Finishing Report 2009

The tug of war between trade finishers and printers, in terms of the latter bringing post-press in-house, while the former fights to protect its USPs, continues unabated.

It was largely for that reason that, in our survey of printers, we looked at the services they currently offer, how much and where they spend their hard-earned money on outsourcing and what they are looking to bring in-house.

The idea was that printers would discover how their spending patterns and investment plans compare with their peers’, but also that trade finishers would be able to identify the services that are, for the time being at least, safe from the menace of in-house.

With that in mind, it was surprising to note that well over 50% of the printers surveyed still outsourced perfect binding, when conventional wisdom would suggest that this was one of the services printers are most likely to bring in-house.

However, less surprising was the fact that the second-most outsourced service was foil-blocking. It’s this kind of niche service that is proving to be the saving grace of many a trade finisher, and the good news is that there are plenty of others, as shown in our features on killer apps and niche services.

Therein lies the rub, there are some things that make sense for printers to bring in-house, and others that, whether it’s due to demand or expertise, will remain the domain of the trade finishers.

 And long may that continue, as our cousins across the channel would say: Vive le difference!

The links to this year's features are below, so read and enjoy!

Darryl Danielli
PrintWeek editor

Finishing Report 2009 Features (click on headline to go to the feature)

• A portrait of the finishing sector
• Big returns don’t need big spends
• Super specialists
• Niche work (if you can get it)
• The leading lights on the finishing line