State of the Industry? Reluctant to return to it.

[Servicetech]

Recently I was contacted by a former employer about the possibility of returning to work for them, I was forced to politely decline at this time based on what I see in the industry in my area. There are still shops closing, being sold, etc.

Beyond that I am not too sure about the state of the industry as a whole, I would not want to be laid off by the same company twice! Things are going comparatively well on my new career path.

What is the sate of the industry with respect to commercial offset printing?

 

[unoprint1]

we started 29 years ago running offset and B&W analog copies. We are now a full digital shop with B&W,Color, full color digital envelopes, and full color wide format printing. Offset printing will continue to decline. Better if you can migrate to the digital printing side.

 

[dabob]

we started 29 years ago running offset and B&W analog copies. We are now a full digital shop with B&W,Color, full color digital envelopes, and full color wide format printing. Offset printing will continue to decline. Better if you can migrate to the digital printing side.

While I can't disagree with unoprint1 we got into this industry 37 years ago as a quick print type of shop and over the years grew into a quality offset shop - starting in 2001 we made an investment into the digital press area and while it has grown over the years we also changed the focus of our offset side into point of sale, and labeling moving away from mostly collateral and the like. I don't see offset printing disappearing anytime soon you just have to look at the market and see what won't be replaced by digital, either printed or electronic.

While most of us don't ride horses anymore there are still custom saddlemakers out there, if you pick your niche and do a good job at it you should be fine for the foreseeable future.

 

[Chasfinch]

Last charts showing printing trends offset has tapered off its decline and has somewhat stabilized.