The SGIA Expo is the largest printing show in North America, and the 2017 show in New Orleans saw more than 19,000 attendees over three full days at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. Each year, expo themes center around new trends, innovation, sustainability, and business growth.
Durst, a Platinum Sponsor exhibited and spoke with thousands of printing and creative professionals in the industry on a busy show floor and the resounding theme for our team was that Durst innovation is contagious, and the desire for continuous growth is something we can all relate to. Below are some thoughts from our team on the biggest trends and conversations at SGIA.
Offering Industrial Printing Solutions, Not Products
At Durst, we’ve always thought of ourselves as business partners with our customers, offering them more than just a printer. We extend our team of dependable service professionals, our innovative-thinking and on-going technology developments. But for our customers, they are finding that they, too offer far more than just a printed product to their customer, and Durst plays a role here too. Our technology allows our customer the ability for fast turnaround times, shorter runs and unmatched print speed to keep their end customer satisfied.
They are shifting their focus from offering just an end product to being a true business partner, offering industry expertise, consultative guidance and an array of new workflow products; Durst Workflow, RIP, Web2Print and Durst Analytics. More then anything they streamline the flow of data form the Internet to the printer, a key element in today’s cloud based work environment.
Our Industry is Incredibly Dynamic
Our flexibility in response to consumer and commerce trends is far more predictive than reactive, showing our ingenuity and ability to forecast consumer demand. The growth of online shopping and giants like Amazon present worry for some, and opportunity for others, and shifts are on the horizon for many printers and manufacturers. Textile printing has reached new heights, as we discussed with attendees interested in the 2017 SGIA Product of the Year Rhotex 325 dual-purpose textile printer.
Discussions were elevated around sustainability and how our industry can be sensitive to environmental concerns around printing. Experts across industries and organizations continued to beat the drum for the need to shift from analog to digital printing, not just for productivity but efficiency and the safety of our environment.
Versatility is the Key to Survival
We are in a world where manufacturers need to do more, faster, or they will be left behind. We’ve recognized this at Durst and have put massive emphasis on versatility in both our roll and hybrid printers, focusing on automation capabilities, 24/7 production output reliability.
What isn’t wavering in our industry is the customer’s expectation for high quality outputs. Clean crisp prints with vibrant colors and finite detail is crucial, and our Durst digital printing solutions deliver just that. Durst was recently recognized and awarded three Product of the Year awards by SGIA: The Rho 312R Plus: winner in the Roll-to-Roll UV (Over 80”) category, the Rho P10 250 HS Plus: winner in best UV Hybrid/Flatbed High Volume Production Class and the Rhotex 325: winner in Roll-to-Roll Direct Disperse Ink on Textile category. Our Rho P10 250 HS Plus was awarded the best UV Hybrid/Flatbed High Volume Production Class printer by SGIA.
Remaining flexible, responsive, and even predictive about consumer wants will keep you at the forefront. The ability to reframe challenges as opportunities will separate the leaders from the laggards.
Barbara Schulz, Executive VP of Global Sales spoke to media at SGIA about three themes that are pillars of focus for Durst: independence, innovation, and investment security.
“Innovation is really in our genes, and that coupled with our independence allows us to constantly be at the leading edge in all of the segments we cater to, even if it takes years to develop,” said Schulz, in reference to the development of Durst Water Technology that took 3 years to perfect.
“We take pride that innovation leaders in their respective segments buy from Durst,” said Schulz. “They know that our innovation goes far beyond the new printers that we develop, but the focus on upgrades retrofit to existing printers ensures that we provide value far beyond the total cost of ownership.”
SGIA Expo, as always, was filled with great conversations about business trends, industry growth and new market opportunities, as well as collaboration about how to overcome challenges in the future. For more information on Durst at SGIA and our three Product of the Year awards, click here.
We are looking forward to seeing you in Las Vegas for SGIA 2018!
