NAGASA welcomes your news and special announcements
for the Industry News section of our web site. Please add NAGASA to your
press release mailing list or drop us a fax or email. We'll immediately
get them posted.
Send to: Email: information@nagasa.org
- Fax: 202-328-8513
Mail: NAGASA, 1604 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington DC 20009
TRENDWATCH PRINTERS AND THE INTERNET REPORT SHOWS
HOW PRINTERS ARE USING AND PLAN TO USE THE INTERNET
HARRISVILLE, RI -- December 2, 1999 -- In a special report released today,
TrendWatch(tm) provides its perspective on current and planned Internet
use among U.S. commercial printers and trade shops. According to the report,
the most popular use of the Internet by commercial printers and service
providers is "receiving customer jobs via email," with two-thirds
saying they currently provide this service.
The new report "Printers and the Internet -- How the U.S. Printing Industry Uses and Plans to Use The Internet: The TrendWatch Perspective" was released today and is available in a downloadable PDF Acrobat format now at the trendwatch.com e-Store.
"Printers are not regarded as early adopters of technology and as our survey shows, many still are not significantly involved with the Internet," noted Jim Whittington, TrendWatch Partner. "This situation is unfortunate since their customers will soon force many of them to participate more actively in Internet related services. One of the real issues at play is how the Internet will cause fundamental change in the printers' roles in coming years -- a role that will not always be centered around their presses."
According to the Report:
- The second most popular application is "Having an FTP site where customers can download or upload work files," (40%, including 35% of printers), followed by "Purchasing computer software" (39%, including 36% of printers);
- 63% of the commercial printers reported they are currently receiving customer jobs via email;
- The least adopted Internet applications is "allowing customers to track their jobs," (overall 5%). 49% of service bureaus and 47% of quick printers said they won't offer this service -- periodical printers appear to be the least resistant to the idea, with only 18% saying they won't do this;
- Investment plans seem to be strongly linked to how involved plants are with Internet applications or plan to become involved with. Internet focused plants tend to be planning substantial investments in workflow, presses, and almost every category of capital goods;
"This is very revealing," said Dr. Joe Webb, TrendWatch Partner. "The new dot-com companies are providing services that also integrate customer job tracking, are solving many of the print buyers' critical issues with printers [i.e. not knowing where their jobs are in the overall production workflow]. Once this capability is more widely known and understood by print buyers, printers who do not offer this capability may find themselves absent from their customers preferred vendor lists."
Use of the Internet also seems to coincide with a print business' outlook. According to TrendWatch Printing #10, as a general rule, companies that are involved with Internet applications or plan to be involved in Internet applications are more likely to feel that they have good business conditions and have positive outlooks for the future. The opposite also seems to be true.
TrendWatch suggests that the printing industry can, and should, benefit using the Internet in many ways. They can start by getting involved in the following basic Internet applications:
- Marketing: Customer care, customer contact, prospecting, promotion;
- Logistics: Inventory management systems, finished product delivery;
- Management: Allowing customers to "see into" plants just like managers can;
- Geography-crashing: Managers and customers don't have to be in the plant to know what's going on;
- Time-shifting: Time is the only non-renewable resource. People get information when they need it, when they want it, and the cost of customer service can be reduced (in terms of labor) while its value is greatly enhanced.
This valuable report also includes a summary of the "dot-com" companies now active in the printing industry. To help decision makers better formulate their company's business strategy, it also provides the estimated number of printing industry establishments affected by each of the Internet related questions asked in the TrendWatch Printing #10 survey. A company can use this information to accurately size new business opportunities in the industry.
Print and trade service businesses will find that the report will ground them in the reality of how printers use the Internet today with suggestions for future implementation. This will be critical information as they prepare for decisions that will reverberate through their business and their customer relationships for years to come.
Industry suppliers, printers, trade service businesses, and even the "dot-com" companies themselves, will find the report to be an eye-opening account of the extent to which Internet services are needed and are likely to be accepted in the industry.
Added Whittington, "The TrendWatch analysis and commentary, as always, is hard hitting and often contrarian. Readers of this report will be able to take action in their organizations from the report's 'Advice' section. The Internet is affecting the printing industry in many subtle ways. While it is a threat to the demand for print, it creates significant opportunities for productivity, customer retention, and increasing sales."
"Printers and the Internet - How the U.S. printing industry uses and plans to use the Internet: The TrendWatch perspective" is available now either by visiting the secure TrendWatch eStore (www.trendwatch.com) or by phone (800-283-8063). The price for the report is $1250. TrendWatch eStore customers can download this report in PDF Acrobat format immediately after purchase. Special prices for current TrendWatch survey subscribers are available.
Contact: Craig Kevghas via phone (978-392-8990) or email (pr@trendwatch.com) to obtain more information about this report. For all other information, contact: Dr. Joe Webb, TrendWatch, 401-568-9899; Mr. Jim Whittington, CMC, TrendWatch, 415-380-8561; Craig Kevghas, CPR Marketing, 978-392-8990 or via email (partners@trendwatch.com) or visit their website (www.trendwatch.com).