Publishing Agencies Category Procurement Intelligence Report

Printing Services market around the world is undergoing rapid transitions that have a massive potential to influence the way companies strategize for Publishing Agencies procurement and the cost they have to incur. The category is expected to experience a moderate price rise resulting from increasing investment in technologies and automation by commercial printing companies, but long-term price outlook remains positive for buyers as suppliers are expected to recover the technological investments soon.

Rapid digitization of workspace and work processes has significantly reduced the use of paper in corporate world and therefore, industry has seen a consistent decline of print volumes. Still, the term \"paperless office\" will take years to become a common phenomenon. Print is here to stay and will co-exist with the digital document solutions in a \"paper-light\" corporate world.

Buyers prefer to engage suppliers whose offerings span beyond Publishing Agencies. The practice brings in several advantages such as rationalization of supplier base, economies of scale and reduced category management cost.

The report discusses in detail the best practices that have served well the category managers responsible for Publishing Agencies procurement.

For example, Cross-platform color management refers to the management of colors among computer operating systems. Cross-platform color management helps in translating color across different devices with the help of color profiles. Buyers should asses the capability and compatibility of a supplier's solution for cross-platform color management.

Buyers should compare critical capabilities of suppliers based on security policies regarding materials provided, types of printers used, print color guarantees and TAT and onboard those that can offer a one-stop solution.

Buyers prefer to engage with service providers that adopt hedging techniques to mitigate the effects of fluctuations in printing ink prices. The majority of printing inks are primarily derivatives of crude oil, the prices of which are highly volatile. Thus, engaging with service providers that adopt hedging will allow buyers to minimize the impact of price fluctuations pertaining to printing inks during the contract tenure.

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Publishing Agencies procurement managers also need to proactively identify and mitigate potential risks that can arise in the supply chain or contracts for Publishing Agencies procurement. Some examples include:

• Procurement without consulting the actual users of Publishing Agencies may result in a mismatch in expectations of the buyer's internal stakeholders versus the actual contract executed
• Paper, ink, other raw materials, and fuel form important cost components for the broader print services category. However, the supply of raw materials such as fuel and paper is highly dependent on demand-supply fluctuations. Any increase in prices of these raw materials may critically affect the cash flow of commercial print suppliers and subsequently affect their ability to invest in CAPEX projects
• Contract-related risks where unfavorable credit terms may severly penalize buyers for delayed payments or entitle the supplier to demand pre-payments or shorten the payment terms are not very common in the category but they do exist in certain situations where buyers' liquidity or financial health is in question

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