Eyes of the World on China and the HVTO Market in Asia Pacific

By Brett Dashwood, edp
OutputLinks vice president, Asia Pacific Region

With the 2008 summer Olympics, this year has been significant for China as it garnered worldwide attention not only for the high-profile event but for the country’s social and economic changes. Indeed, as China sees rapid growth, so does its electronic document systems industry, specifically the high volume transaction output (HVTO) and personalized printing markets. Undoubtedly, China’s document community is undergoing a transformation, and so is all of Asia Pacific when it comes to HVTO. Now, all eyes are on this region and its output industry.

All in Print China 2008
In fact, for those directly involved in HVTO, this transformation of the industry throughout Asia has been evident for some time. We have seen several large industry events around the region (specifically in India and China) hit the mark with huge success, and this should only continue as All in Print China takes the stage this week, Nov. 14 – 17, in Shanghai.

All in Print (www.allinprint.com) is one of the most important professional exhibitions of the printing industry in China. The conference is a drupa-sponsored event that’s organized by the Printing Technology Association of China, China Academy of Printing Technology, KeyinPrint Media, and Messe Düsseldorf China Ltd. This year they expect over 120,000 trade visitors.
 

Through our partnership with KeyinPrint Media, OutputLinks is taking an active role in the event as a media partner, and Andy and Julie Plata, owners of OutputLinks and Graphic Communications World, are attending and speaking at the conference in a few days.

When discussing the current market with Herbert Kieleithner, marketing manager for production print for Océ-Australia Limited, he says, “Where shall we start? Industry consolidation, transition from monochrome to color, the uptake of continuous feed and inkjet technology, color, color, color, transpromotional communication documents, margin pressures, graphic arts buying into the transaction market---in Australia and the Asia Pacific region as a whole, we are experiencing the lot!”

HVTO Heads East
As Kieleithner says, Asia is witnessing some exciting times. And while numerous companies in the  HVTO industry are already well-established in the Asia Pacific region and even participating in All in Print China, there are still fantastic opportunities for companies from abroad. But how do you get involved?

Entering the Asian market, particularly China or India, is best done after thorough planning and with a good local partner who knows the lay of the land more than just the language. Many Asian companies are seeking western partnerships to gain new experience and knowledge, so it’s a matter of making the right strategic move.

The personalized printing market is definitely maturing in China, particularly for documents generated by Chinese telecommunications companies, banks and financial institutions, the post office, insurance and utilities, etc. China has always had good volumes of personalized printing, as well as ongoing growth in this area. The value of these transaction documents as an effective communication vehicle is now being more fully realized, which will lead many Chinese and Asia Pacific companies to seek international partners for assistance.

Countries that make up nearly half of the world’s population are exciting to think about, however, the Asia Pacific opportunities are more than just the Chinese and Indian markets. Australia and New Zealand are continually evolving, and countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and even Indonesia present fantastic opportunities for companies wanting to enter or expand their Asian market presence. Even OutputLinks is growing and making leaps and bounds in the Asian HVTO marketplace.

Outsourcing & Asia
One of the major differences in Asia is the lack of outsourcing. In Australia, New Zealand, North America and most of Europe, there is a massive trend of companies focusing on their core business and outsourcing their document creation and printing requirements. Not so in Asia. There are a number of successful print-for-pay service providers in the region, but they definitely wouldn’t be “the norm.” However, companies in the region are now beginning to seek outsourcing options as they realize the benefits of working with a company who is an expert in document creation, to help enhance their documents’ value and effectiveness.

Johnny Lu, Asia Pacific managing director for GMC Software, shares his views on how the region is looking at outsourcing to print service providers. “Print service providers (PSP) in Asia have moved from being only a print provider to becoming multi-channel output providers,” he says. “PSPs are realizing they need to deliver not only the paper output, but also e-output.”

Lu adds, “For this to work effectively in concert with their customers, the following two points are important: One: Color management. As output channels increase, the flexibility available in color management plays an important role in the success of a PSP. And two: Campaign Management both online and offline. Traditional campaign management is offline, however, now enterprise customers require PSPs to provide online management to show real-time results and feedback on the success of the campaign.”

It is definitely an thrilling time in the high volume transaction output industry, especially in the Asia Pacific region. Over the coming months I look forward to bringing you more information, not only on opportunities about expanding into this exciting region of the world, but also on some of the technical requirements for document and data use and generation in this arena. I also look forward to sharing the many new partnerships and developments for OutputLinks as it continues to grow more in Asia Pacific and around the globe.