FESPA shares insights into wide format, textile printing and signage with global print census

FESPA is launching its third global Print Census, with the first surveys being completed by visitors to FESPA Global Print Expo and European Sign Expo 2022 (31 May – 3 June 2022, Messe Berlin, Germany).

FESPA is launching its third global Print Census, with the first surveys being completed by visitors to FESPA Global Print Expo and European Sign Expo 2022 (31 May – 3 June 2022, Messe Berlin, Germany).

Funded through FESPA’s Profit for Purpose reinvestment programme, the objective of this regular international survey is to provide fresh insight into industry trends, and recognise the challenges and opportunities faced by printers and sign-makers post-pandemic. The Census findings will enable FESPA to better support its members and shape its future product offering.

The third iteration of this research initiative will delve further into the six core areas that emerged from the analysis of the 2018 Print Census – market optimism, changing customer demands, the evolving wide format product mix, the importance of digital technology investment, the rise of textile printing, and environmental pressures. Exploring these same topics four years on will allow FESPA to assess how long-term trends are progressing.

The FESPA Print Census also aims to identify new drivers of change in the industry, for example by exploring equipment, software and workflow trends, as well as pricing and margins. Importantly, the report will seek to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on print and signage businesses.

Graeme Richardson-Locke, FESPA’s Head of Associations and Technical Lead, comments, “At FESPA, our purpose is to deliver education and inspiration to our communities to help them prosper. By hearing from our members and visitors to FESPA’s worldwide events about how trends in the market are impacting their businesses and how the pandemic has changed their ways of working, we can obtain a clear picture of the commercial reality for printers and sign-makers around the world and deepen our understanding of how the market is diversifying.”

“This enables us to adapt our products to ensure that, in conjunction with our local Associations, we’re providing the right support to help our members to succeed. Delivering these services to our community is more vital than ever and, with an informed view of the commercial backdrop, we can help them make informed decisions to support their recovery and long-term growth.”

As with the 2018 Census, Keypoint Intelligence will analyse the results on behalf of FESPA and an overview of the findings will be published in Spring 2023, at FESPA Global Print Expo 2023 in Munich, Germany. The full Census analysis will be accessible free of charge to members of FESPA’s national Associations and FESPA Direct Corporate membership holders. Non-members will be able to purchase the Census report.

From today (Tuesday 31 May 2022), the FESPA Print Census survey is available to complete online at www.fespa.com/printcensus/survey in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. Further translations into Arabic, Bulgarian, Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Serbia, Slovakian, Thai and Turkish will be available from mid-June.

Visitors to FESPA exhibitions throughout 2022 and the beginning of 2023 in Europe, Brasil, Eurasia and Mexico will also be able to complete the Print Census onsite.

Anyone participating in the FESPA Print Census will receive a copy of the executive summary ahead of it being published and will be entered into a prize draw to win free entry to FESPA Global Print Expo 2023, with two nights’ accommodation included. Visitors to FESPA Global Print Expo 2022 who complete the survey onsite can also claim a complimentary drink at the Printeriors café located in the South Entrance.

For more information on the FESPA Print Census, visit: www.fespa.com/printcensus