Now Available! WhatTheyThink’s Annual Printing Outlook Report Looks to 2024

The brand new Printing Outlook 2024 report offers detailed evaluation of the most recent WhatTheyThink Enterprise Outlook Survey, the most recent trade financial information and macroeconomic developments, in addition to trade and cultural technological developments to look out for in 2024 and past.

WhatTheyThink is happy to announce the rapid availability of Printing Outlook 2024 now accessible on the WhatTheyThink Report Retailer.

Some highlights:

• 26% of print companies surveyed stated that revenues for 2023 had elevated greater than 10% in comparison with 2022.
• All advised, 57% of print companies surveyed reported a rise in revenues in 2023 in comparison with 2022.
• The highest problem this survey was “rising plant productiveness”, chosen by 44% of respondents. “Nationwide financial situations,” chosen by 39%, is quantity two.
• “Bettering financial situations” returns to the highest of the New Enterprise Alternatives at 29%—though we’re unsure how significantly better the economic system might have gotten.
• “We now have no deliberate investments” was chosen by 24% of respondents; “ending/bindery gear for digital gear” (22%) and “workflow automation software program” (17%) look to be the highest investments for 2024.
• 62% respondents say they’ve applied some type of workflow automation of their amenities—mostly “software-based estimating,” “software-based computerized processing of prepress information,” and “web-to-print/on-line storefront.”

The chief report appears again at 2023 in addition to forward to what the trade can count on, economically and technologically, in 2024 because the economic system at massive and the trade particularly wrestle to return to some semblance of pre-pandemic normalcy. Final yr’s main problem— consumables and provides availability and price—has largely abated, whereas the opposite main problem— worker shortage—persists. Automation seems to be taking middle stage, however what does that particularly ran? What different developments are impacting the trade, and the way will they play out in 2024 and past?

The report options the outcomes of the WhatTheyThink Printing Business Enterprise Outlook Survey carried out in Fall/Winter 2023, and contains present and anticipated enterprise situations, prime enterprise challenges, prime enterprise alternatives, and deliberate investments for 2023. Extra questions requested about what new capabilities they’d lately added and had been planning so as to add—manufacturing inkjet? Broad-format? Textile printing? Packaging? The report additionally appears at print companies’ hiring plans for the subsequent 12 months, what positions are being sought, and the way they’re trying to find staff. The report additionally appears at automation—who has applied it and what do they imply by “automation”—in addition to so-called synthetic intelligence (AI) (aka machine studying) and the extent to which it’s on the trade’s radar and is being applied—or is prone to be.

The report additionally affords the most recent authorities information on shipments, institutions, earnings, and employment for business printing, signage and show, and packaging and changing companies. The report additionally contains macroeconomic information to have a look at how the general economic system would possibly affect print companies in 2024, and contains an trade forecast to 2033, in addition to know-how and cultural developments the trade ought to put together itself for in 2024.

Print enterprise homeowners will discover the report important for his or her planning, in an effort to put {the marketplace} and their strategic actions in lifelike perspective. Business suppliers will profit from the insights into printer decision-making processes and the inspiration of latest trade demographic information that debuts on this report. Non-economic developments additionally provide concepts for what to concentrate to within the new yr, and bigger cultural and technological; developments point out the place advertising professionals and brandowners will doubtless be focusing their promotional {dollars}.

“Final yr’s Printing Outlook report had the theme ‘again in black,’ as 2022 noticed demand for print resurging from the pandemic,” stated WhatTheyThink managing editor Richard Romano, creator of the report. “And, yeah, it was most likely somewhat unreasonable to count on that 2023 would hold that momentum rising. However we’ll put a optimistic spin on it: 2023 was a interval of normalizing. Not as bleak as 2020 and 2021, not as nice as 2022, however extra in step with what a ‘regular’ yr appears like.”

The report is out there within the WhatTheyThink Report Retailer at https://retailer.whattheythink.com/downloads/printing-outlook-2024/.