long way to go metinks, dats wot I's sayin.
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