Despite the perception that printing is outdated or dying, customer communication management solutions provider InsideData North CEO Rafiq Sallie says it is more a case of the printing industry changing and becoming more creative and interactive.

The perception that printing is dying stems from the electronic takeover, as customers now opt to receive banking statements, insurance policies and similar documentation electronically as opposed to such documents being printed, he explains.

“As a result, we have positioned ourselves to cater to the conversion, despite there being an influence on transactional printing throughout the country.”

Consequently, InsideData has positioned its business to stay abreast of the technological changes to ensure that it remains relevant in the conversion.

Despite this conversion, there is still a demand for printing, with InsideData also venturing into book and magazine printing.

“Based on the statistics that the company has seen, there is still a huge demand for this form of printing because people still want to have something tangible in their hands,” Sallie points out

The company started expanding their service offering in the book printing arena in September last year and has been focused on building on this aspect ever since.

“We have found many opportunities in the market; we have established a team that is dedicated to analysing and securing more clients in that market.”

Sallie states that the company has embarked on the use of inkjet technology, a water-based ink used in printing.

The technology expands the company’s offering by generating business at a reduced cost while delivering more consistent colour.

Taking into consideration the client’s corporate identity, the technology has proven to be more cost effective than conventional printing, as this technology can be used to customise printing specifications or requirements using electronic and conventional printing to reduce costs.

Sallie believes that printing companies are aligning themselves to accommodate the change to service customer needs and “to keep printing alive”.

InsideData aims to become a global leader in delivering a customer communications solution, which will enable clients to be part of the company’s digital transformation strategy in the printing industry, he concludes.