Almost everyone involved in the industry is ‘extremely’ or ‘very’ confident about the future of industrial inkjet, according to a new survey conducted by FM Future and Ricoh Europe.
The Future of Inkjet survey reports 99% of respondents as feeling confident in the future of industrial inkjet; some 40% foresee growth in excess of 10% over the next 12 months. In terms of achieving the required quality of production, 78% believe these requirements are close to being met in their market. A further 20% believe they will in time.
When asked which market segment is viewed as the next growth opportunity for inkjet, packaging came out on top at 56%, specifically corrugated and folding carton. This was followed by 44% of respondents identifying the opportunity for inkjet in garment printing. The décor segment was also popular, with 44% of respondents considering wallcoverings as among the top opportunities for inkjet.
Overall, the packaging, décor, and textile segments are expected to lead the way in inkjet growth.
While the survey demonstrates a wealth of positivity towards the future of inkjet, it also highlights some of the principal barriers to growth: 76% either agree or somewhat agree that there are too few integrating companies of scale in the market, and this is a problem for the growth of industrial inkjet, while half of respondents believe that technical challenges are holding inkjet back.
FM Future co-founder Marcus Timson said, ‘The insights gained from the Future of Inkjet survey confirm that the outlook for industrial inkjet is overwhelmingly positive, and confidence in the future of the market is strong. Crucially, it also offers some incredibly useful observations on the need for better education and communication in certain areas in order to facilitate continued growth.’
FM Future is a business development and communications consultancy founded by Frazer Chesterman and Marcus Timson.
