Inkjet technology’s role in today’s evolving production printing ecosystem is being cemented by rapid advances in quality, speed, and flexibility.

It’s ability to seamlessly manage variable volume demands, responsively and cost efficiently, places Print Service Providers (PSPs) in a strong position to capitalize on a market that Smithers says will reach 2.29 trillion A4 prints or equivalent by 2029.

In 2024 global sales from inkjet printing will reach $117.7 billion. Positive market conditions indicate this is expected to grow at an average of CAGR of 6.6% to $162.1 billion in 2029, at constant pricing.

There are four core sectors at the heart of this growth:

1. Customer Communications: 73% of customers expect better personalisation according to Salesforce’s global State of the Connected Customer Report. It also found that 80% of customers say the experience a company provides is as important as its products and services. Responsive personalisation across communications, from billing statements and policy updates, to account notification, that connects with consumers is made possible by inkjet.

2. Direct Mail: In a world dominated by digital communication, direct mail stands out for its tangible, memorable qualities as my colleague Erwin Busselot discussed here. Inkjet printing enables the fast, cost effective production of direct mail that is customised for target audiences and significantly boosts response rates and overall ROI. It can also connect to online content via QR codes.

3. Books: IT Strategies estimates that 25% of all book pages printed in 2022 used digital inkjet presses. The figure is expected to reach 39% by 2028.That is largely due to continually declining average run lengths and the rise of printing books on demand. Inkjet delivers customisable print on demand that reduces inventory waste and meets exact order demands with fast delivery. And brings sustainability benefits alongside too.

4. Graphic Arts and Commercial Printing: Smithers reports short run advertising work is the largest market for inkjet. It accounts for 49.2% of contemporary demand. Inkjet’s versatility and ability to meet diverse client demands by reproducing intricate details, vibrant colours, and various formats, on a range of media types makes it an ideal choice for posters, banners, and other marketing materials. However, its outlook is tempered by advertising budgets switching away from physical to online channels.

Across each of these growth areas, workflow automation is crucial. To streamline processes and minimise touchpoints, from input to finishing, by automatically preflighting, imposing, and batching jobs, integrating into existing workflows and automatically routing jobs to production.  Cloud driven workflows can create an online gateway to job onboarding and automated workflows. Data driven workflows can remove the complexity often associated with data personalisation through the use of data formatting and intelligent templates. And process driven workflows will bring efficiencies across multiple production and application led processes. All designed to reduce manual touchpoints, costs, and turnaround time.