February 2023

Creating Change Through Innovation

By Andrew Muir, CEO, Muir Omni Graphics

Decades of change have revolutionized the industrial graphics industry. Gone are traditional job shops that followed a simple “quote-order-produce-ship” business model. In their place are highly technical, process-driven operations—including many Six Sigma and ISO-certified firms—focused on production quality, environmental safety, and craftsmanship.

Quick and inexpensive, digital printing is now the production method of choice for most marketing and sales literature (replacing offset printing) and billboards and point-of-purchase materials (replacing screen printing). Digital technology does have its limitations, however, particularly when it comes to quality, longevity, and color-matching capabilities.

That’s why screen-printing is still at the heart of the industrial graphics business. The only viable solution for a number of applications, screen printing’s unique combination of highly pigmented ink and coating withstands direct sunlight and weather conditions for many years. No other solution matches its weather-ability and only very limited technologies enable printing on thick materials or aluminum. It likely will be many years before a cost-effective alternative is developed.

Still, digital and screen-printing technologies are on a collision course, since OEMs today expect the best attributes of both—quality, longevity, speed, and price—and prefer to work with fewer suppliers who can deliver on all these requirements. That’s why many industrial graphics manufacturers have purchased and are testing various types of digital output equipment, direct-to-screen printers, and other cutting-edge technologies, integrating what works into the production process.

Manufacturers will have plenty of new options to choose from in the coming years, all of which are designed to deliver more flexibility while keeping costs low.

• Sustainable solutions. Many innovative new materials—everything from biodegradable and sustainable substances to substrates made from corn and soybeans to vinyl that can be used on concrete walls—are in the works to help manufacturers meet both business and environmental demands.
• Decals on demand. Another trend is the creation of just-in-time delivery processes for industrial graphics. Producing materials on demand means neither the supplier nor the customer needs to hold large amounts of inventory in stock, driving down costs.
• Self-destructing signage. There’s even talk of materials that can self-destruct after a specific period of time. Political campaign signs, for example, could be produced out of apple, corn or other biodegradable material and simply disintegrate after an election.

As the industry continues to evolve, and as OEMs continue to push for more global, brand-friendly, and leaner solutions, industrial graphics manufacturers will need to remain vigilant about analyzing materials, technologies, and processes and eliminating waste—ensuring production of the highest-quality, longest-lasting, and most cost-effective materials.

Andrew Muir is a second-generation business owner and president of Muir Omni Graphics, an expert in industrial and fleet graphics. Muir has more than 50 years of experience providing turnkey production and management solutions for OEM markings and decals, fleet and corporate vehicle markings, corporate identity, control panels and fascias, warning labels and signage, and specialty graphics. The company serves the off-highway, construction, transportation, and farm equipment markets. More information is available at www.muirgraphics.com.

 

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Visit us at this year’s Farm Equipment Manufacturers Association’s Spring Supply Summit & Showcase happening March 21st through 23rd in Sandestin, FL.

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Haley McEvers

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