First of all, I would like to recall - once again - that screen-printing is NOT an industry, but a technology used by many industries (graphic, sign, textile, so many industries from glass to electronic, etc.) and today that this technology is more alive than ever before! Now, let us travel back to 1994/95 : so many "digital players" moved around the world predicting the end of screenprinting by 2000 and that of offset by 2010 latest! The beautiful curves of their diagrams were so convincing, showing screen-printing declining and disappearing as the curves of digital printing were exploding above the stratosphere. FESPA - and myself - already told our players, the one from the "Gutenberg Galaxy", the "contact" printers, that instead of considering digital printing as a threat, it was better to look at it as a giant opportunity to develop the services for our customers, then to take the control of the

• Firstly that there were certain technical limitations to the perpetual expansion of digital printing technology, plus a certain relation carefully hidden in the first few years between "speed and quality". We will visit this point again later in the article.
• Secondly they also forgot that a technology, very alive and in good health such as "screen-printing", could react very fast when feeling a so-called "threat".

Screen-printing first of all immediately adopted (now at 95%), all over the world, the digital treatment of the images in its prepress.

Then, when speaking of the "screening" and still starting from the digital technologies, came the DTS (Direct from computer To Screen) where the ink-jet technology was used to put an identical
image on the screen, avoiding the expensive cost of films in a classic photographical treatment.

The development of the multicolour presses in large sizes (1.50 x 2.15 meter or even more) printing with the help of UV technology 2, 4 or even 5 colours) was also a reaction inspired by the success of the multicolour (and multiprocesses) printing of roll to roll labels in small widths.

In this sense, you can think that the emergence of digital printing technologies, simultaneously with the one of "the digital" that is everywhere now, acted more as a "teaser" for screen technology, and quickened the pace of developments in screen-printing domain.

The other result of these strong and fast changes was an evolution - far from being achieved because the printers are generally very "conservative and traditionalist" - of the mentality and of
the marketing ideas.

Benefit of Digital for the Customer

We have reached now a moment where you cannot anymore be "simply a printer" - whatever be the technology in use. Our customers expect a "full service range" from us.

Once again, I would like to hammer it in, our customers, especially the most important and interesting ones - the "direct customers" and "end users" don't care at all for the way or manner their images are manufactured. Again, we are not anymore "printers", we are "image makers", and, the final and sole purpose of these images, in our world of "visual communication" is to help our customer to sell his product or anything else he has to promote. First point the customer, more and more often, does not know a lot about prevailing technologies, both the traditional and the digital ones. Then, our customers want to speak, for example for the complex operations needed in POP, with only one person, the "foreman" and my feeling is that it is our role and natural position to be this sole interlocutor.

Very often in POP for example, we have a "budget" to fit into. No more is it a question of making a detailed, post per post, "cost study or price estimation". Even for a simple cardboard display, our customers want to speak to only one person. And then, it is up to us to convince our customer that we are absolutely able to answer his demand and to take care of the whole affair.

Third point, we at FESPA, and this also includes my own efforts, feel since many years that it is a necessity to improve the quality of screen-printing, as well for the images produced in graphic printing for - POP or other advertising media and for the numerous industrial applications in so many fields from ceramic and glass to automotive parts, IMD, electronic and signs, from textile printing to wood or from banknotes' safety prints to membranes switches, and beyond!

I do many seminars all over the world to explain the complex technology of screen-printing fine line halftone in 150 or even 200 or 300 lines/inch, with a high quality that can satisfy the most difficult customers in cosmetic, luxury or perfumery industries.

Digital and Screen Integration in the Customer Eyes

How has the integration of digital technology complemented traditional screen-printing? How has digital technology been received by the user?

If we mean the end user, the final customer, honestly he does not care because he does not know exactly what it is. Once again he wants - very often - a "very large image for a special use" and often in a short run. If you were to tell him that - "You can answer his demands at a reasonable price" he and you will be very happy. If you mean the regular and direct user, the printer, the answer is quite simple: "he has to, and must receive it well", that is if he wants to survive. You cannot ignore how much this technology (digital) is complementary of our own one (screen).

They forgot some "mechanical reasons" such as the limitation of the speed of ejection of a drop of ink in DOD, or that it is question of mechanical systems which move in X and Y, for example the printing heads move in Y and the band of material in X or the sheet is stable, but the printing heads move in X and Y. These translations have mechanical limits when it is question of wide format in term of relation speed/quality. The answer seems easy : "have more heads!"

OK, but the heads remain quite expensive and the fact you put more and more heads engender often such problems as the synchronisation and the increased complexity of the ink alimentation.

Psychologically, the mistake was too often, especially a few years ago, to pretend to offer high speeds of printing of several hundred m2/hour, simply forgetting to mention that it was true at 36 or 72 DPI and explaining much later that - if the machine can, what was not always said, print in 720 DPI, a definition often asked in POP - it would be twenty to ten times slower. Or forgetting to tell that the announced 360 DPI was, as matter of fact a real 180 DPI "interlaced".

