Print company customer expectations now revolve around speed, convenience, personalization, and
reliability. Print quality and excellent customer service are still important, of course, but these elements no longer offer the competitive advantages they once did. The changing market demands compel printers to evaluate their traditional workflows and seek opportunities to upgrade technology that enables more automation and digital integration.
The Customer Experience
Online portals, automated quoting, web-to-print ordering, and digital proofing reduce friction throughout the buying process. If your operation has yet to implement solutions like these, now is the time to consider your options. Automation investments you make today will simultaneously improve the customer experience, lower your labor costs, and reduce your dependence on seasoned employees (who may be approaching retirement age).
An online customer platform can streamline customer onboarding, encourage repeat business and open opportunities to land more corporate accounts.
Software to handle sales automation is abundant. If you need help assessing your needs or comparing possible solutions, enlist outside help. Find unbiased people who are familiar with this area and seek advice.
AI Integration
Artificial intelligence is a technology that will almost certainly affect your business. Regardless of whether you embrace AI as a business strategy or not, AI will undoubtedly power computer software in your business and perhaps be integrated into some of the equipment in your facility. Your competitors may very well be using AI to improve their own operations or gain an advantage in the market already. Failing to adapt could be a regrettable business decision.
AI design tools can help customers place their orders using personalized, professional templates within online customer portals. They can get rapid, error-free results with aids such as automatic layout assistance, font recommendations, and design element ideas.
Get used to working with AI technology in one or two areas of your business and then expand.
Production Automation
Assess all the steps in your print production and delivery workflow. Focus on high-touch repetitive processes and look for ways to automate the steps to raise throughput and accuracy.
Some areas where AI and automation technology apply to the printing industry include predictive analytics for supply management, press monitoring, file pre-flighting, sales enablement, marketing, correspondence, and scheduling.
AI-driven predictive maintenance may reduce equipment downtime and costs. Automated systems to check for color accuracy or registration could have a positive effect on workflow efficiency.
See our articles “Unlocking Efficiency: Automated Finishing Solutions in the Print Industry” and “Understanding Generative AI: The Next Revolution” for some suggestions.
Investment and Change
Modernizing a printing operation will cost money, but the long-term savings in labor, materials, and maintenance can pay for the initial investment. Additionally, automated workflows may enable your organization to reach into new markets, expand relationships with current customers, offer new billable services, and retain customers more effectively.
Take advantage of vendor financing when offered, execute in phases, and make sure your strategy provides for employee training to maximize acceptance among your production teams.
Change in the workplace can always be a challenge—especially if employees feel that automation may be taking their jobs. Be prepared to explain the growth and career benefits your new workflow can offer them.
Embracing the Future
The print industry has never been stagnant. New products, tools, and methods are always developing. What we see now, however, is not a gradual transition. Customers accustomed to the ease, flexibility, and convenience they experience in practically every aspect of their lives are raising expectations for how they interact with the companies that produce printed materials for them.
Younger generations, for whom digital interaction has been the norm for all their lives, may consider print to be “old school”. Adopting technology that directly affects customer interfaces, plus improvements that happen “behind the scenes”, is a smart move for printing companies. Prepare for business continuity as each new generation enters the market as print buyers and influencers.
In this article, the most prominent keywords reflecting its core themes include AI, automation, printing industry, predictive analytics, workflow efficiency, investment, employee training, customer expectations, business continuity, and modernization. Each of these terms encapsulates the transformative impact of new technologies on print operations, highlighting the importance of strategic investment, effective change management, and the evolving demands of customers and the workforce in a rapidly modernizing sector.