Transformation in publishing – future of print

TRANSFORMATION IN

PUBLISHING – FUTURE OF PRINT

The gravure industry met in Dusseldorf for ERA’s Annual Conference. Winners of the European Publication Gravure Award 2016 were presented.

Delegates from publication printers from Europe and overseas, as well as their suppliers of equipment and materials and customers, accepted the European Rotogravure Association’s invitation to its Annual Conference in Dusseldorf on 26–27 September. The delegates witnessed presentations from industry experts reflecting the theme of the conference, ‘transformation in publishing – future of print’. The conference programme also included a visit to the publication gravure printing plant in of TSB in Moenchengladbach, where the largest printing facility of the TSB Group with up to 3.68 metre-wide gravure presses and a gravure capacity of 170,000 tonnes were shown.

The conference discussed the situation of publication gravure in Europe. Currently the work load of the publication gravure printers is at a satisfactory level, and due to the insolvency of a large publication printer the capacity has further decreased by 250,000 tonnes to an overall capacity in Europe of some three million tonnes. Good news for the gravure industry came from the European Chemical Agency (ECHA), which has proposed that the EU Commission give the gravure industry the authorisation for further use of chromium trioxide for a review period of seven years. The formal approval by the EU Commission is expected in spring 2017. Challenges to face

In his keynote address Prof. Stephan Weichert of Hamburg Media School discussed the media consumption of the millennials which includes the generation born after 1990. He explained that their primary news source is social media instead of classic print media. For them, ‘mobile is king’ and they use apps and platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, WhatsApp and SnapChat, which is the latest and fastest growing among these digital platforms. Instead of mere news consumption the millennials prefer interaction and create their own content. This requires the publishers to change their traditional business model, as well as calling for a different type of journalism. The problem for the publishers remains the monetisation of their content, and Prof Weichert’s advice to the publishers is to transform their brands into the digital world of the millennials.

Key trends

‘Developments and trends in publication printing’ was the theme developed by Christoph Mueller of KBA. He responded to Prof Weichert’s thesis by mentioning the weekly newspaper ‘Die Zeit’, which has an increasing circulation and many young people among its readers. Altogether print generates a higher turnover than the automo-

tive industry. However the market for traditional publication and news presses has shrunk since the financial crisis, although it has now stabilised on a lower level. The market for packaging presses has growth potential, as well as the market for digital presses where KBA is collaborating with HP to develop a press for corrugated topliner. Also, books are increasingly printed on demand with digital presses as the overall costs are lower than with traditional offset printing. Encouraging for print is that it has more effectiveness, particularly in advertising. Gravure printed school books in India and Brazil also show an interesting and growing market for print.

A highly interesting niche for print was demonstrated by Dr Giancarlo Cerutti, who reported on the latest application for Cerutti’s gravure presses. The newly issued five pound note is the latest currency printed on a clear plastic substrate (BOPP) which is preprinted with security features by a Cerutti gravure press.

Another example of print’s effectiveness and its opportunities for growth was shown by Martin Kunz, editor-in-chief of ADAC Motorwelt. The monthly magazine of the German motorists’ association has one of the longest print runs worldwide with almost 14 million copies. It was started in 1925 and its role is ‘to solve mobility problems of members’. Contrary to the trends in the industry the magazine has a constant reach, and though there is an iPad version, 94 per cent of its readers want the printed version delivered too. The magazine consumes more than 20,000 tonnes of paper per year and is printed in gravure divided among the large German gravure printers.

The view of a paper manufacturer was presented by Tommy Wiksand of the over 400- year-old Swedish company Holmen. Since the market for printing paper is heavily challenged by digital media the paper industry is in transition and “print has to be high definition.” The most important factor still is “the feel of the paper.” Whereas average magazines are declining, those for the young generation are growing. Print remains a strong channel for advertising: customers act on print to a higher extent than on digital adverts. Holmen has adapted its structure by reducing capacity, but is still a leading supplier with one million tonnes in operation.

Dr Michael Zenke of Sun Chemicals added the ink manufacturers’ perspective. The trends are that during the last decade the packaging market has overhauled publication, and publication suffered from heat-set and cold-set. Black ink has increased in use relative to coloured inks (CMY) due to improvements of colour separation software without an impact on print quality. This ink optimisation has resulted in cost savings for the printer, however the impact of the paper grade on ink consumption is significant.

The conference presentations were rounded off by Mr Josef Aumiller of Manroland, who reported on the status of web offset in commercial printing. The global market for heat-set presses is almost at the same level as six years ago, whereas the market for newspaper presses has fallen to less than a third of its level then. A significant share of the orders is for high volume presses of up to 96 pages. Hybrid solutions are another trend, with ink jet printing added to a conventional press. He concluded that “print is alive,” and that modern print production requires “automation, output and flexibility.”

Apart from market and technical issues, the ERA Annual Conference traditionally features a political or socio-economic issue of current importance. This year Dr Christoph von Marschall, chief diplomatic correspondent of the Berlin daily newspaper ‘Tagesspiegel’, discussed the ongoing presidential election campaign in the USA. Against the background of the election campaign he described the cultural differences between the USA and Europe, and explained the unforeseen success of Donald Trump. His personal feeling is that it will be a close run on 8 November, and his advice is “not to bet more than you can afford to lose.”

During the conference the winners of the European Publication Gravure Award 2016 were presented. The competition, which is organised every two years by the ERA in cooperation with the Eurographic Press, awarded prizes this time in market-related categories: inserts/flyers, catalogues and magazines. Trophies were won by Burda Druck France for ‘Cora’, Eurogravure for ‘Maty’ and Imprimerie Hélio Charleroi for ‘Hello’. n