With CAPEX decisions taking longer across LFP, commercial print, labels and packaging, manufacturers need more than better marketing to unlock investment. They need products and business models that deliver measurable customer value — and communications that make that value clearly understood.

There’s always a temptation when markets slow to look at sales and marketing and ask what more they could be doing. Sales are harder, CAPEX decisions are taking longer, and pipelines aren’t moving at the pace they once were, so perhaps we need more leads, more social media activity, more content or more PR.

There may well be a case for some of that, but it misses a more fundamental question: is the business actually giving customers a compelling enough reason to invest?

It’s something I’ve been thinking about particularly in relation to LFP, commercial print, labels and packaging. Investment in new printing and converting equipment certainly hasn’t disappeared, but from the many conversations we’re having with OEMs and PSPs across the industry, it does feel harder to unlock. And when customers are cautious about CAPEX, your biggest competitor isn’t necessarily another press or equipment manufacturer. It can simply be the decision to carry on with what they already have.

That changes the challenge considerably.

If a printer or converter can continue producing what its customers need with its existing equipment, why should it invest now? A new machine being faster, newer or technically more sophisticated may not, on its own, be enough.

The manufacturers that seem best placed to answer that question are those looking beyond the equipment itself and thinking much more about what the investment can do for the customer’s business.

Can it improve productivity or profitability? Reduce waste or reliance on labour? Automate processes that are currently inefficient? Give the customer access to applications or markets it couldn’t previously address? Make shorter runs economically viable? Or provide enough flexibility to deal cost-effectively with requirements that are likely to change significantly during the life of the equipment?

That final point is particularly important in an industry where capital equipment can remain in production for many years. Regulation, materials, technology and customer requirements are changing far more quickly. A printer or converter buying equipment today isn’t therefore only buying for the work it has now; it’s making a judgement about what its business might need to be capable of five or ten years from now. The problem is that nobody really knows exactly what those requirements will be. What customers do know is that they want the flexibility to adapt quickly and inexpensively when the time comes.

That requires print and packaging equipment manufacturers to think differently too. Rather than simply developing the next generation of products because that’s what they’ve always done, there’s a need to understand where customers are trying to take their businesses and what might help them get there — including, sometimes, opportunities they haven’t yet identified themselves.

That thinking can influence the product, but it can go much further. Modular technology, upgrade paths, software, automation, service, financing and different commercial models can all change the investment equation. In that sense, flexibility isn’t just something engineered into a machine; it can be built into the relationship between manufacturer and customer.

There is also the question of risk. A major printing equipment purchase is a long-term commitment, and customers are inevitably looking beyond the specification of the machine and at the company behind it. Financial stability, service capability, continued investment in R&D and a credible technology roadmap all help provide confidence that the manufacturer will still be a valuable partner several years after the sale.

As someone who runs a communications business, it would be very easy for me to argue that companies need to communicate more in a difficult market. But I don’t think that’s necessarily true.

A manufacturer can’t communicate its way around a product, proposition or business model that no longer answers what customers need. If the economics don’t work, another press release isn’t going to change them.

Equally, though, there isn’t much commercial advantage in developing something genuinely valuable if the market doesn’t understand why it matters.

And this is perhaps where some manufacturers are doing a better job than others. They aren’t simply launching products and communicating specifications; they’re explaining the business case behind them. They’re showing how automation translates into productivity, how flexibility can open new revenue opportunities, how technology can improve margin and how their view of where the print and packaging industry is heading can help customers make better investment decisions today.

They are also supporting those claims with evidence. Customer stories, real applications, results, technical expertise and visible leadership all help turn a proposition into something customers can believe in. And when capital equipment buying cycles are longer, maintaining that visibility and relevance matters. It gives sales teams something useful to talk about, keeps the manufacturer in the conversation and helps maintain a healthy pipeline until customers are ready to invest.

When customers are reluctant to spend, simply shouting louder about the same proposition probably won’t change very much. Giving them a better proposition might.

And if you’ve done that, you’d better make sure the market knows about it.

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About the Author

Ben Dodson
Managing Director, Bespoke

Ben has spent more than 30 years helping innovative technology businesses communicate complex ideas to customers, investors and the media. He advises organisations across print & packaging, cleantech, renewable energy, AgTech, advanced manufacturing and industrial technology on strategic communications, thought leadership, SEO and GEO.