Recently, TrendWatch GA released its Printing Forecast 2005, which outlines the critical trends and TWGA’s prognoses for the upcoming year. But it’s not any of those trends that I want to talk about this month. It’s something else the report points out, a critical observation that underlies all the rest.

By now, everyone has heard ad nauseum about the decline in the number of printing establishments through the 1990s and how this reflects the health of our industry and the demand for print. And we all know the culprits, ranging from the Internet revolution to the change in customer business models that is driving shorter runs, just-in-time printing, and personalized marketing.

It is ironic, then, that, as we emerge from the recession, we may actually be moving away from a time of greater health for our industry. This is because, during the recession, as the sagging economy drove down the volume of print (volume that was already declining due to the changing business environment), printers began turning to other sources of revenue beyond the press. Sure, the amount of capital they could justify spending was limited, but within reason, they began exploring new applications, new technologies, and new services to bolster their bottom lines.