Tertius van Eeden, CEO of Print on Demand, discusses why South African SMEs are shifting from print suppliers to print partners. South African SMEs continue to operate under immense pressure. Rising operating costs, cash flow constraints, infrastructure instability, slower economic growth and reduced consumer spending have forced businesses to rethink how they spend, store and scale. One area increasingly under review is print.
Despite the rapid shift toward digital marketing and communication, print remains an essential part of day-to-day business operations. From brochures, catalogues and training manuals to business cards, signage, calendars and price lists, printed material still plays a critical role in how businesses market, communicate and operate. What is changing, however, is how businesses approach printing itself.
For many years, the industry operated on a simple principle: print more to pay less per unit. While this model made sense in a previous era, it often creates unnecessary waste for modern SMEs. Businesses are left sitting with outdated stock, tying up valuable cash flow in materials that may never be fully used. A pricing update, branding refresh, regulatory change or new product launch can instantly make bulk-printed material obsolete.
Today, businesses are moving toward a far more practical model: printing smarter, not more.
This shift forms part of a broader global movement toward managed services and outsourced operational support. Businesses no longer feel the need to own or manage every process internally. Instead, they increasingly rely on specialised partners for logistics, IT, HR, marketing and now, print management. The print industry is beginning to follow the same trajectory.
According to Grand View Research, the global Managed Print Services market is expected to grow significantly over the next decade, reflecting a clear move away from transactional print suppliers toward long-term print management partnerships. Businesses are looking for providers who can offer consistency, flexibility, reliability and strategic support, not simply quotations and deliveries.
For SMEs especially, managing multiple print vendors often creates more complexity than value. Different suppliers, inconsistent quality, varying turnaround times and fragmented communication can lead to unnecessary admin, delays and inefficiencies, what many businesses now refer to as ‘supplier sprawl’.
What companies increasingly need is a single print partner capable of managing the full process from concept to delivery. This includes everything from design support and online proofing to production, warehousing, fulfilment and national distribution. More importantly, it gives businesses greater visibility and control over their printing requirements while reducing operational pressure internally.
The rise of smaller, demand-led print runs is also helping businesses become more agile. Rather than committing large budgets to bulk stock, companies can now print according to actual demand, keeping materials current and relevant while protecting working capital. This approach is particularly valuable for growing SMEs, franchises and multi-branch businesses where marketing materials, pricing or operational documents frequently change.
Sustainability is another major factor driving this shift. Businesses worldwide are under increasing pressure to reduce waste and operate more responsibly. Smarter print management contributes directly to this objective through reduced overproduction, lower paper consumption, fewer obsolete materials and more efficient distribution models. Sustainability in print is no longer simply about printing less. It is about printing with greater intention, accuracy and efficiency.
The broader trend is clear: businesses are prioritising agility, speed, cost control and operational simplicity over volume-driven procurement models of the past.
The future of print does not lie in warehouses full of unused brochures or excessive bulk ordering. It lies in managed, flexible, end-to-end solutions designed around real business needs.
In many ways, print is simply catching up to the larger evolution already taking place across business globally, moving from ownership to access, from suppliers to strategic partners, and from excess to efficiency.
Because ultimately, smarter businesses are no longer asking, ‘How much can we print?’ They are asking, ‘How intelligently can we manage it?’
PRINT ON DEMAND
https://printondemand.co.za/
