ROLLING HILLS, Calif., U.S.A. (Jan. 18, 2006) --- The Electronic Document Systems Foundation (EDSF), the non-profit organization dedicated to the document management and communications industry, announced the publication of an insightful co-branded research paper on industry trends in the print-for-pay services market. The study was designed to gain an understanding of the current state of business, evaluate future trends, establish perceptions of customer expectations, and to identify and understand any gaps in perception between print providers and the vendors who supply them. “Supplier and Service Provider Priorities: 2005 Survey Results” is a collaboration between InfoTrends/CAP Ventures (www.capv.com), the leading worldwide market research and strategic consulting firm for the digital imaging and document solutions industry based in Weymouth, Mass., and the Graphic Communication Program at Clemson University in Clemson, S.C. "This important study examines the requirements of print-for-pay service providers and the vendors who work with them,” explained Charlie Corr, group director, InfoTrends/CAP Ventures. “It provides critical information on both the current state and future direction of our industry. We are pleased to have worked on this critical study with EDSF and our research partner, Clemson University." According to the study, print providers and vendors share a common market. Factors that benefit print providers indirectly benefit vendors, as printers will buy more. Print providers also benefit from the technical knowledge and expertise vendors can provide to them. In some cases, providers and vendors have common perceptions of the market; in other cases they do not. In many areas, significant gaps in beliefs are evident between print providers and vendors. To benefit the industry as a whole, vendors should work more closely with print providers to understand the trends and beliefs of print providers in order to provide the advice and counsel expected of them, as well as make more accurate sales forecasts. Looking to the future, the study suggests that print providers focus on aligning investment plans with strategic intent. Achieving “super efficiency” requires investments in software and services that many print providers are not planning to make. If this gap persists, it will lead to many print providers exiting a competitive landscape, predict the authors. Highlights of “Supplier and Service Provider Priorities: 2005 Survey Results” include: ---Both groups were optimistic about print revenue moving forward with the strongest growth over the next two years expected to come from variable data printing and digital full color printing. ---Print providers and suppliers have different views of the future. Print providers forecast growth for offset printing, fulfillment and kitting, and facilities management. Suppliers, on the other hand, forecast a decline in offset print revenue and are less optimistic about growth in fulfillment and kitting and facilities. ---Among the print providers surveyed, Adobe has an enviable position. Providers identified PostScript as the most common print language, PDF as the most popular file format, and had a high level of use and interest in a PDF-enabled workflow. ---Vendors and print providers have very different views on technology adoption. Forty-four percent of the print providers described themselves as early adopters of new technology, 40% as mainstream adopters, and 16% as laggards. Vendors had a much different view, believing that 25% of print providers were early adopters of new technology, 45% were mainstream, and 30% were laggards. “Sponsoring research that has significant value in today’s workplace is very important to EDSF,” said EDSF Vice Chair of Research Kenneth M. Morris, Ph.D., CEO of Lightbulb Press. ”We’re proud to provide on-target information such as this study through the hard work and expertise of InfoTrends/CAP Ventures and Clemson University.” “Supplier and Service Provider Priorities: 2005 Survey Results” is available as a free download at www.edsf.org.