By Ed Avis
I attended the annual meeting of the German reprographics association on October 27-28, 2023 in Frankfurt. It was the first such event I’ve attended since Covid, and it was great to reconnect with our colleagues in Europe. Here are five observations I made during my visit.
1) The overall mood is somewhat somber. The war in Ukraine, inflation, and now the situation in Israel/Palestine have created a lot of stress for business owners in Germany. The high fuel prices have depressed construction, so reprographics business down. Some people I spoke to reported double digit decreases in revenue this year. That being said, the streets and stores are still vibrant, which reflects the strength of Germany’s economy despite the problems.
2) Scanning and other digital services are big. Just like in the United States, leading reprographics firms in Germany are serving their customers with digital planrooms, scanning services, and other state of the art services. Nicola Scharlau, one of the leaders of Scharlau GmbH in Hamburg, discussed her firm’s large-format scanning success, including the fact that they sometimes partner with other member firms on very large jobs. I gave a presentation at the conference about the digital reprographics market in North America, and the only services that seemed somewhat unfamiliar to some people in the room were offering a digital close-out service and the concept of a customer-specific digital storefront.
3) Speaking of scanning, the subgroup of the German association called go4copy.net, which consists of leading firms in various cities throughout the German-speaking countries, has created a new virtual entity called go4scanning.net. This website is designed to attract large-format scanning customers; the traffic is juiced by google ads. Interested customers complete a form that identifies their location and type of scanning project. The forms go to the association HQ, where they are passed along to the appropriate member shop. Raoul Zardeninks, the association’s executive director, told me they’re getting about one form per day. This is an innovative idea that produces concrete results for members. (IRgA might steal this great idea - stay tuned!)
4) As in the United States, leading reprographics firms in Germany have successfully transitioned their large-format printing skills to the sign, banner and advertising market. Heiko Schmalfuss, president of Digital Color Service GmbH in Chemnitz, talked about how his firm provides clients with advanced large-format color services, such as auto wraps and trade show displays. And during my visit after the conference to HRD Reprodienst in Hannover, I saw firsthand the sophisticated level of advertising technology services that company provides.
5) Artificial intelligence, which seems to be on the mind of every business owner these days, was the topic of one presentation at the conference led by a local university AI expert. He didn’t concretely tie the benefits of AI to reprographics, but it was interesting to observe that the association is endeavoring to keep up on this major technological advancement. Eventually we’ll figure out what AI means for reprographics!
The IRgA is considering organizing a trip to the DRUPA print conference in Dusseldorf, Germany in late May 2024. This trip would include a guided tour of the event, which is a giant print trade show, and tours of nearby reprographics shops. Plus some touristy stuff for fun! If you are interested, please let us know by emailing Ed Avis, ed.avis@irga.com.