Spending Rollercoaster in the Printing & Publishing Industry to Continue into 2006 & Beyond

---

Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). For many industries in North America, the new millennium was a time of change. Moving from the 20th century to the 21st century, allowed many industries to make significant changes in the way they handle their business, especially concerning capital and maintenance spending. However, for the printing and publishing industry it began a rollercoaster ride of spending that has been anything but consistent.

The industry’s spending has gone from a paltry $120 million in 2002 to a sky-high $700 million in 2005, with highs and lows in between. In part, this has been due to the Internet exploding into everyone’s home and taking some of the need and desire for printed media away from the populace. However, even with the Internet boom and the free flow of information that it has brought with it, printing and publishing has still managed to find ways to hang on and not slide into total despair.

Click on the image at right to view a breakdown of spending by year in the printing & publishing industry.

Some companies are running on a "business-as-usual" stance with their share of typical expansion and grassroots projects each year, boosting their production capacity as needed. Others, like Quad Graphics, have taken a preventative approach to their spending by spending around $300 million on equipment, mainly new presses and finishing systems, that they will then install in their plants on an as needed basis over a period of years.

While other industries are going through much publicized problems, such as the automotive industry with its numerous bankruptcies, buyouts and takeovers among its tier suppliers and well written about problems with the automakers needing to cut costs, the printing and publishing industry has done a masterful job of avoiding most of those pitfalls. They have managed to spend when needed to maintain or boost overall production, and have been very diligent in not spending not needed, something that most industries find much harder to do.

All in all, the printing and publishing industry has managed to ride the rollercoaster and hang in there without giving up too much of its traditional identity. Spending has been very erratic, but they are still spending money and will continue to do so into the future. This reflects an image that the industry is still healthy, wealthy, and strong.

Industrial Information Resources (IIR) is a Marketing Information Service company that has been doing business for over 22 years. IIR is respected as a leader in providing comprehensive market intelligence pertaining to the industrial processing, heavy manufacturing, and energy-related industries throughout the world.