AICC Roundtable (CONT’D FROM PAGE 1)
printing machine. And the next printing machine ended up being the Barbaeran. And it’s just opened up more markets for us. It’s taking us across the country. We have conver- sations with many, many large consumer products companies that we wouldn’t be able to talk to in the past. Everybody’s interested in the technology. Ev- erybody wants to learn. It doesn’t mean that they buy from us right away, but it’s definitely a hot and heavy conversation. The market wants to talk about digital. The market wants to use digital. It’s a good thing for us. It’s a challenge, but it’s a good thing for us. It’s defi- nitely helped us grow, and I can see where it will con- tinue to help us grow. Jones: George, how about you guys? How’s it evolved? Perreira: Our business has evolved. We were pri- marily just a brown box plant. We didn’t know what we were doing at all when we took a dive into digital Since we’ve done that, it took us a little bit, but we’re probably almost 30 percent now of our busi- ness is now digital versus what we were doing before. What we’re seeing now, what we didn’t have be- fore, is a lot more excitement. Our sales staff has re- ally started to enjoy selling something beyond just a brown box, which I still enjoy selling, by the way. But, that’s been a big change for us. It’s is just to see the salespeople embrace new challenges and new opportunities and look at something beyond what they’ve always been accustomed to selling. So our business has changed. Jones: You’ve also shared that you have other dig- ital makers that you meet with from time to time. How have the tariff impacted your decisionmaking? I know Canada is a little different than the United States, but how’s that impacting you? Perreira: To speak from my perspective, obvious- ly any increase in cost makes people pause for a moment and they need to make sure that it’s still a sound decision. Our government in Canada, has pro- grams. Now, it’s not tariff-related, but our government is incentivizing businesses to invest in manufacturing. There’s quite a lot of credits that we could use to sup- plement the cost or entry into more manufacturing. I would assume, but if you’re looking to invest in your business and grow, I’m sure there’s a lot of opportu- nity and investments through banks or government funding or grants to help offset some of the added cost. But at the end of the day, if you’re business is grow- ing and you need to buy a new asset to grow your business, then it’s the cost of doing business. You just have to consider it and make the investment. Jones: Chad, do you have any comments on the terrace and how it’s impacting your decision-making? Wagner: The used equipment market has got to be
dream of what that looks like. But I’m excited because even the equipment that I bought today has been sur- passed with a lot more updates and new, faster, quicker, better print heads. It’s evolving very, very quickly. As that happens, I think people will continue to invest. I’m not sure we’ll see 15 units placed in one year, but I definitely think there’s going to be an uptick in the coming years as the innovation improves. Jones: What role is digital playing within your organi- zation? Sutherland: It’s really been the growth engine of our business over the past decade. We’ve seen close to 50 percent of our business now in 2025 move away from conventional print to digital print, and that is part of the strategic plan of the business with this investment.
A lot of that isn’t necessarily net new growth; it can also be conversion from conventional. But we have seen a tangible amount of net new growth on the digital side. For us, 10 years ago, we were a relatively small converting operation. We’re still not big by any means, but digital has allowed us to go after a larger market segment than we were able to capture before. And besides being the growth engine and the point of focus now for the future of the business, it’s also a point of pride for us at Sutherland. Digital for us is a perfect hand- in-glove fit for our brand. Jones: How has your business evolved with the use of digital? Wagner: It’s been a slow but steady churn of more and more print every year that goes by. We put a four-color press in, a flexo press, in 1996. We were doing a ton of litho laminating. We were doing a little bit of printing on that press. And then in 2017, we bought the Göpfert Flexo press and continued to grow our print, and kept trying to get to figure out what we were going to do for our next 22 October 27, 2025
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