The large-format printing industry continues to evolve at pace. Printing equipment is advancing rapidly, color gamut is expanding, and production speeds are climbing as businesses invest in the latest technologies to stay competitive. The buzz at PRINTING United Expo 2025 in Las Vegas reflected this momentum, from record attendance to the sheer number of equipment launches on the show floor. Globally, according to Grandview Research, the large-format print market is projected to grow from $9.11 billion in 2023 to $12.70 billion by 2030, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5%. North America currently leads the market with a 34.4% share, with the United States alone representing nearly a quarter of the global large-format printer market.
As print speeds increase and e-commerce growth fuels demand for faster delivery, customers’ expectations for shorter turnaround times continue to rise. Yet, despite all the innovation in print hardware and software, one area often lags behind – large-format finishing. In many shops, finishing remains a major bottleneck. While attention typically focuses on print and prepress optimization, finishing is frequently the slowest point in the workflow. This can result in production delays, missed deadlines, and capacity limitations. Simply put, a print shop is only as fast as its slowest process, and for many, that process is finishing.
A recent Alliance Insights report, Exploring Automation in Wide-Format Printing, found that turnaround time and manual bottlenecks are two of the leading causes of slow production. 30% of survey respondents identified “turnaround time” as a critical challenge amid rising demand for quick delivery, while another 30% cited manual “workflow bottlenecks,” such as pre-press, file preparation, or finishing. These issues are compounded by workforce pressures, with 44% of respondents indicating labor availability and 41% to high labor costs as major concerns. Together, these challenges create what the report describes as “a layered set of obstacles” driven by labor shortages, manual tasks, inconsistent job volumes, and fragmented workflows – all of which can be mitigated through finishing automation.
Read the full article on Wide-Format Impressions, a publication of PRINTING United Alliance, ASI’s strategic partner.
