Print for the Future “Print for the Future” is a concept comprising so many angles, from sustainability to productivity, to innovation and differentiation. Craig Hardman, HP’s ANZ Country Manager, Large Format Printing, caught up with Digital Image Magazine to share his insights. DIM: When it comes to trends, what are you seeing from a global perspective? CH: Firstly, we are seeing diversification and innovation with clients exploring ways to offer a wider range of products to their customers, as well as attract new customers. We are seeing in particular growth in short-run packaging and labelling off the back of the explosion in eCommerce during the pandemic. Sustainability is a major theme, it’s not a trend; it’s here to stay, and it is important for everyone to address it in their businesses moving forwards. As a global manufacturer, the key for us is how do you apply sustainability? How do you bring it to life in your business? One aspect is product design and manufacture. Do you have a complete circular economy for your products? What is the product made from? Does it include recycled components? How is it disposed of at the end of its life? For example, we have some machines where 20% of the components are made from ocean-bound recycled plastic. We have also developed Eco Carton Ink cartridges where a customer can recycle the cartridge by separating the ink bladder and the plastic cartridge put in the HP Planet Partners and arrange to have it collected by a HP transport partner. They then go through a multi-phase “closed loop” recycling process. The recycled plastic from empty cartridges is used to create new Original HP cartridges and other everyday products. HP has used 2.86 million pounds of ocean-bound plastic in HP products since 2016; that’s over 102 million plastic bottles. 16 AUG/SEP 2022 In addition to what you are doing in your business, it is about what you are doing beyond your business. If you consider PacPrint, which was held recently in Melbourne, we calculated that we would be producing approximately 29 tonnes of carbon for a four-day show, and that includes everything from getting staff here, their flights, the accommodation, the food they’re eating, the production of the stand. To offset that, we are funding the planting of trees in a biodiversity corridor in WA. Productivity in a world of shorter runs and shorter lead times is an important trend, as availability is the number one priority for customers, followed by price. We are also hearing from clients that, along with availability and price, sustainability is becoming a more important part of their customers’ priority matrix. So if you can produce it quickly at a reasonable price and help the customer contribute to sustainable business practices, you’ll get that work over the cheapest in the market. “To this end, we are trying to help our clients by providing annual reports that enable them to respond to their customers’ requests regarding the processes they have in their businesses. The reports are detailed and provide key metrics in three core areas, including Climate Action, Human Rights and Digital Equity. The latest is called the HP 2021 Sustainable Impact Report. We are also trying to help our clients educate their customers and create a point of difference for themselves versus other print service providers,” concludes Hardman.
