Associations Cooperate in the Fields of Market Research and Standards and Share Information on Technological Developments in the Printing Industry

Reston, VA - NPES The Association for Suppliers of Printing, Publishing and Converting Technologies and the German VDMA Printing and Paper Technology Association met at the NPES 2016 Annual Conference and PRIMIR Fall Meeting, held November 14–16, in Marco Island, Florida, to continue the dialogue between the two associations.

Dr. Markus Heering, Managing Director of the VDMA, and NPES President Thayer Long announced that the ongoing cooperation in the field of international market research would deliver first results very soon. "At the moment, we are carrying out a joint study of the global packaging printing market," explained Heering, adding that its results would be made available to the member companies of both associations.

NPES and the VDMA share information on the content of basic and advanced training in an increasingly digital environment. "We can learn from each other—and, in some cases, also prevent that our industry reinvents the wheel two or even more times," Heering said, explaining that, as a long-term objective, he hopes for joint industrial standards for digital networking, harmonized qualification as well as broad market research that can profit from the assessments and experience made on both sides.

Whether and to what extent their cooperation will be embedded into a strong Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) agreement—for which the VDMA and NPES have advocated unceasingly—is uncertain. "Our associations are in agreement that we do not wish to abandon the bonds of cooperation we have established," said Heering, emphasizing that it would be even better if, in the end, the TTIP transatlantic free trade and investment partnership came into being. "NPES and the VDMA remain convinced that the harmonization of international standards is a key tool to boost transatlantic trade," says Long, adding that the machinery manufacturing industry on both sides would profit.