Des Plaines, I.L. – The National Association of Quick Printers (NAQP) will release its Printing Industry Pricing Study later this month. The 13th edition of NAQP’s pricing study surveyed printers on the pricing practices for their 1- and 2- color offset as well as black & white and full color digital printing.   The Association also publishes a separate study focused on 4C offset and digital pricing practices.
 
The survey, conducted in the first quarter of 2009 in conjunction with John Stewart, president of Q. P. Consulting, was based on the largest response rate in the past six years with over 560 printing and copying firms submitting pricing data. No individual company data represents more than 1% of any individual statistic.
 
Highlights of this study include:
- More than 15 charts and graphs revealing the latest industry data pertaining to industry sales, profitability, sales per employee, sales per DTP, sales per press operator, as well as other key breakouts.
- Detailed pricing for 16 of the most popular offset printed products ranging from carbonless forms and letterheads to coated text and cover stocks. Pricing data is provided for both single color and two-color products.
- Average and median pricing for nine of the industry's most popular bindery services, including one of the newest bindery services - creasing and folding charges for digital color products.
- Average and median markup practices applied to both paper and brokered services.
- New digital color pricing tables based upon various stocks and sizes, including average and median prices as well as "price per copy" tables.
- The latest budgeted hourly press rates for five of the most common press formats used in our industry segment. Also included are press wash-up rates for both “standard house inks” and special “PMS ink” wash-ups.
- A special section that provides user ratings for specific black and white and color digital copiers, sorted by manufacturer and model numbers.
 
“Our members and the industry alike have been using the NAQP pricing studies since 1986 to review their pricing practices as they look for opportunities to improve their margins and profitability. The competitive marketplace and challenging economy in which our printers are competing today makes this a must-have resource for printing companies of any size. This valuable resource has been the most popular of the studies we produce on a regular basis for the quick and small commercial segment of the industry,” noted NAQP President and CEO Steve Johnson.  “With the growth of four-color digital printing we have included an expanded section that addresses pricing practices for color digital printing, including first time ever comparisons between “regular” and “aggressive” pricing practices in the industry.”
 
The Printing Industry Pricing Study is the latest study in NAQP’s Performance & Profit Series. Other current studies in the series include 4C Practices & Pricing Study, Operating Ratio Study and Wage & Benefits Study. To order NAPL Network member price is $155; non-member price is $225, visit NAQP.com/publications or call (800) 234-0040.