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How to Deal with Labor Shortage in Print Industry

Blog | 15 Nov 2024
Web2Print Solutions for Labor Shortages

Blog Summary: Shortage of skilled labor is one of the most prominent causes of unproductivity in the print industry. Hence by leveraging advanced print tech and automating task is the most efficient solution. Want to know how does it helps? Here in this blog, you will learn all about how a web-to-print automation solution helps you make the best of your resources.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4.3 million Americans have quit their jobs in the last few years. Moreover, it is evident that with the increasing worldwide recession, the print Industry is also not untouched. There exists a colossal global labor shortage problem. Printers have been facing this significant challenge lately not only in the USA but globally.

With the evolution of this industry, traditional addressing approaches to this problem are not promising anymore. Instead, a beacon of game-changing transformation emerges, which is nothing but the automation-led web to print solution.

This blog will unveil the repercussions of labor shortage, and how web-to-print can help overcome the hurdles of labor shortage in 2025 and beyond, helping print businesses to grow efficiency, quality, and limitless potential.

On This Page
  1. Why Does the Print Industry Workforce Shortage Exist?
  2. Effects Of Labor Shortage on a Print Business
  3. How Can Web to Print Solve the Labor Shortage Problem?
  4. OnPrintShop’s W2P as the Labour Shortage Solution

Why Does the Print Industry Workforce Shortage Exist?

The shortage of skilled workers in the printing industry is a familiar thing. It has been there for a while, especially in the USA. According to global economists, the slowdown in the U.S. labor market will continue to exist in 2025 and beyond.

Let's discuss the most critical reasons behind the employee shortage in the print industry.

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Aging Workforce

When the employees’ elderly age becomes the major cause of unproductivity and they are not fit for work anymore, you need to replace them with the next generation of employees. Now, the replacement might not be equally experienced or skilled. Therefore, businesses with a lot of aging employees experience a drastic change in workflow and overall skillset of the company.

Moreover, the print business is facing a shortage of younger skilled laborers and on the other hand, the experienced employees are aging every day. Thus, aging workforce is considered one of the prominent challenges of printing industy.

Rapid Technological Changes

The print industry is evolving with every passing day with cutting-edge technology and thus neither the experienced nor the new pool of talents have hands-on experience with advanced workflow. This creates a need for training the staff and makes the business responsible for upgrading the skillset of the workforce.

Experience How Automation Streamlines Your Print Business with Minimum/No Labor

Lack of Skill Talent

With the advancement of the printing industry, it is more about digital technologies and leveraging print automation benefits. And to cope with this intelligent print business scenario, new skill sets are required that the existing workers in the industry might lack, leading to the print industry labor crisis.

Negative Industry Perception

One of the prominent reasons for the labor shortage in printing is the perception of the print industry. This industry is often called no-so-good and unattractive to the younger generations. And it stops them from pursuing careers in the field.

Geolocation of the Business and Physical Availability

Print industry jobs typically demand workers to be more physically present and not virtually. It often discourages a section of potential workers from taking up such jobs that cannot be present in person in the workspace. This limits the pool of eligible workforce to the vicinity of the place where your business is based in. And this causes a lack of workers in print companies, leading to delayed order delivery.

Inconsistent Print Order Demand

There are many fluctuations in the workforce demand for the printing industry. Like peak periods for certain personalized print products when PSPs need more workers temporarily to fulfill orders. Because of such inconsistent demand, people lose interest in applying for those jobs, and thus, it ends up with a labor shortage.

Effects Of Labor Shortage on a Print Business

The above reasons have been causing extreme labor limitations for the last few years in the printing industry. Thus, coping with a labor shortage in printing by launching a W2P-driven online print business has become a common phenomenon for smarter PSPs.

Hence, if you still need to solve this issue in your print company, you must make the right move soon and embrace W2P. Otherwise, the recent print industry labor shortage problem can cause disturbing consequences for your business. We have jotted down some of the most common ones below:

  • Reduced productivity
  • Degraded quality
  • High costs
  • Unsatisfied clients
  • Burnouts
  • Business stagnation

Automate Your Print Business And Avoid All Labor Shortage Complexities

How Can Web to Print Solve the Labor Shortage Problem?

