Reston, VA - At the December 2010 PRIMIR Winter Meeting in Boca Raton, Florida, PRIMIR funded a new research study entitled "Printing Industry Consumables Usage & Trends."

The results of this research will provide an understanding of the usage trends for the numerous consumables utilized by the various print processes (flexo, gravure, sheetfed and web offset, digital, and wide format), and by major application segments (packaging, newspapers, general commercial, publications, financial/transactional, in-plant and digital imaging).  Consumables included in the study are:  coatings (UV and aqueous), toner, inks, blankets, plates along with pressroom chemistry to include: fountain solutions, silicone solutions and washes.  The study will also identify consumables shifts by application, as printers transition from conventional to digital processes.

The research will be conducted by State Street Consultants, Inc.  This study will revisit a 2007 PRIMIR study, "Benchmarking 2006 North American Printers and Consumables," which established benchmark numbers for print consumables by regions and markets.  The 2007 study was also completed by State Street Consultants.  The scope for this update is the United States, (excluding the detailed regional breakdown found in the previous study).

The research will refresh the work of the 2007 study; however, this new study will exclude papers.  Instead, new benchmarks will be established for coatings and press chemistries-an enhancement from the previous work completed.  It will also thoroughly examine the demand, trends, and consumption patterns for these printing consumables in 2010.  A projection of consumption changes through 2015 will also be provided, along with an evaluation of how these changes may impact printing consumables businesses.