Anticipating the next big thing can be a lot of fun. You run the chance of being way off base, but trying to take the pulse of the industry is always tempting. So, I may live to regret this, but here’s a short list of issues and topics that I think will dominate industry discussions over the next year or so. 
 

The labour shortage  This problem is already manifest in a couple of areas. In our cross-country features to date (see pg. 28 for an overview of the printing industry in the Prairies), the lack of entry-level workers is cited as one of the biggest issues by printers from B.C. to Manitoba. Young people are opting for the economic free-for-all that is Alberta and for higher- paying industries like construction. When printers do manage to attract workers, they have to dish out much higher pay rates than they used to. 
 

Young people know little about this industry, and their perception is that it’s an old-iron sector that lacks the glamour of high tech. Schools are struggling between delivering a “university” level education that is high on theory, or more practical hands-on training programs that the industry badly needs. But as Frank Romano, former RIT professor, put it in a recent column: “Parents don’t want to send their kids to university to become press operators.” Does the printing industry need an image makeover? 
 

The environment  If anyone thought this issue might have been going away, they’re wrong. It’s just finding its legs. Going green matters to everyone—the young, the old, the rich, the poor—and consumers will increasingly look for green suppliers. Printers won’t be spared. No matter how much you think you’re doing in your shop to be green, you will be asked to do more, you will come under greater scrutiny, and you will have to devote time and money to this issue. So, from printing on FSC paper, to using organic inks and buying green energy, print shops will have to strive to reduce their ecological footprint.
 

Reaching out to consumers  Printers have traditionally been business-to-business providers. It made sense. Businesses bought a lot of printing, did it consistently, and were easier to reach and develop as clients. Consumers seldom bought commercial print, were hard to find and impossible to cultivate. 
 

The Internet changed all that by making it easier to aggregate small jobs. Consumers are beginning to buy a lot of print, particularly in personal publishing and photobooks—snaps from the family trip to Disney World that wind up being printed as calendars, daytimers, or gifts for grandma. 
 

Online companies like lulu.com and Shutterfly, which has its own presses, are doing brisk business, but printers are beginning to get in on the action too.  Either they’re setting up their own online digital storefronts, or they’re hooking up with online publishers who want to outsource the printing. Either way, this sector can only grow.
 

Global markets You’re probably tired of hearing about China, but you’re going to hear a lot more. Already in Canada we have Chinese print brokers and a smattering of printers who outsource to China (see Trade Talk on pg. 4 for more on this). Expect this trend to grow. Also expect to see Chinese manufacturers arrive on these shores sooner than we thought. From recent trade show reports, Chinese equipment suppliers are catching up fast to established technology.  
 

There’s no rest for the wicked, or for printers.