When people are discussing innovation in the printing community, they tend to be talking about buying some new technology that has already gone through many steps in the innovation process. Of course many of these new concepts might not be totally worked out properly and that can cause problems. Sometimes big problems, but I would not call the process of buying a new technology "innovation". It is more a process of early adoption.
Even though I am very keen on innovation, it is not something people should jump into without a very good reason and with very good knowledge to back it up. So it is very understandable that printers, who are mostly quite small operations, are wiser to wait and see.
On the other hand, innovation is critical to the health of the printing industry and that requires the large printing companies to be more involved in risk taking for the benefit of all. I personally think the large printing companies have let the industry down and not taken their responsibility to support new thinking. They have not been leading in the effort to rethink the process for the future benefit of all. They have the resources but do not use them. They also wait, just like a small printer and see what becomes available on the market. A very short lighted mentality.
Who should have the most knowledge of the process? This is an interesting question people should think about. I have been at press manufacturers and they have said they follow GATF for knowledge. Some have said that they don't really understand the process. On the other hand, some people at graphic arts institutions and other researchers seem to think the press manufacturers understand the process more than they do. Printers go to their vendors for advice.
The people who should know the most about the process are the ones who run it all the time. That means printers and the large printers should have the resources to get the most knowledge from their operations but they don't. Press manufacturers actually don't run a lot of paper and therefore can't understand as much as a printer could potentially know.
An interesting observation I have made regarding engineers that work for press manufacturers. On Linkedin, people have profiles of their background. Most engineers, who work at press manufacturers, where they design mechanical and control systems for presses, do not say offset is one of their knowledge skills. They don't care about the process. They design engineering systems but have no interest in what is actually done to run the process. They leave that up to the press operator.
True competitive advantage will not come from buying the latest technology but from developing some of it internally based on better knowledge and protecting it with patents and keeping trade secrets.
