Print Unchained: Fifty Years of Digital Printing, 1950-2000 and Beyond, A Saga of Invention and Enterprise by Ted Webster

As digital technology continues its transformation of how we work and communicate, a unique sourcebook is being pitched for a limited time at a special discount for single or multiple copies. This groundbreaking presentation book, which early readers assert is a must-have for industry newcomers and veterans alike, is entitled "Print Unchained: Fifty Years of Digital Printing, 1950-2000 and Beyond, A Saga of Invention and Enterprise."

Excerpt #4
The following can be found in Chapter 2: Overture, The Industry, Industry Maturity, Global Shift (page 86) of the book.

Global Shift. As usual, Japan breaks all the rules. Conglomeration, with many diversified and more or less loosely organized manufacturing "families," is an ancient pattern which generally seems to work for the Japanese. In printers, Canon and Epson (Seiko) are two of the most impressive success stories. What is highlighted most vividly in this overview is the global shift of the industry toward Japan.

[Number of companies manufacturing general purpose print engines by geographic region of their home office during each decade. Europe includes Israel. Japan includes all the Far East. USA includes Canada. Includes primary companies active, or at least visible, in the U.S. market during any part of the decade. If tabulated at the end of the 1990s, the roster of US-based companies would be still smaller.]
Source: Digiprint Research Associates

This Global Distribution chart shows the number of active companies by region. Here again in a few cases there needed to be arbitrary classifications. Where do we put Fuji Xerox (50-50 ownership shares), for example? Should they even be listed as a separate company? In general, companies are assigned countries according to the location of their home office or that of their parent firm. For example, this makes Scitex Digital Printing in Dayton, OH USA a Dutch company. Their parent firm is Israeli, but Scitex lists its home base as The Netherlands.

Japan now represents well over half of the world's printer companies. This has been perhaps the major sea change of the last decade. The shift was reported in almost pensive terms by one observer of the 1998 CeBIT industry exposition in Hannover, Germany: "Proud firms such as Bull Compuprint, Facit, Olivetti, Olympia and Tally that once actively developed and marketed their own print engines and controllers have now mostly retreated into shrinking niches such as impact printing, or have abandoned printer development altogether."* Were this trend to be weighted with the volume of printers produced, Japan's percentage would certainly be well over 75% in terms of marking engine volume.

On the other hand, if the industry is defined more broadly, the global shift becomes much less pronounced. Software, controllers, supplies, and the myriad other derived, printer-driven sub-industries remain in North America.

These megatrends, in short, include industry maturity, concentration, and a strong global shift. However, if we see industry as including myriad derived industries, and expanding into new applications, these sea changes are less clear.

I.T. Strategies consultant Marco Boer sees this sea change as expansion, not contraction, "If you have narrow sights, looking backward, it can look like contraction," he said during a briefing at their Hanover, MA offices. "This trend is actually wonderful. Instead of the maybe $100 billion office automation printer market, the printer industry is becoming part of maybe a trillion dollar set of markets. Commercial graphic arts printing will become part of digital printing. Industrial printing will more and more be digital printing. It all depends on how you look at it."

Clearly, the symphony is far from over. In the opinion of some observers, the industry could experience a new wave of growth. There could be new players once again based in the USA or Europe. Explosive energy and opportunity still awaits the adventuresome in these frontiers. We will follow this thread further, exploring the future in Part Three.

*The Hard Copy Observer, 4/98 Issue

"Print Unchained" Elicits Raves

"It's an absolute must-have for anyone in the field of graphic communications." [Professor Michael Kleper, RIT; Publisher, Kleper Report on Digital Publishing]

"Highly readable . . . .a tale of adventure and intrigue, risk and reward, success and failure." [Art Diamond, toner technology consultant/researcher, author]

"In 22 years of writing book reviews, this is the first book that we have ever given our unreserved recommendation." [Michael Kleper]

"A publishing masterpiece." [Ed Pullen, industry analyst]

The volume is billed as a testimonial to the people and the companies, the invention and the enterprise that built the digital printing industry and continues to drive the historic merger between the traditional analog and digital worlds. Besides serving as a unique industry handbook, the hard cover volume is being profitably used as a memorable goodwill instrument for colleagues, potential shareholders and investors, key clients, recruitment prospects from other industries, and dealers and other business partners.

The publisher, DRA of Vermont, Inc. has announced a 25% discount off list for single or multiple copies.

"We see it as a kind of mind-share bullet unlike anything else now available. As a history it celebrates and lends perspective to the birth and continuing development of digital printing technologies," principle author Edward Webster says. "It is a revolution that will continue to change the face of the graphic arts and also bring an increasing level of publishing power to the people."

Among the others who contributed to the book are Manfred Wiedemer of Océ Printing Systems GmbH, consultants Mike Willis, Mike Zeis and Frank Romano, industry luminaries such as Bob Howard, John Warnock, Chip Holt and Dick Hackborn, and the consultants of I.T. Strategies, Inc. (Hanover, MA) including Mark Hanley, Marco Boer, and Patti Williams.

Author Webster has been involved with the industry for most of the fifty years covered. He has researched and authored dozens of studies and reports for both the computer printer industry and the printing industry. He founded and directed Datek Information Services, Inc., a market, technology, and strategic information resource for vendors of printers and supplies. Earlier he served as technical director of the Business Forms Section of Printing Industries of America, Inc. Currently he is consulting editor to I.T. Strategies, Inc.

Hardcover; landscape format; 272 pages; over 200 illustrations, charts and tables; fully indexed; ISBN 0-9702617-0-5. Limited Edition. Current price is $93.75. Steep discounts for multiple copy orders. To order or for additional information contact DRA by mail, phone (802-464-5845), fax (802-464-6534), email (tedweb@sover.net) or website (www.printunchained.com).