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respondents said it was a priority this year. In reality, many PSPs will already be using IoT, possibly without realising it, and, as we explore in this report, may find their customers insisting that they embrace it.
Those PSPs that say they do face major technical challenges are most concerned about reliability - of their inks and substrates (24.6% of respondents) and machines (12.8%). More than one in five of those polled would like suppliers to focus on innovation that reduces running costs. Lowering capital investment costs
and addressing equipment longevity were a priority for more than 11% of businesses.
It will be fascinating to see wheth-
er the ‘next normal’ - whatever shape that might take - radically changes the wide-format sector’s investment strate- gies. Wide-format has grown consistently over the past decade but has never faced a challenge of this magnitude. Demand from some customer sectors - even retail - could well recover to pre-pandemic levels within two to three years. In some markets, especially exhibition graphics,
the shift is likely to prove more long last- ing, if not permanent. A different set of customers will, at some point, need to be reflected in a different set of investment priorities. PSPs that can read the trends
- and invest accordingly - may gain an enduring advantage.
The need to do more with less is al- ready paramount for companies that buy wide-format print and will soon become so for those businesses that supply it. And that must, surely, encourage PSPs to get serious about automation.
Q37. Where would you like to see more innovation in wide-format? (ranking 1-9, 9 being the most important and represented on the graph below)
In a particular technology/ink type Lower running costs Lower capital investment cost Equipment longevity Reliability/uptime Colour management Higher speed Improved print quality Workflow
26.92%
22.5%
11.62%
11.17%
9.6%
7.84% 7.54%
4.57% 4.52%
Q38. What is the biggest technological issue you face in wide-format?
Widthwise 2020
No major technical issues Consumables (ink and media) reliability Machine reliability Colour management Equipment failing to meet expectation/published spec Workflow issues
46.05% 24.56%
12.72% 8.33%
4.39% 3.95%
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