From Offset to Digital: Why Screen Printers Are Turning to a Hybrid Model
Choosing the right equipment is only half the battle when a company enters wide-format digital printing. Success also depends on preparation and clear strategic decisions.
Research from Fespa's Print Evolution 2011 found that some of the print companies surveyed either planned to shift from traditional offset printing to digital printing or had already completed that move. A few years ago, the speed of such change might have seemed surprising; today, with the wide-format digital printing market more mature, it is arguably more notable when a business has not yet adopted digital—and some still have not.
Entering wide-format digital printing is not simply about buying inkjet hardware. It requires careful preparation and a strategic approach.
For screen printing firms, the route to wide-format digital is not always smooth. A technology they know well is hard to abandon. Yet adding a new process does not automatically mean dropping the old one.
One screen printing company, which primarily served the ice cream market, has expanded over the years to offer wide-format indoor and outdoor signage printing. Its customers include Unilever and others. As part of that growth, the company later moved into digital printing.
Company manager Wilfred Witjes said the business decided to embrace digital printing, but the technology would not replace its existing screen printing division. Investing in digital gives the company a way to capture opportunities in the fast-growing digital printing market, yet it does not signal the end of screen printing.
The company has remained confident in this choice: balancing screen printing with digital printing to keep its competitive edge.
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