Hanover, MA - I.T. Strategies, on behalf of the Print Industries Market Information and Research Organization (PRIMIR) and the world's printing equipment and supplies manufacturers, is conducting comprehensive research to establish a baseline identifying when and under what conditions analog printing applications could shift to digital printing.  The applications to be examined include Marketing Collateral, Catalogs, Magazines, Manuals, Newspapers, Books, Direct Mail, Transaction/Financial Printing, Labels, Packaging and Specialty Printing.

In February, an e-mail research survey will be conducted with 500 production printing environments including in-plant/in-house printing departments and commercial print shops.  The goal of this research is to determine by application the current share of digital printing and if volume is shifting from analog printing to digital printing along with the reasons for the shift.  Printshops producing the above applications are invited to take the survey. 

A second e-mail survey with 250 print buyers will investigate the percent of their total volume that is printed using analog presses and digital printers and will determine if the share of total volume is shifting over time from analog to digital along with the reasons for the shift.

The results of the research will be published by PRIMIR in the summer of 2010 in a report titled Megatrends in Digital Printing Applications.  In addition to the results from the surveys, the report will include a worldwide digital production printing forecast from 2007 to 2014; a baseline of the current share and expected growth by application of digital production printing; an application segmentation dashboard summarizing by application the current market size in terms of volume split by analog and digital as well as the trend for the next five years; critical factors driving the shift from analog to digital print; and implications and recommendations for PRIMIR members including analog press and digital printer manufacturers, paper suppliers, ink suppliers, and printers.  
Understanding the mile markers that indicate a shift in volume from analog to digital printing provides participants in the market with the data they will need to be successful in the future.