Opinion
Print's place in the marketing eco-impact scale
It's easy for some to point a finger at the print industry for being a significant polluter in the marketing arena, but this view is outdated and fails to take account of recent developments in print...
It pays to calculate end-to-end impact
I've had a light-bulb moment on the topic of plate production. It started when I read US print consultant John Zarwan's white paper The Environmental Impact of a Printing Plate.
Inkjet will dominate, but not quite yet
How many column inches have been devoted to inkjet technologies in the last year or so? Answer: a lot.
Used-kit dealers fulfil a worthy role
There are some who might see used machinery dealers as the industry's carrion crows, picking over the entrails within minutes of the liquidators moving in as yet another otherwise sound business falls...
Cheaper plates are a false economy
German pre-media consultant Michael Mittelhaus last year published an in-depth report on the development of the European printing plate market. In this he stated that within four to eight years...
It's time to get tough with customers
I began writing this column on a day when the best part of 4,000 job losses were announced across a plethora of UK businesses. This was followed swiftly by the quarterly Bellwether report on marketing...
UV curing sets out to woo wide-format
What do you do when you've honed a solution so finely to match the requirements of your chosen market that any further development is more enhancement than evolution? Some technology suppliers might...
30-second debate Are phoenix administration deals rising from the ashes?
Pre-packs are causing tension in the print industry. New guidelines aimed at making the process more transparent have come into force, but many firms are still dubious. Are pre-pack firms just phoenix...
Everybody's talking about... Credit insurance
Credit insurance is being withdrawn across the sector as insurance firms start to view printers as too risky. The move has made buying paper harder, with some merchants asking for money up front....
Viewpoint Risk management
Every business faces risks and dealing with these is a crucial management task. Some risks are generic and at the moment financial risks are top of everyone's list. While the financial situation is...
Stop the ability to write off debt to end low pricing, says printweek.com survey
Almost half of printers surveyed by printweek.com believe that stopping companies' ability to write off debt is the most effective way to combat low pricing.
Financial support in turbulent times
The BPIF recently conducted an online survey of member companies in association with specialist professional services organisation Begbies Traynor Group. The results, published in October, showed that...