Abstract
Although 20 years have passed since the appearance of Print On Demand (POD), it has not spread as quickly as its creators had expected. The reasons are assumed to be (1) Inadequate digital data, (2) Poor quality of POD, and (3) Improvement of offset printing system. Now these disadvantages are disappearing rapidly. It is thought that the POD market will grow, as the current printing market is getting smaller.
This article discusses the present and future situation of each transactional, commercial, publishing, photographic and packaging POD market. POD is compelled to compete with the Internet, which is the ultimate variable message medium, but POD will form a unique market by using paper materials.
From now on, POD should make inroads into the offset printing market not only through the utilization of promptness and variability, but also via its ecological performance. The development of POD is expected to move in this direction.
