In an action designed to streamline and improve the printing industry’s wide-ranging market research efforts, the Graphic Arts Marketing Information Service (GAMIS), a section of PIA/GATF, and the Market Research Committee of NPES The Association for Suppliers of Printing, Publishing and Converting Technologies will merge to form a new organization.  The merger will be effective January 1, 2005, and the new organization will be housed and administered at NPES headquarters in Reston, Virginia. Both NPES and PIA/GATF hailed the decision, which was finalized at a GAMIS Board of Directors meeting on December 8.  The boards of directors of NPES and PIA/GATF had approved the merger earlier.  A task force of representatives from GAMIS and the NPES Market Research Committee will be formed early in 2005 to determine a name and operational procedures for the new organization.  “With the merger of these two well respected research programs, the industry can expect more and better studies tracking the critical trends impacting the industry, distributed to more companies at a lower cost,” said NPES President Regis J. Delmontagne. “In this era of consolidation, it only makes sense to reduce duplication of effort, streamline the market research process and achieve cost and time savings for our members and the industry at large.” The NPES Market Research program has typically produced two or three major studies each year, along with a variety of shorter or more tightly focused projects. NPES has recently completed studies on The Current and Future Market Potential for Sheetfed and Web Press Options and AccessoriesandNorth American Newspaper Market Trends, and has three additional studies under way: Package Printing and Converting, An Industry Assessment: 2003-2008, Life Cycle of the Analog and Digital Printing Plate and The Market for Print Finishing Equipment in the Package Printing and Converting Industries. GAMIS studies currently in progress include The Future of Direct Mail, Growth and Trends of the Flexible Packaging Marketand Integrated Automation in the Printing Industry. Michael Makin, President and CEO of PIA/GATF, noted that “this consolidation made eminent sense. NPES and GAMIS were the two leading organizations doing research, and we were often exploring the same topics and calling on the energies of many of the same people.”  Makin added that printer members of PIA/GATF “will now be able to avail themselves of this research at a substantially reduced cost, which will encourage its wider use.” Jackie Bland, Executive Director of GAMIS, who will join the new organization, noted that “given the economic climate of our industry, there has never been a greater need for good research, or more pressure on us to get the most from our resources. These resources include not only financial support but also major allocations of volunteer labor on the part of industry professionals who serve on committees and study steering groups. The operational efficiencies created by this merger will open the way to producing more studies or doing more in-depth research.” For more information about the merger, contact NPES Vice President William K. Smythe at 703/264-7200 or e-mail [email protected].