Business Management – Market Research

AS THE economy continues its downward plummet, many of you have already been told to put off your dreams of a pay raise until next year. In fact, 17.2 percent of the respondents to our biennial in-plant salary survey already suffered a 2008 pay freeze. Still, overall salaries climbed more than 11.4 percent since 2007, compared to a 10.6 percent increase of 2007 pay over 2005. Our 2009 salary survey, conducted in early January, pulled in an impressive 424 usable responses. From these we have calculated average salaries in a number of different categories—data you can present to your supervisors (when the time is right).

The commercial printing business is not likely to experience any meaningful improvement until well into the second half of 2009. That's the latest prediction from NAPL, the National Association for Printing Leadership.

NAPL’s Printing Economic Research Center notes that this economic downturn is different than previous recessions, because the industry is changing structurally as well as cyclically and, therefore, stronger and more creative responses are required by today’s printers.

Our recent survey of insurance company in-plants may not have drawn a record response (just 28) but those who did reply run some very large operations. A third of them have more than 50 full-time employees. The median number of employees is 14 and the average is 50.

Attention catalogers who have changed the shape of your books or are considering doing so within the next year: Beware! Changing your catalog shape to qualify for automation letter postage rates may save money in the short term, but it can cost more in the long term. That’s because the U.S. Postal Service is in the process of conducting tests on a variety of design characteristics. Within the next year, its rules will change significantly and may wipe out the slim-jim savings. And it’s not just about the shape. The USPS also is looking into changing rules concerning mailing materials, thickness, tabbing requirements and

Though our new survey of government in-plants offers a good picture of this market segment, the data is even more illuminating when viewed next to the results of an industry-wide survey conducted by IPG earlier this year. For the most part, government in-plants match the trends we see among all in-plants, but there are several areas where government printers excel. More of them are providing digital printing (97%) than in the in-plant industry at large (90.6%), and more government printers handle data center/IT printing (33% vs. 18.7%). Also, more of them have computer-to-plate (CTP) systems (74% vs. 53.2%) and color printers

Results of In-Plant Graphics' survey of government in-plants.

RESTON, VA—August 15, 2008—The Print Industries Market Information and Research Organization (PRIMIR) announces the recent launch of a number of research studies for the coming 12 months. Trends in Books – PrintCom Consulting Group (Waxhaw, NC) was commissioned to complete research that will document technological and societal changes impacting the book publishing industry in North America. The research will cover all major segments of the book publishing industry, including trade books (adult, juvenile, mass market paperback, book clubs, mail order and religious); educational (elem-high textbooks, college textbooks and university press); and reference (professional books and subscription reference). It will also investigate personal

An detailed analysis of the In-plant Industry in 2008.

EARLY THIS year, In-Plant Graphics completed a major survey of the in-plant market. We asked in-plant managers about the equipment they use, their purchasing plans, how much digital and four-color printing they do, their insourcing activities and much more. We have compiled the results of this survey into a Market Data Report, which will give you an idea of the state of the in-plant industry. To download it, click the link in the “Related Items” column to the right. —Bob Neubauer

PITTSBURGH—Feb. 25, 2008—PIA/GATFPress is pleased to offer the latest Economics and Market Research Reports—Looking Forward: What’s Next for the Economy and Print Markets in 2008–2009 and Expanding the Print Market Space: Printers’ Diversification into Ancillary Services by Ronnie H. Davis, Ph.D. and Ed Gleeson—to help printers as they face an uncertain economic future. As fears of a recession in the United States loom larger and larger, it is becoming increasingly important for print and graphic communications firms to know what to expect and how best to protect their bottom lines in the coming months. “The Looking Forward report provides a comprehensive analysis