(1) In what direction should the printing industry be headed?
In the 1990s, the Japanese printing industry saw an increase in the consumption of printing/communication paper and ink. Undoubtedly, both paper and printing will continue to exist in the future.
However, the enhanced value produced in prepress, one of the industry's profit sources up to the end of the 1980s as described before, is about to vanish now. On the other hand, information based on electronic media is swelling while the basis of the printing market, Japan's population, is certainly projected to shrink. Therefore, the printing industry is destined to decline through a flat or slow growth unless it opens up new business fields and builds business models suitable for them.
At least, we can say that the 20th century's business environment for the Japanese printing industry will not recur. Facing this need to create a vision for the new century, printing companies may begin to wonder exactly what the difference between printing in the 20th century and that in the 21st century is.
First of all, the new century's printing business is distinguishable from the last century's in that Japanese society is now so materially content that some areas of printing cannot help but shrink to adjust the overproduction and that information delivery methods are becoming more and more Internet-oriented. In short, what lies ahead in the 21st century, following saturation in paper media, is a transition to a new phase based on the Internet, which will further lead on to the next phase.
However, even when information is displayed on screens instead of on paper, graphic arts as a technique to help humans recognize information will still survive. This is something that will remain unchanged in the 21st century, and printing companies, with their strength in this field, will have just as many opportunities in this new information environment as they have always had.
Another distinctive aspect of the new century's printing business is that the key to success is how printers can improve customers' business performance through sophisticated printing services, such as XML-based or on-demand printing, or through the development of services associated with printing.
In addition, in the new light of the 21st century, what did not pay in the conventional printing business model can be considered as a potential profit source by the application of digital printing systems.
Based on these arguments, JAGAT concluded that business fields that can generate value under the future initiative of the printing industry come down to cross-media technology, e-business and digital printing. For the promotion of cross-media solutions, an environment where paper and electronic media can balance without loss must be developed. In the area of e-business, printing companies have to enhance the value of their services, including traditional derivative services that have been offered in combination with printing, with the aid of information technology. With respect to digital printing, now that direct and instant output from digital data is possible, how to expand business opportunities by making the most of such data to enable more versatile printing applications at a variety of sites is important.
The notion of printing, which used to be represented by the five major elements of printing ―the original copy, plates, ink, printing media and the press ― must be redefined in a form that ensures sustainable development in the industry from now through 2050.
JAGAT feels the need to declare that 21st century printing is supported by four pillars, with three of them consisting of cross-media applications, e-business and digital printing and the fourth being the traditional element to preserve the printing culture.
(2) What JAGAT will do for the industry
In 1988, JAGAT hosted the first Page, an event comprising a trade show that is focused solely on digital prepress technologies and a conference. Since then, through its wide range of operations, our organization has encouraged digitization in prepress processes from DTP penetration to CTP installation. However, this is only the first phase of digitization in the printing industry. In the second phase, the above-mentioned cross-media applications, e-business and digital printing will need to be established and expanded as business domains. These three new pillars are the key issues equivalent to computerization in the 1980s and full digitization in the 1990s.
To support the printing industry as it enters the second phase of digitization and ensure the meaningful outcomes that will follow, JAGAT set up 'The Project to Embody the Declaration for the New Century of Printing' in 2002 and has started activities. The project involves the objectives and activities shown in Figure 18. The project consists of three elements: establishing management systems, forming fundamental programs for human resources development and supporting the creation of digital business.
Figure 18: The Project to Embody the Declaration for the New Century of Printing
