What will the printing company of the future look like?

It's a much-discussed and debated topic, and it came to mind while I was reading the Me & My Machine article featuring ESP Colour and its Speedmaster XL 75.

I spoke to ESP earlier this year for an Ipex-related feature about users of state-of-the-art presses with fast makeready times. One of the things that struck me about the company at the time was its absolutely forensic understanding of what its equipment was producing (or not producing), pretty much by the minute, and when and how the company was making money. It was a trait shared by other companies featured in the piece too, and I don't think that's any coincidence.

It seems to me that the successful printing companies of the future - whether they are industrial printers, niche printers, web-to-printers, or not called printers at all - will all have a minutely detailed, real-time understanding of how their business ticks. How much sales. How much cash. An ability to immediately pinpoint the profitable and the unprofitable, the right job from the wrong job.

They certainly won't be the firms (and I'm afraid they do exist) that are working in a sort of fog of ineffectiveness and ignorance, not knowing until the end of a month whether they've made any money or not. As to their future, I fear for it.