Digital printing innovations are reshaping our global supply chain

1. Ship printed materials direct - to - consumer

In the past, when we produced and distributed published materials, the process was quite complicated and took a long time. Firstly, images would be teed-up for a printer to produce books and magazines using very specific tooling or machinery. Printed items would be bound, wrapped, bundled and then shipped across vast distances to warehouses and then the items would be bound, wrapped, bundled and then shipped across vast distances to warehouses. The steps are too much, right? So the cost will be compounded significantly.

With digital printing, Cloud-based publishing services allow users to build a virtual warehouse for all tasks such as management, automation, distribution, and then ship items directly to consumers. Customer satisfaction will reach a new higher level when all orders can be delivered almost in real time.

2. Produce anytime and anywhere with 3D printing

3D printing might be the most significant factor that influences global supply chains. 3D printers allow manufacturers in any industry to beam designs for prototypes, spare parts, and customized products, as the result, the supply chain will be shrunken.

3D printing has been applying for decades for prototyping but just recent years, when we achieved more innovation in technology, with the new technique, 3D printing can produce superior, functional parts up to 10 times faster and at half the cost of earlier 3D printers. The most recent study revealed that 3D printing will disrupt up to $6 trillion of the global economy in the next 5 to 10 years.

3. Print on any materials.

According to the recent report, by 2023, the digital textile printing market is expected to reach $2.31 billion because the printing materials will be expanded to other materials and applications and the market for digital textile printing in the garment and advertising industries has become hotter than ever before. What we can see is a really different printing industry, where we have customized, direct-to-designer garments, soft signage, and decor applications. For many industries, digital printing will change the way we design, produce, distribute and consume nearly everything. And we can believe that supply chains will continue to transform with the newfound ability to custom-produce anything, anytime and anywhere.

Further reading

• PRINTING United Alliance
• Statista printing industry research