The digital revolution is impacting every industry, and this includes wide format printing. Advancements in digital wide format technology have created the potential for new offerings. This is important news for a wide variety of businesses, including marketing firms as well as sign, graphics, and visual communication companies. In our recent analysis, Embracing Digital Wide Format Printing, Keypoint Intelligence – InfoTrends explores how signage companies can leverage these innovations and highlights the benefits of making the switch.

 

Sustainability Spurs UV Adoption

 

There are many advantages to using UV-based inks. Because nothing is lost to evaporation, they are more efficient than solvent or water-based inks. In addition to enabling faster time to market, this dramatically reduces the cost of printing. As a result, many organizations across North America have moved away from solvents in favor of UV. It’s much easier for companies to turn a profit when they’re not wasting roughly 70% of the ink they use in print jobs. UV printing is also incredibly consistent, which is quite helpful for brands that want to present a unified product appearance.

 

Here’s another advantage to UV inks—research has consistently shown that the environment is becoming an increasingly important issue, especially when marketing to younger generations. Today’s consumers are concerned about the world they live in, and they’re less inclined to purchase products that might be damaging it. UV inks are one of the more eco-friendly printing options. By using UV or aqueous inks, print providers can dramatically reduce their carbon footprint, all while lowering internal costs and speeding up production. Talk about a win-win situation!

 

The advantages of UV and aqueous technologies are propelling their print volumes forward, while technologies like solvent are taking a significant step back. Keypoint Intelligence – InfoTrends projects that UV will demonstrate a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12%, while aqueous inks will achieve an even higher CAGR of 23%.

 

Companies have a lot to gain by switching to digital wide format printing technologies. Those that are slow to make this switch will risk losing out on profits, and they might also alienate Millennial customers who are becoming increasingly conscious of environmental sustainability issues. Furthermore, businesses that are still relying on traditional print technologies vastly reduce the catalog of promotional and packaging products available to them.