Labour squeeze drives print shift to digital inkjet

Australian print businesses are changing production strategies as labour shortages and tighter turnaround expectations push more work towards automation and digital inkjet, according to Jet Technologies.

The shift is moving boardroom discussions away from pure volume and towards how jobs flow through a plant. Printers face greater job complexity, shorter deadlines and more variations across labels, packaging and commercial print.

Jet Technologies Director Jack Malki described the trend as a structural change, with fewer manual touchpoints and greater reliance on digital platforms.

"Printers are being asked to deliver more jobs, in more variations, with fewer people involved at every step," Malki said. "That combination simply isn't sustainable with traditional, labour-intensive workflows, and it's why we're seeing sustained momentum behind digital print - particularly inkjet."

For many printers, digital inkjet is now being assessed for its impact on operations, rather than as a narrow comparison of print quality and run length. The technology can change how work is prepared, processed and finished across the production chain.

"In many cases, the difference in touchpoints compared to conventional print is substantial," Malki said. "Digital print allows work to move through the business with far less manual handling."

Beyond the press

Investment decisions are increasingly extending beyond the press, with printers funding automation across the workflow. Areas include Management Information Systems, automated artwork intake, pre-press preparation, variable-data workflows and finishing.

Jet Technologies said the biggest operational gains come from connectivity between these systems, rather than isolated upgrades in one part of the factory.

"Automation is often underestimated," Malki said. "The biggest gains happen when everything is connected. Even simple job-memory functions can save an enormous amount of time when complexity increases."

Labour availability remains a central constraint, with an ageing workforce and ongoing difficulty attracting and training younger staff affecting multiple print segments.

"There isn't a single business we work with that isn't feeling labour pressure in some form," Malki said. "It's universal, and it's the main driver behind the structural changes we're seeing."

As a result, printers are placing greater emphasis on systems that reduce dependence on scarce, skilled operators. Digital platforms and automation are increasingly seen as operational requirements to maintain output, consistency and quality while staffing remains tight.

Embellishment demand

Jet Technologies also reported increased demand for digital embellishment, particularly in label production. It highlighted an emerging category it calls label contouring, where inkjet embellishment can produce multi-height, tactile finishes.

"Once brand owners see contoured, tactile labels, flat print starts to feel very ordinary," Malki said. "It adds a level of engagement that's difficult to achieve any other way, and the response from brands has been extremely strong."

Sustainability split

Sustainability adoption remains inconsistent across the printing industry, with differences between market segments and even among businesses serving the same category. Some customers have made minimal changes, while others have adopted broader sustainability strategies, according to Jet Technologies.

"There's a very broad spectrum, from minimal change through to genuinely embedded sustainability strategies," Malki said. "In the past, there was a lot of re-labelling of existing products, but that's starting to give way to more meaningful change."

Jet Technologies linked recent momentum to materials that improve environmental outcomes while remaining commercially viable for print buyers. It pointed to laminating films with recycled content as one example, moving from niche use to wider adoption.

"When a sustainable solution is accessible and commercially realistic, the industry does move," Malki said. "We've seen that clearly with laminating films containing recycled content, which have gone from niche to mainstream in a relatively short period."

Jet Technologies is an importer and distributor across several industrial sectors, operating in Australia, New Zealand and parts of South East Asia. It has demonstration centres in Sydney and Melbourne for equipment and workflow discussions.

It expects print businesses that continue investing in digital inkjet, automation and connected workflows will be better placed to manage labour constraints while meeting rising expectations for speed, variation and job complexity.