The Next Big Thing or Viva La Revolution Washington DC

No matter what industry you're in, everyone wants to know what the next big thing is going to be. You know what I mean—the next trend or product or thing that will revolutionize the market and change everything going forward.

For many, UV technology is it.

UV flatbeds have been on the market for several years now—followed closely behind with UV hybrid printing machines—and print providers have taken to them. The instant dry ink can increase productivity—no need to stand around waiting for ink to dry before going through your post-printing processes. And instead of printing and then mounting, UV flatbeds gave shops the ability to print on all kinds of rigid materials—anything that would fit under the printhead from toilet seats and ceiling tiles to doors and various metals and even glass. And then, there was the ability to use white ink for flood coats and spot colors.

And then things changed. Inks became more flexible, allowing for vacuum forming and roll-to-roll printing—without cracking. As the technology continues to improve—on both the ink and equipment sides—placements are forecast to grow. According to reports by I.T. Strategies, UV roll-to-roll printers—this does not include any of the UV hybrids—could grow from an installed base of 199 printers in 2006 to 1,300 by 2011, a CAGR of 46 percent. Total manufacturer revenue from UV roll-to-roll printers (hardware, ink, and media) is forecast to increase from $121 million in 2006 to more than $560 million by 2011, a CAGR of 36 percent.

But will it replace solvent roll-to-roll printers? "It might be too early to tell," said Liz Ziepniewski Logue, senior consultant at I.T. Strategies. "There is vendor motivation to move to UV roll-to-roll and, according to I.T. Strategies research, many end users believe UV inkjet printers will be the future of the wide-format graphics market. While we do not expect that UV roll-to-roll printers will replace solvent inkjet printers in the near future, we do expect UV roll-to-roll inkjet printers to impact solvent printer sales and output over the next three years. How much will depend on how quickly vendors continue to develop UV products."

And from the looks of things at SGIA and other industry trade shows, developing new UV products doesn't look like it's going to be an issue. For a little more discussion about UV roll printers and their role within the wide-format market, turn over to page 18. For a look at how some UV flatbed printers are being integrated a little further into a print provider's workflow, make sure you check out the Process & Workflow article beginning on page 30. In addition to talking about the print/cut machines on the market, Bill Schiffner takes a look at how some of the partnerships and technology integration has helped to increase productivity within wide-format businesses.

But, no matter which way you look at it, UV technology is here to stay and we might be in the middle of a revolution—technologically speaking, that is.