Data. One of the consequences of living in the Information Age is that we are awash in a sea of data. In more and more industries, data is currency (and, in the case of things like Bitcoin, data is quite literally currency), and even in our own industry, print businesses seized on the advantages of data as far back as the dawn of digital printing.

We are most familiar with two specific uses of data. The first is workflow automation, where data* is used to shunt files through production with minimal—if any—human interference. The second is data-driven printing, also known as variable-data printing, where customer data is used to create personalized print products like direct mail or custom publications.

There is a third kind of data that is woefully underutilized, and not just by print businesses: using research data to make highly informed business decisions. The Association for Print Technologies (APTech), through its PRIMIR Research Unit and Market Data programs, provides a wealth of industry intelligence that can be of great practical use to all the links in the value chain—not just suppliers and vendors but print service providers, as well. PRIMIR’s reports and white papers provide solid, actionable information on key topics that have a direct impact on the industry at large and your business in particular. Essentially, on a broad range of topics, these data points will tell you: what’s important, why is it important, and what you should do about it.