The use of thermal ink jet with water inks has been also at the source of many disappointments : people realised how expensive were the special materials needed and that it was necessary as in
case of outdoor usage to add an expensive lamination.

Then came solvent-based piezo inkjets. Too often it was an obligation to add a dryer (jet air or infrared) to properly cure the ink - a screen-printing dryer, an irony! And I dare not mention the solvents since a large variety of these (more than 50%) contained ingredients that are purely and simply forbidden in classical printing inks and paints since years. But of course, they can print
directly on many substrates and do not need a lamination and hence come highly recommended by their manufacturers.

This mitigates the hype around UV piezo inkjet - the real future of digital printing, which will pose a worthy challenge only when such presses get cheaper and really reliable for day-to-day production.

Then there are marketing mistakes, those created by selling "exclusive and closed systems", both for software and inks.

I do not intend to name any company, but the simple fact to say that "there will be no warranty if you don't use our own inks" or that "you are obliged to buy our software, RIP included, to make the press work", etc. is nearer to a blackmail than a fair business practice, and it is clear that they sell those "exclusive inks" at four or five time higher prices then what could be a fair market price!

The worst is that such manufacturers, most often, do not manufacture the inks themselves but subcontract their fabrication to companies who in-turn often serve several competitor brands of similar product-type.

Business Opportunities

Having said all of this, one may wonder if there are any new business opportunities that combined screen/ digital providers have access to?

I think there are quite a lot! My feeling is that more then "image makers and services providers" we are becoming very fast "multi-process users". It is quite common that many of our large companies have now a wide range of equipments in: screen-printing, offset, digital printing, tampo-print, etc.

We can choose, as I mentioned above, the technology most adapted to a demand - to fulfil this services expected by the customer, or we can, for a full and wide advertising campaign, use several of those technologies, sometimes combined, sometimes "in parallel.

In some fields, we use also digital not only for small runs, but also for proofing or simulating the effects of such an image when used without correction in screen- or digital printing.

I do not feel that the new systems "took share of the screen-printing market." If they did the may be a very small token share has gone to small companies who print ultra short-runs. To the contrary, the new technologies allow us to offer our customers new possibilities of visual expression, which either simply did not exist before, or were too expensive to be used in a normal budget frame.

And, of course, the FESPA Exhibition "kept abreast of these changes". Since from Lyon 96 where 23% of the show was "digital", we reached 33% in Munich 99 and 37% in Madrid 2002 and some more are expected of Munich 2005.

The interesting fact in Madrid was the launching of many flat bed piezo UV ink jet presses and also of the first "combination" on the same line of digital and screen-printing.

The digital players understood so well the message and the fact that the screen-printers already control a very large part of the market pie. They not only enthusiastically exhibit in FESPA Shows, but also understand that it is no longer an objective: "to kill" screenprinting but, to the contrary, they must build an interesting and profitable combination of "joined forces".

This is so true that ESMA, the Association of European Manufacturers for Screenprinting equipments and materials accepted last year the integration of the digital players to its embership.

FESPA, observing that most leading and major trade reps like the American SGIA/ DPI, the European Screen-printers Associations were welcoming the digital manufacturers followed suit.

So we are now open more than ever before to a full cooperation between "screen and digital printing".

Joined Vertical Markets

FESPA is increasingly venturing into vertical markets and this is extremely interesting because very close to my own ideas - the ones we so successfully developed in Italy, Brigitte Hunt the manager of Viscom Italy in Milan and myself.

We of course have to expand "horizontally" by integrating at the same level of production, other imaging technologies than our basic or core's one.

But another key to success, as I explained before, is to be the "foreman" of a project, as close as possible in the beginning of it and as far as possible in the other operations, often so numerous, following the creative ("prepress") and printing ones: the "post press", a lot of different finishing processes, packaging, dispatching, etc. I believe that the key of our present and future success, for us so called "screen-printers or image makers" is to master all these operations to pre-and post press and beyond.

To achieve this goal, we need a lot of technical information, we need to see these equipments and enter into discussion with their manufacturers and conceivers. FESPA exhibition is the best place in the world for that and have started to develop this policy since Madrid 2002. Many of our marketing efforts that target this so important complementary part of our activity will set the stage for FESPA 2005 in Munich.

Improved Efficiency and Techniques

The improved efficiencies and techniques make quite a difference! On one hand, changes are often expensive in new machines and concepts; on the other hand, the pressure from the markets, on account of "global world trade, technical improvements and now also of the increasing pressure of environmental considerations" have to be factored.

Our activities and business are changing drastically.

To be stronger and to have the requisite investments to respond to the new demands and constraints posed before the "services providers" concept and the "multi-process users" concept, many companies need to join together, nationally and at some level some level internationally.

The need of technical changes, for example from solvents to UV both in screen- and digital- processes, the need of new investments in presses, water and air cleaning systems and processes, the new equipments in complementary technologies for prepress and finishing, etc., all this means more money, more power, more efficiency and this is too often, alas, related to the financial capacities of the companies.

A good number of "very small" companies will simply disappear if they don't want to or cannot undertake the necessary efforts.

For the strong ones, the diversity of technologies, products and machinery will be the key.