In this four-part series, we’ll take a look at how each indicator from the Monthly Conditions Dashboard is affecting your business based on the survey results from the past 11 months. Charts are also provided to show the trends in an easy-to-read format, so you can benchmark your current market conditions with hundreds of other printers. We watch the weather each morning to help us plan what to wear and if we’re taking our umbrella to work that day (and trust that the meteorologist is accurate!). You can find a reliable “economic weather report,” the Monthly Industry Conditions Dashboard*, which is an established industry market trends report from our Economic and Market Research department that provides the information to plan your business strategies each month. How does it all work? Survey respondents provide information in five principle areas—1) Monthly Sales, 2) Sales Expectations, 3) Profits, and 4) Print and Paper Prices. Current sales and profits are compared to the previous month. Printing prices and paper prices are current month compared to 12 months earlier. Sales expectations are expectations for next month compared to the current month. Respondents are asked to report the directional change of each of the five key indicators (increasing, decreasing, or no change). See how your sales compare with the industry below. Check back in two weeks for Part 2 of the series and find out where your sales are expected to go in 2013. The findings you will read are based on March 2013 calculations using a net diffusion index, where the percentage of respondents reporting an increase is subtracted from the percentage of respondents reporting a decrease. The net diffusion index provides a simple snapshot of printers’ market perceptions for each variable. Part 1—Monthly Sales   A look back over the past eleven months shows wide swings in printers’ monthly sales. With a high reading of 47.9% in October of last year and a low of –23.1% in December, and an eleven-month average of 10.8%. This 10.8% sales diffusion index reading is consistent with our quarterly findings of modest growth in 2012. The latest reading of 36.9 in March shows that printers’ sales generally trended higher in March, so the typical printer is experiencing modestly rising sales. As forecasted in our Charting a Path for 2013–2014 report, we expect stronger industry sales in the first quarter of 2013 and growth to taper off slightly throughout the year. Printing Industries of America members respond to the survey to uncover some of the key areas of their business to develop the Monthly Industry Conditions Dashboard from the Economic and Market Research department. With regular updates on current market trends, printers are better able to benchmark their...

In this four-part series, we’ll take a look at how each indicator from the Monthly Conditions Dashboard is affecting your business based on the survey results from the past 11 months. Charts are also provided to show the trends in an easy-to-read format, so you can benchmark your current market conditions with hundreds of other printers. We watch the weather each morning to help us plan what to wear and if we’re taking our umbrella to work that day (and trust that the meteorologist is accurate!). You can find a reliable “economic weather report,” the Monthly Industry Conditions Dashboard*, which is an established industry market trends report from our Economic and Market Research department that provides the information to plan your business strategies each month. How does it all work? Survey respondents provide information in five principle areas—1) Monthly Sales, 2) Sales Expectations, 3) Profits, and 4) Print and Paper Prices. Current sales and profits are compared to the previous month. Printing prices and paper prices are current month compared to 12 months earlier. Sales expectations are expectations for next month compared to the current month. Respondents are asked to report the directional change of each of the five key indicators (increasing, decreasing, or no change). See how your sales compare with the industry below. Check back in two weeks for Part 2 of the series and find out where your sales are expected to go in 2013. The findings you will read are based on March 2013 calculations using a net diffusion index, where the percentage of respondents reporting an increase is subtracted from the percentage of respondents reporting a decrease. The net diffusion index provides a simple snapshot of printers’ market perceptions for each variable. Part 1—Monthly Sales   A look back over the past eleven months shows wide swings in printers’ monthly sales. With a high reading of 47.9% in October of last year and a low of –23.1% in December, and an eleven-month average of 10.8%. This 10.8% sales diffusion index reading is consistent with our quarterly findings of modest growth in 2012. The latest reading of 36.9 in March shows that printers’ sales generally trended higher in March, so the typical printer is experiencing modestly rising sales. As forecasted in our Charting a Path for 2013–2014 report, we expect stronger industry sales in the first quarter of 2013 and growth to taper off slightly throughout the year. Printing Industries of America members respond to the survey to uncover some of the key areas of their business to develop the Monthly Industry Conditions Dashboard from the Economic and Market Research department. With regular updates on current market trends, printers are better able to benchmark their...

