East Rutherford, N.J. - The National Association for Printing Leadership (NAPL) has announced that KBA has joined the NAPL Elite Supplier Partnership Program as exclusive sponsor of the NAPL Research Center’s State of the Industry^™ Series of studies, reports, and print/electronic educational materials.

“We are very pleased to welcome KBA as an elite supplier partner in support of our signature State of the Industry^™ research,” says NAPL President and Chief Executive Officer Joseph P. Truncale, Ph.D. “KBA’s sponsorship will enable us to provide our members and the industry with economic data and trends reports that they can use in their critical business planning.”

"KBA continues to support the graphic arts industry and our leading printing associations to provide printers with valuable industry reports and research that they can use to grow their business and increase overall profitability," says Mark Hischar, President and Chief Executive Officer of KBA North America. “We are pleased to join forces with NAPL and to continue its important work for the industry.”

The State of the Industry Series includes the annual State of the Industry Report, an overview of industry business conditions based on hundreds of comprehensive company surveys, studies, and economic reports. It also provides the story behind the numbers through interviews with survey respondents who explain their assessment of current conditions and outlook for the future. Quarterly Printing Business Reports offer intermediate views of where the industry stands and where it is headed at various points throughout the year, identifying key business issues and reporting how industry members are responding to them.

Both studies also reveal characteristics of leading industry companies facing cyclical or structural change, as well as growth opportunities presented by new technologies, media, and social trends. The reports are highly sought after and used extensively by industry executives in their day-to-day activities, as well as in their long-term strategic planning process.

The 2013 NAPL State of the Industry Report will be unveiled in a special presentation by NAPL Senior Vice President and Chief Economist Andrew Paparozzi in the KBA booth at the PRINT 13 show in Chicago this September. 

“The interest and involvement of our supplier community in the Elite Supplier Partnership Program allows NAPL to provide industry business and management tools at the highest level of reliability and excellence,” says Truncale, adding: “NAPL research, publications, and programs continue to draw the support of progressive suppliers who recognize their validity, their value, and their importance to the industry.”