New Industry Research Contradicts Predictions of Demise of Printed Correspondence February 13, 2002 -- Toronto -- A new study of leading Canadian document factories released by Prinova Technologies, Inc. indicates strong growth in computer-generated, first class mail-piece and page volumes. In the largest study of its kind in North America, it was found that mail-piece volume was up by 10.6 percent, exactly what was predicted in the 2000 Document Factory survey, while page volume increased by 14.4 percent. The total volume of electronically delivered first class documents is less than one percent, and virtually no paper documents have been truncated as the result of electronic mail services. "The growth in the Document Factory market suggests that traditional uses of paper in presentment correspondence are not eroding," said William L. Broddy, EDP, Prinova vice president of business development. "Conventional wisdom has been that these volumes are stagnant or falling. However, operations managers are finding this not to be the case. Their dilemma has been the prospect of budget cuts and capital freezes in spite of higher volumes. The resistance to electronic alternatives also suggests that corporations must continue to plan for expanded paper production and distribution." For the last three years, the survey has concentrated on tracking high-volume letter-mail from businesses, which include documents such as bank statements, telephone bills, brokerage confirmations, collection letters and tax slips. It excludes "junk" mail and other non-first class documents. Most of the machine-driven first class letter-mail in Canada comes from 50 top print centres. The survey focused on those print-for-profit service bureaus that support the general marketplace or target financial services. In addition, government agencies, telecommunications companies and retailers participated. Other key findings of the Prinova survey are that mail-piece volume will grow 29 percent over the next three years, and the volume of pages mailed will increase by 37 percent over the same period. Internal report printing has dropped dramatically, from 28 percent of total volume to 16 percent. "Because the factors driving this growth are fundamentally the same in the US -- growing requirements for consumer, investment, health and environmental reporting and significant focus on servicing the baby-boomer market with wealth management services -- we believe the results are an accurate sampling of the both the US and Canadian marketplace," said Broddy. The Prinova Document Factory Survey provides valuable information for capital planning and operational budgeting for print/mail operations managers, postal authorities and document owners. For each device installed at the responding companies, the survey captured information on machine and model, year of installation, benchmark-based hourly speed, and actual monthly volumes. The annual study includes breakdowns of the types of documents generated, estimated volume for the next three years, and a ranking of future requirements. The accompanying charts provide a sampling of the results of the Prinova research. Companies interested in more detailed information about the Prinova 2001 Document Factory Survey should contact William Broddy at 416-410-8956 ext. 220 or [email protected].