We asked Julie Shaffer, Vice President, Digital Strategies, about the newest resource for digital printing and integrated marketing, the Integrated Print Center. Why did you decide to transform the Digital Printing Council into the new Integrated Print Center (IPC)?  “Digital printing” has become mainstream, and today printers are using “integrated” techniques like QR codes and augmented reality. Our transformation mirrors the industry’s in a way—as our members transition their focus to integrated technologies, we do as well. The new Integrated Print Center is the place to educate our members and the marketing industry on all the ways print is relevant and is a key feature in the marketing community. What types of print professionals can find solutions on this new site? Anyone who wants to take advantage of trends toward integrated marketing can find valuable, curated information on this site. If you are involved in digital and want to do more, this is where you can learn how—and the information is all in one place! There are so many resources available through the IPC. What are some of the top benefits our members can look forward to? The Learning Center, which has white papers, Tech Reports, and more The blog that provides timely industry news Integrated Print Forum information for the latest on the annual meeting that explores all things integrated PRIME and Test Drive Tools offer training and implementation of integrated marketing campaigns  If you could describe the new IPC site in three words, what would they be? Focused Content-rich Relevant Discover more integrated print information and go-to resources to transform your business at the new Integrated Print Center,...

We asked Julie Shaffer, Vice President, Digital Strategies, about the newest resource for digital printing and integrated marketing, the Integrated Print Center. Why did you decide to transform the Digital Printing Council into the new Integrated Print Center (IPC)?  “Digital printing” has become mainstream, and today printers are using “integrated” techniques like QR codes and augmented reality. Our transformation mirrors the industry’s in a way—as our members transition their focus to integrated technologies, we do as well. The new Integrated Print Center is the place to educate our members and the marketing industry on all the ways print is relevant and is a key feature in the marketing community. What types of print professionals can find solutions on this new site? Anyone who wants to take advantage of trends toward integrated marketing can find valuable, curated information on this site. If you are involved in digital and want to do more, this is where you can learn how—and the information is all in one place! There are so many resources available through the IPC. What are some of the top benefits our members can look forward to? The Learning Center, which has white papers, Tech Reports, and more The blog that provides timely industry news Integrated Print Forum information for the latest on the annual meeting that explores all things integrated PRIME and Test Drive Tools offer training and implementation of integrated marketing campaigns  If you could describe the new IPC site in three words, what would they be? Focused Content-rich Relevant Discover more integrated print information and go-to resources to transform your business at the new Integrated Print Center,...

