Page 10 - Print21 Nov-Dec 2020

Editor at large
2020 ... annus bloody terribilis
No one will be sorry to see the end of this year, even as we reflect that it might have been much worse. In a world of more than a million deaths, national lockdowns, and catastrophic economic loss, let’s be grateful that Australia and New Zealand have avoided the worst-case Covid-19 scenarios.
It’s a time-honoured practice in journalism to review the year as it passes. In this final issue of Print21 for 2020, it’s salutary
to recognise that we are not always
masters of our own destiny. Talk about being blindsided by events. I look back at the first At Large column of the year in January/February as if to a different world. Then I was writing of the opening of Ovato’s new $20m manroland Lithoman press in Sydney. It was a good news story on the largest printing company in the region, a testament to confident management and a thriving industry.
Then the Covid-19 plague came and plans went out the window. In the intervening months the company, along with its major publicly listed competitor, IVE Group, suffered swingeing losses of revenue, and massive share price falls. They cut staff numbers and offloaded assets to right
size for the uncertain future. Their fate is symptomatic of the wider industry.
The year has proved a disaster for large parts of printing. Most print companies
are signed on for JobKeeper payments. Revenue falls of double digits per cent are almost a given as commercial printers battle marketing budget cutbacks, forced closures in New Zealand where print was deemed
a non-essential service, and the ongoing devastation of tourism, media, hospitality
and a host of other print-intensive sectors. JobKeeper, extended credit and
bankruptcy protections all contribute to obscure the reality of the crisis. I haven’t been to Victoria, the epicentre of print production, this year. Other state borders remained sealed for months on end. As for getting to New Zealand, well forget it.
Packaging and industrial print did better. A smaller sector when compared to commercial print, but it has proved resilient thus far.
This was also the drupa year, of course, the four-year international print fest in Düsseldorf. At the time of writing the organisers are still maintaining the German equivalent of a stiff upper lip and protesting it will run in April 2021. Personally, I doubt it as nearly all the major suppliers have pulled out, and even if it does stagger on Australians may not be allowed to travel.
(It may seem trivial but I really miss drupa, especially this one where I was hoping to host a ‘thank you’ dinner for friends and industry colleagues in the Alt Stadt. Never mind, there are people out there doing it very much tougher.)
At the end of the tunnel
So it was with some relief that I accepted the invitation to Epson’s open day in October
at its new customer experience centre at Yagoona in Sydney’s west. This was the first industry event of any significance this year. Craig Heckenberg, the new managing director, shared with his channel partners and media assembled in the swank new facility the dire warnings he received from advisors of the dangers of going ahead. He choose to ignore them, instead ramping up the safety measures, social distancing, and striking a blow for a new normality.
Yes, he had plenty of new Epson equipment and technology to showcase, originally planned for a drupa launch.
The new president in Japan, Yasunori Ogawa, appeared via video link and the
local Epson team did a fine job under the trying circumstances. A duo of Japanese drummers, a cracked barrel of sake followed by a lunch of sushi and sashimi almost made it seem we were living in a normal world.
I don’t suppose there’ll be many industry Christmas parties this year, we’ll all have
to be patient. I hope you’ve weathered the storms and are able to look forward to a better 2021. I wish you Merry Christmas and a prosperous, plague-free, New Year.
Patrick Howard
— Editor-at-large
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10 Print21 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020
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