The last 12-months has seen some interesting developments in the screen and digital wideformat market. Digital has continued to place screen under pressure in the graphical display sector. However, large format inkjet and litho are now themselves under attack from multimedia applications. Nowhere is this more evident than the London Underground. Don't worry, the screen, digital, multimedia debate is far from over in the graphic display market.

In a few weeks I head for Electronica, Europe's largest electronic component exhibition. Naturally, there will be a rather large number of electronic components on display. However, a less known fact is that the show will also be home to a huge range of screen printing applications. From printing solder paste onto circuit boards, to applying membrane keypad graphics, screen printing lies at the heart of the electronics industry.

Last week I received an invitation to the auction of the assets of a well known, London-based, large format printer that I've been dealing with for many years. Naturally, my thoughts go out to the staff and suppliers who often pay a disproportionately high price when a business slips into administration.

With just 20-something years to retirement and zero faith in the government's ability to look after even a tiny percentage of my OAP costs I've decided it's time to radically improve my profits. Part of the process involves some business studies and some of the facts I've discovered are frightening.

I recently attended a software conference in Amsterdam. As expected the receptionist was friendly and welcoming as I registered, grabbed my badge, gathered up the paper work and made my way to the first presentation.

Past weeks have seen a flurry of activity in the UK screen and digital printing sector: the Sign and Digital exhibition; DSPA rebranding to Prism; PrintIT Awards; and preparations for Drupa. I can safely say that in this industry, nothing stands still for long.

I recently found myself sitting in a hotel coffee bar waiting for a colleague to arrive and my eyes drifted to various menus and price lists on the table. One caught my eye. Rather than a tatty card, corners folded and laminate peeling, this was a rigid, black, textured polymer sheet (I'm guessing polypropylene or the like). The most striking aspect of the design was the contrast of the delicate bright white lettering against the black substrate. The text shone off the sheet and, because the lettering sat probably a millimetre deep, it was easily readable from any angle.

I read a book this month called Six Degrees, a one-degree-at-a-time look at what our planet might become as global warming hits home. One degree is bad enough, six is not worth thinking about. Unfortunately, the thermal mass of our planet is huge, creating sufficient delay between our actions and the world's response to make it difficult to appreciate the result of our lifestyles.

The other parents in the playground think I'm strange. When a new banner goes up they  wonder why I'm pressing my nose against the vinyl. I can't help myself, I have to check the quality of print, substrate and finish.

A big printing machine makes a big visual statement so it's hardly surprising that wide format screen, digital and litho systems have a habit of dominating the news. However, as newsworthy as these systems are, they only represent one facet of the UK's diverse printing sector.

Venturing into 2008, Screen Process & Digital Imaging magazine has exciting news for readers and industry alike. The opportunity has arisen to publish the Plastics & Board Industries Federation magazine (formerly the Federation of High Frequency Welders) as a quarterly supplement to SP&DI.

What a year it’s been. The economy continues to offer ‘all the fun of the fair’ plus the occasional bank run. Yet, the print sector ploughs on through. From Screen Process and Digital Imaging’s perspective, digital technology has continued to swell the news pages, while screen has taken a bit of a bashing.

I knew I was right, screen isn’t dead, it was just resting while other technologies caught up with its capabilities. Strangely, although screen is sometimes seen (wrongly in my opinion) as an environmentally unfriendly process, it is environmental concerns that are driving significant opportunities.

Academics can debate the history of screen printing but which ever way you look at it the timeline will be measured in centuries or millennia rather than decades or years. The screen process has benefited from an extremely long development period which is one reason why news of technical innovations and sector growth can seem in short supply.

Flicking through the channels last night I stopped at a reality vehicle makeover programme. The general idea is a team of mechanics breathe new life into a beaten old vehicle for as little cash as possible. This episode followed the fortunes of an old VW camper van.

As a managing director I find myself inundated with marketing material and sales calls. It doesn’t worry or aggravate me unless I’m incredibly busy and the product for sale is obviously not relevant for my business.

I’ve lost count of the times I’ve said that, as fundamental processes, screen and digital printing are no ‘better’ or ‘worse’ than each other. Both systems have different sets of benefits and limitations.

Normally I use the leader column of Screen Process and Digital Imaging as my own private playground for stirring up contentious issues. Not this month. Instead, I would just like to highlight the fact that this issue includes our Sign UK and Digital Expo preview.

Over the years I’ve edited business-to-business magazines in a variety of sectors. Irrespective of the industry, case studies are always the most prized editorial possession. Readers naturally find users’ real-world experiences more useful that anonymous claims. Unfortunately, suppliers often want to keep their customer list a closely guarded secret, making case studies difficult to extract.

This whole low-cost labour thing is starting to worry me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m in favour of printers using all available tactics to further their business. However, in my opinion, the Government’s open-door policy is more to do with short-term political gain than future economic stability. My preferred solution is automation.

Just as this issue of Screen Process and Digital Imaging was heading for print I did a rather unusual thing: I pulled it back to rewrite the leader. The reason why? Well as I listened to the morning news I heard that Marks and Spencer had just announced ‘Plan A’, a business-wide £200m eco-plan which is designed to impact every part of the company over the next five-years.

It’s hardly surprising that a magazine dedicated to the large format screen, digital and litho printing sector is obsessed by colour: in particularly repeatability. However, it’s only recently that I’ve started to study colour selection.