How do you measure an event’s success? If the answer is by growing audiences and high attendee satisfaction, then the recent Continuous Improvement (CI), Binding Industries Association (BIA), and Printing Industry Financial Executives (PIFE) Conferences, co-located in Indianapolis, were a phenomenal success! Thanks to the diligent work of many people at Printing Industries of America, and our partners for CI, the Flexographic Technical Association (FTA) and Specialty Graphic Imaging Association (SGIA), and our Affiliates, these events saw record numbers of attendees in April 2013. CI attendance, which has been growing over the past decade, increased again. BIA experienced an even larger increase, and director, Justin Goldstein, remarked that, “one of our biggest goals for the 2013 BIA Conference was to attract a wider variety of attendees so that they could be immersed in not only industry-group-focused BIA sessions, but also well-suited CI sessions.” Exceptional content for ultimate learning “Continuous Improvement requires a unique mindset. It can’t be looked at as just a task or project, but more a way of life.” — 2013 CI Attendee, Russ Palm, Continuous Improvement Manager, IWCO Direct Any great educational event needs relevant, superior content to keep attendees coming back. These conferences were no exception with knowledgeable presenters, valuable networking sessions, and exceptional plant tours. With a combined attendance of more than 450, attendees reported that they were impressed with the CI keynote speakers. Here is a sampling of what they learned: Alan Robinson, author of Ideas Are Free, explained how to put in place an idea system that will generate multiple implemented improvement ideas from each employee each year.  He challenged attendees to have at least 12 implemented improvement ideas per employee before the 2014 CI Conference in Dallas. Mike Wroblewski, director of Kaizen Institute USA, reviewed exactly what front-line supervisors should be doing every day—hour by hour—in order to sustain an improvement culture. Jim Lancaster, CEO of Lantech, a manufacturer known for its use of Lean Manufacturing concepts, spoke about how he changed his leadership attitude, behavior, and activities in order to support the improvement efforts of employees.    Dan Marx, SGIA’s Vice President-Markets & Technologies, also learned that, “innovation and efficiency go hand-in-hand.” As he stated in a recent article in What They Think, printers “need to invest in innovation as a planned part of their business approach and to benefit from the strong benefits that innovation can bring.” Enhancements Many BIA and CI attendees took the opportunity to participate in local plant tours and networking sessions for experiential learning. The BIA conference was highlighted by tours of Great Lakes Graphics Association members D.E. Baugh’s and Eckhart & Co.’s state-of-the-art facilities. As Goldstein reports, BIA plant tours, along with peer and supplier...

How do you measure an event’s success? If the answer is by growing audiences and high attendee satisfaction, then the recent Continuous Improvement (CI), Binding Industries Association (BIA), and Printing Industry Financial Executives (PIFE) Conferences, co-located in Indianapolis, were a phenomenal success! Thanks to the diligent work of many people at Printing Industries of America, and our partners for CI, the Flexographic Technical Association (FTA) and Specialty Graphic Imaging Association (SGIA), and our Affiliates, these events saw record numbers of attendees in April 2013. CI attendance, which has been growing over the past decade, increased again. BIA experienced an even larger increase, and director, Justin Goldstein, remarked that, “one of our biggest goals for the 2013 BIA Conference was to attract a wider variety of attendees so that they could be immersed in not only industry-group-focused BIA sessions, but also well-suited CI sessions.” Exceptional content for ultimate learning “Continuous Improvement requires a unique mindset. It can’t be looked at as just a task or project, but more a way of life.” — 2013 CI Attendee, Russ Palm, Continuous Improvement Manager, IWCO Direct Any great educational event needs relevant, superior content to keep attendees coming back. These conferences were no exception with knowledgeable presenters, valuable networking sessions, and exceptional plant tours. With a combined attendance of more than 450, attendees reported that they were impressed with the CI keynote speakers. Here is a sampling of what they learned: Alan Robinson, author of Ideas Are Free, explained how to put in place an idea system that will generate multiple implemented improvement ideas from each employee each year.  He challenged attendees to have at least 12 implemented improvement ideas per employee before the 2014 CI Conference in Dallas. Mike Wroblewski, director of Kaizen Institute USA, reviewed exactly what front-line supervisors should be doing every day—hour by hour—in order to sustain an improvement culture. Jim Lancaster, CEO of Lantech, a manufacturer known for its use of Lean Manufacturing concepts, spoke about how he changed his leadership attitude, behavior, and activities in order to support the improvement efforts of employees.    Dan Marx, SGIA’s Vice President-Markets & Technologies, also learned that, “innovation and efficiency go hand-in-hand.” As he stated in a recent article in What They Think, printers “need to invest in innovation as a planned part of their business approach and to benefit from the strong benefits that innovation can bring.” Enhancements Many BIA and CI attendees took the opportunity to participate in local plant tours and networking sessions for experiential learning. The BIA conference was highlighted by tours of Great Lakes Graphics Association members D.E. Baugh’s and Eckhart & Co.’s state-of-the-art facilities. As Goldstein reports, BIA plant tours, along with peer and supplier...