WALLIS: Smaller suppliers fill technology gap of big corporations.(Brief Article)

Mental gymnastics are not necessary to name the machinery manufacturers at the forefront of the printing industry, such as Agfa, Creo, Fujifilm, Heidelberg, KBA, Komori, MAN Roland and Screen. Cramped column space precludes an exhaustive list.

Any significant investment by a printer is likely to involve these companies, and their accredited dealers. Additionally, the supply sector is populated by myriad more diminutive companies, developing smaller items of equipment and packages of specialised software that would be uneconomic for the involvement of bigger brethren. In a sense, the minnow suppliers often fill in the technological gaps left by the major corporations and in the process satisfy otherwise neglected needs.

Companies instanced by Centurfax and HighWater come to mind, as does Independent Graphic Services (IGS), which has recently attracted attention with a ...