The 2019 IPMA show in Louisville Kentucky was different for me in a few ways. First it marked my 10th IPMA show in a row. Second I thought it was one of the better shows since the San Francisco show. Third I got to actually work for the IPMA. I consider myself fortunate to attend and present at the shows, but I was very lucky this year to work on the IPMA 2019 survey and present the early results for the white paper “The Next Generation Tactics and Strategies for In-Plant Service Providers.”
The survey included over 40 questions that focused on: shrinking traditional and growing value added services, hardware and software purchase intentions, successful marketing and sales tactics, issues of staffing and workflows, and best practices of metrics and reporting. The data was preliminary because it included only 77 responses and over 100 are needed.
The presentation discussed answers from 77 in-plants but at least 30 more participants are needed. In exchange for anyone who takes the survey I will be happy to send you a free, unredacted, full 36 slide presentation from the show to anyone who completes the survey. It only takes 15 minutes to complete the survey at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/KFZ6V55. Once done, send me an email ([email protected]) and I will send the handouts.
More Good News Than Bad News
There was more good news for in-plant service providers. For example, 81% reported they meet their financial objectives last year and 60% reported they meet them for the last 5 years in row. When managers were asked the age of their equipment the #1 answer was “up to date”.
Q18. How would you characterize your hardware?
Source: IPMA Preliminary Survey Results 2019, n= 77, Sponsored by Canon
One answer that surprised me however was to learn which hardware was in greatest demand. Most other surveys report digital presses and large format printers, but in this survey it was finishing equipment.
Q19.Where is your greatest need for new equipment?
Source: IPMA Preliminary Survey Results 2019, n= 77, Sponsored by Canon
After the additional surveys are complete, I need to make some phone calls and ask people questions about answers like this one. If I had to guess however, I would say that finishing equipment (and bindery equipment which was mentioned in other questions) may be the new bottlenecks.
As in most other studies large format remained a popular answer to many questions, such as it was:
- #1 response to the question “Where are you most likely to offer training or where do you want to offer more training?”
- #2 response to the question “What products or services are most valuable to your organization?”
- 2nd highest answer to a question about services that increased most in the last 12 most
- 2nd highest response to the question “What Do You Want to Learn More about?”
It’s Not all Good News, there are still Challenges
Marketing and sales was mentioned as a challenge in questions. For example it was the
- #1 answer to the question “What do YOU want to learn more about?” and
- #1 answer to a question about how managers characterized the in-plants sales and marketing efforts based on the most popular answer “Staff try to sell but it is sporadic and unmanaged.”
During the wrap up I offered my opinion that there was much more good news than bad news, but there was some issues identified. Some of the challenges reported included: marketing, sales, creating more value, training, competitive prices, declining mailing services, and a lack of operational metrics. However, encouraging signs included: interest of inkjet production printing, promotional products, apparel printing / personalized sewing, web to print, and perhaps one of the newest and best strategies to add value and defend the in-plant by adding super-fast turnaround services.
Last Call for the Latest Benchmarks
As mentioned earlier we still need at least 30 more surveys and I am offering to email you a free, unredacted, full presentation from the show with all 36 slides to anyone who completes the survey. It only takes 15 minutes to complete the survey at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/KFZ6V55. Once done send me an email ([email protected]) and I will send you the handouts.
The results will be reported and the Print 19 and Printing United shows and in webinars in the fall. The final white paper will be free to IPMA members and non-members can purchase for $250. Contact Jennifer Chambers at (816) 919-1691 to get your copy.
Howie Fenton has been a thought leader, consultant, and speaker in the in-plant and commercial printing industry for over 25 years. He is a well-known author of books, articles, whitepapers and blogs. After developing his expertise working with PIA, GATF, NAPL and InfoTrends, he opened Howie Fenton Consulting which continues in the tradition of benchmarking performance and recommending best practices to become an industry leader. For more information visit HowieFentonConsulting.com or call 720 872-6339.