Tuesday August 22: it’s the 34th Tuesday of 2023 and the 63rd day of Summer. The dog days are past (named for Sirius the dog star, not puppies) and there are technically 32 days left till autumn begins but it feels like the last hurrah of summer. I would like to be taking my advice from Ralf Waldo Emerson: “Live in the sunshine. Swim in the sea. Drink in the wild air.” Unfortunately, our industry is already gearing up for a barrage of print shows ramping in September to keep us running right through to drupa (and beyond). So I have spent the calm before the storm doing a bit of an audit on our Installation Roundup data. The special mid-year roundup covers information reported through June of 2023 and culls out the presses that were actually installed this year rather than all reported. This content is restricted to premium subscribers, but we posted a free excerpt of the report here for everyone.
I say “before the storm” but hurricane season is in full swing in the U.S. with California in the path of a hurricane (Hillary) for the first time since the 1970s. North America is reporting the hottest temperatures ever and the World Weather Attribution Initiative found that temperatures in southern Europe and North America would have been “virtually impossible” before that first Industrial Revolution I talked about last week.
Even if you choose to ignore indications of climate change such as rising ocean temperatures, severe and unusual weather patterns and devastating wildfires, new government regulations are forcing the printing industry to pay attention to environmental sustainability. However, it is not a simple topic. Considerations are often simplified as aqueous versus UV, or by categorizing paper as a crop. Like many other topics we talk about here, the facts have to be analyzed holistically and in the context of the particular application, among other factors. Mark Bale took a deep, technical dive into this topic with “Unpacking Sustainability.” We have entered an era where companies will be measured my their environmental sustainability issues so we will be unpacking a lot more on this topic as it applies to inkjet investments.
Meanwhile, I’m still digging into new industrial inkjet offers to talk about on my upcoming webinar with Mark on September 12. Stay tuned for a third speaker joining the mix. Here’s the summary of that industrial revolution. I hope you can join us.
As I try to hang on to these last days of summer with my unpolished fingernails I will console myself with the words of Lily Pulitzer, “It’s always summer somewhere.”
Elizabeth
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