NAPL reports on state of the industry

Mar 13, 2007 11:32 AM

At a special “State of the Industry” presentation that opened the program portion of NAPL’s (Paramus, NJ) Top Management Conference 2007, March 8 in Santa Barbara, CA, NAPL vice president and chief economist Andrew Paparozzi said the printing industry is in expansion. “Our sales grew at their fastest rate in eight years, in 2006, and will continue to grow, although at a noticeably slower pace. Volume has finally regained prerecession levels. And we’ve even regained some pricing power and profitability.”

Paparozzi emphasized, however, “Our rate of growth will be slowing significantly with the economy over the next 12 months,” adding that another concern is unit labor costs, which are rising faster than productivity. He added, “Companies that are still not participating in that growth need to quickly ask themselves why they are being left behind.”

Key areas graphic communications need to emphasize to remain viable in today’s challenging business environment, according to Paparozzi:

• Maximizing productivity and efficiency.
• Organization development.
• Diversifying services in a way that is based on careful analysis of market demand.

“In an industry that is being redefined by structural change—electronic alternatives to print, a growing trend toward shorter runs and on-demand printing, and new forms of competition—the status quo is no longer safer. But that doesn’t mean we make hasty, ill-informed decisions,” Paparozzi noted. “It means we thoroughly analyze our options, basing decisions on the best intelligence available because both the return to being right and the cost of being wrong are greater than ever.”

NAPL’s “State of the Industry” research comes from the association’s Printing Economic Research Center (PERC), which produces reports sponsored by Heidelberg.

Popular Stories

Hybrid Proofing

Dealing with irate customers

Does painless RGB to CMYK conversion exist?

The best PDFs

Into to lamination systems/materials

Powered by Disqus

Print & Media Buyer

Fall 2008 Print & Media Buyer
Cover Story:Green Printers
Expert Advice: Sustainable papers
Last Word: Print in 2018...

ONLINE SPOTLIGHT

Drupa 2008 coverage A collection of American Printer's coverage of the 2008 Drupa show. We will include more articles as the show approaches...

Online Spotlight Archive

advertisement

Resource Center

Select Newsletter InRegister E-Clips Chief Marketer Buyer's Guide JOBZone Equipment Auctions Purchase Paper Used Equipment Special Reports Environmental Excellence Awards 2007 Web Offset Survey The Workflow Connection Web Offset Survey Addressing the Issues Small Printers Report The Great Graph Expo Mash Up Web Offset & Inkjet Web Offset Outlook 2006 Innovation, performance, tradition: Pitman celebrates 100 years Digital Platemaking Without the Chemistry Bigger is Better Web Offset Report 2005 Kohl & Madden, a Sun Chemical Co. Presstek KBA Karat: Exceeding the profitability challenge Web Offset Survey 2004 PROCESS AUTOMATION Part 1: JDF and process automation PROCESS AUTOMATION Part 2: JDF & the supply chain PROCESS AUTOMATION Part 3: A progress report

events rss JobZone