Getting started with a web2print storefront is the best and ideal way to solve the labor shortage problem once and all. The web2print innovation can be a game-changer for print businesses facing worker shortage problems. Automated operations and streamlined workflows remarkably reduce the dependency on manual labor. Finally, PSPs like you are saved from any losses incurred because of the shortage of quality labor in the market.

Here's how web to print can help sort out the labor shortage complication in the print industry:

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Automated Print Order Management

The top-notch web-to-print software comes with an automated print order management solution that helps customers place orders online, eliminating the need for manual order entry. As it reduces manual intervention, it automatically allows PSPs to sign relief amid today’s labor-constrained printing industry. Also, automation helps in reducing risk or errors in the workflow.

Moreover, an automated W2P solution can seamlessly integrate with your production infrastructure. This, in turn, helps you mechanize the printing process from order submission to final output, ultimately reducing the need for manual intervention.

Also, automated web2print solutions are scalable enough, allowing PSPs to meet increased customer demands without using much manual labor. This finally leads you to fulfill a higher volume of orders proactively.

AI and Machine Learning

The power of AI and Machine Learning goes a long way in making the print workflow efficient with minimum human intervention. The ML technology analyses huge data sets to make your print ordering process seamless. Moreover, the all-new Web-to-Print with AI-Powered features make all the decisions based on data and reduce the chances of errors in your entire print workflow.

Consistent Accessibility

Building a web-to-print store can automatically allow your customers to place orders anytime, anywhere. They can choose their desired products and place orders without needing constant customer service during business hours. This frees you from hiring a vast customer service team. Finally, you can continue delivering a memorable customer experience without hiring more laborers.

Reduced Pre-Press Work

Using the automation-lad W2P technology, you can allow your customers to custom design orders independently. They can quickly integrate their social media channels and get access to an extensive collection of pre-designed templates in just a few seconds to customize their orders using a W2P online designer studio. It helps you cut down your pre-press manual work remarkably. You don't have to recruit a full-proof design team. And finally, you can successfully run your online print business without solely depending on manual laborers.

Embrace W2P Automation & Fight Labor Shortages with Us

Quicker Turnaround Time

The automated workflows of best-in-class web-to-print portals accelerate the order processing workflow, resulting in PSPs turning around quickly. This gives efficiency and opportunity to print businesses so they can handle a massive volume of orders without using the manual labor force.

Also, print buyers can choose their preferred delivery methods and speeds, thanks to the integrated shipping options that W2P systems come with. It accelerates the turnaround time as well. PSPs don't need any labor force to handle the delivery process. However, this is not the end! With automated shipping calculations and label generation capabilities, the W2P technology further accelerates the shipping and delivery time without the help of human labor.

Customer Empowerment

One of the most appealing benefits of a web to print storefront to print service providers is that it can allow their customers to design, customize, and submit orders independently. It helps customers have complete control of their print projects. This way, print businesses can consistently keep them empowered and deliver an effortless customer experience by significantly reducing human involvement in every step of the print business workflow.

Training and Upskilling Employees

One way to tackle the shortage of labor is to create it. You can train your employees to work with the web-to-print solution and handle your business operations. Though it is an expensive option. Moreover, if the employee chooses to leave your company, you need to start over the training from scratch with another personnel.

OnPrintShop’s W2P as the Labour Shortage SolutionSo, you have understood that the printing industry's labor challenges are continuously growing. In that case, you must embrace automation and optimization using our web-to-print system to solve them. No wonder you can effortlessly set up an automated workflow, save time, and cut down human intervention by many folds!OnPrintShop’s solution promises you the best workflow automation based on digitally connecting all stages of your printing jobs, resulting in a series of pre-programmed events that keep the job moving forward steadily toward completion. With a sequence of integrated activities, from order and to the delivery of the finished product, our award-winning web to print software helps PSPs reduce human intervention and make the workflow even more efficient.Book a Live Demo today to start automating your printing company and stay protected from the stumbling block of labor shortage in the print industry.

FAQs

Can a Web-to-Print Software Help Handle High Order Volumes without Human Help? Accordion Arrow

How does W2P Ensure Customization Requests without Human Intervention? Accordion Arrow

Can Web2Print Help in Decision-Making during a Labor Shortage? Accordion Arrow

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