Business Management - Industry Trends

The COVID crisis has changed business and consumer behavior in many ways. But which of the changes are temporary and which are permanent? Answering correctly is essential to participating in the recovery ahead.

Our annual ranking of the largest printing companies in the U.S. and Canada reflects ongoing industry trends. The pandemic, for example, seems to be accelerating the commercial printing industry shift from the lithographic process to digital print production.

One way to gauge the direction of the in-plant industry is to look at trends affecting the largest in-plants. We’ve done exactly that, and the results are included in a new report.

It’s 50-50, folks. The two final Senate races have been decided, with Senators-elect Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock winning their respective Georgia run-off campaigns. This represents a practical challenge in running the Senate. If the operations manager in you is wondering, “How does that even work?”, read on.

HR 133, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, provides approximately $900 billion to bolster the U.S. economy amid the continued spread of COVID-19 and includes targeted economic relief for specific print verticals that have been especially hard-hit during the coronavirus pandemic.

Kelly Hogg stepped into the role of president on Jan. 1. He has more than 30 years of experience in the graphics and printing industry and has been an active member of IPMA since 1998.

It will surprise no one that the most well-read IPI articles of 2020 were largely about the coronavirus. But other topics grabbed attention as well, such as production inkjet, wide-format, and in-plant success stories.

Marketers and brand managers have discovered the benefits of leveraging a multichannel approach, rather than relying solely on digital platforms. Data-driven, targeted direct mail is a major component of those strategies.

A four-year project examining the results of 54 research studies with 170,000 people has concluded that print is vital for effective education. The argument is that reading on paper results in deeper comprehension and retention, concentration, vocabulary building, and memory.

As an essential industry, print and packaging has continued to function throughout a difficult 2020. PRINTING United Alliance has staunchly advocated Congress pass a major year-end COVID relief package before adjourning for the year.