By Melissa Donovan
Printing directly to pre-manufactured objects using inkjet technology is something being noticed by many industries. This includes everything from water bottles to smartphone cases. These can be one-off pieces given as a personal gift with say a relative’s image printed on the object or a company looking to promote its brand by having a logo emblazoned on the product. There are number of possibilities.
Technavio published its Personalized Gifts Market by Product, Personalized Non-photo gifts, Personalized Photo Gifts, Distribution Channel, and Geography – Forecast and Analysis 2019-2023 in October 2019.
Focusing on personalized products like wearables and accessories, decoration, kitchenware and tableware, stationary and greeting cards, sports equipment and toys, photo cards, photo calendars, and other photo gifts, the market research company cites the market overall with a potential to grow by USD 15.92 billion during 2019 to 2023, achieving a compound annual growth rate of nine percent during the forecast period.
Manufacturers of these products are tasked with educating themselves on the benefits of digital printing and whether to bring such a service in house. For some, it means placing print devices directly into their facilities and consequently directly integrating them into their production lines. For others, it may mean outsourcing the digital print process entirely.
Outsourcing is a safe way to test out decorative technology without a full commitment. Many manufacturers work with local and overseas printers who are knowledgeable about digital printing. Together the manufacturer and the print provider form a trusted partnership.
Mobile Device Technology
A U.S.-based company dedicated to the education market, MAXCases designs protective solutions like Chromebook cases, Apple iPad cases, accessories, and cases for mobile devices. The business’ main goals are to provide solutions that enhance learning, safeguard the tools relied on in the classroom, and help schools maximize their IT budgets, according to Al Giazzon, CEO, MAXCases.
“MAXCases founders have been immersed in education solutions for over 20 years. As education morphed from front-of-the-class teaching to a collaborative approach based on one-to-one deployment of Chromebooks and Apple iPads, we foresaw the need to protect students’ mobile devices,” explains Giazzon.
In business since 2011, MAXCases works closely with brands including Apple, Dell, HP, and Microsoft to develop cases for mobile device technology. In 2016 the company started using digital printing, mainly to support smaller runs of product decoration. Traditionally MAXCases relied on silkscreen, but for shorter runs this technology was cost prohibitive.
After researching the options, it chose to outsource the digital printing work to several contracts in China. Each digitally printed job is completely custom, usually with a logo.
There is no immediate plans to bring this technology in house, but Giazzon is fully invested in the benefits digital print brings to the company and the MAXCases product line.
“The main benefit is speed to market for smaller, customized production runs. The cost per piece is higher than silkscreening, but the time to market is much faster and more in line with factories’ production plans than small lots for silkscreening,” he says.
While some manufacturers consider implementing direct-to-object printing directly into their main facilities, others may decide to outsource the process to test the waters. MAXCases is leveraging its partners’ knowledge to print shorter runs of product cost effectively.
May2020, Industrial Print Magazine