- 44% of major print buyers surveyed believe there is a trend toward purchasing print globally within their company. ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA (October 10, 2002) - The Graphic Arts Marketing Information Service (GAMIS), a special interest group of the Printing Industries of America, Inc. (PIA) recently published a study entitled the Globalization of Print Buying. The study specifically focuses on multinational print buyers with operations in the U.S. and/or Canada and was completed by Raine Consulting, Glen Ellyn, IL, exclusively for GAMIS members. For the purposes of the study, globalization of print buying is defined as "A shift in the buying process of specifying, committing to, producing, and distributing print that migrates from a local, regional, or national model to a worldwide or global model." The study revealed that there is a trend towards globalization of print buying. 44% of major print buyers surveyed believe there is a trend toward purchasing print globally within their company. In addition, secondary research confirmed an accelerating trend toward globalization of print buying. The impact on printers and the print supply chain is expected to emerge within the next two years. Although today, corporate buyers are focused on their core business and structural issues, they are also consumed with streamlining worldwide procurement processes and implementing technology on an enterprise-wide basis. Raine believes it is a matter of "when" and not "if" globalization of print buying is incorporated into the enterprise-wide procurement processes developed for their core businesses. "The research indicates that for the time being pricing battles will continue. Print buyers will continue to reduce the number of print suppliers they utilize and supplier qualification programs will emerge for all volumes of print procurement. Standardization of manufacturing platforms will become more important, and regional excellence will compete with economies of scale advantages. Buyers are looking for an optimum number of printers for each continent combined with geographically advantaged clusters of small-mid sized specialists rather than large print firms," explains Jackie Bland, Executive Director for GAMIS. The study was recently distributed to all members of GAMIS. If you would like membership information contact Jackie Bland, GAMIS Executive Director at (703) 519-8179 or [email protected]. Membership information is also available at www.gamis.org.