Good Grades For In-plant Industry

It's rare that I can travel to a conference without leaving home. That's just what I did a few weeks ago, though, when the Association of College and University Printers came to Philadelphia.

Almost 100 people from 64 schools visited IPG's home town for ACUP, making things easy for me. I saw a lot of old friends, met a few new ones and gathered some good story ideas for the magazine. (I was gratified to learn that one manager used my March story on Kinko's to help convince her supervisor that a Kinko's proposal then being considered was not in the university's best interest.)

I did more than mingle though. In a presentation, I revealed the results of IPG's most recent industry research. Though we plan to publish this report in the months ahead, I thought I'd share with you some of the most interesting data:

• The average size of an in-plant appears to be on the rise. Two years ago our survey revealed an average employee count of 22; our newest study showed that number has increased to 29. In-plants like the Church of Jesus Christ of LDS, Affiliated Foods Midwest and the County of Riverside (Calif.) were among those with big employee gains over the past two years.

• In-plant operating budgets continue to increase. The average budget two years ago was just under $3 million; this year it is $4.62 million.

• More in-plants than ever are earning new revenue through insourcing. Half of all survey respondents now insource, up from 44 percent in 2002. Those that do it say insourcing makes up 10.8 percent of their total revenue.

• More than 90 percent of in-plants now handle digital printing, with 42 percent of them doing variable data printing.

This and the rest of our market research reveals a strong, healthy in-plant industry that is preparing for more growth by upgrading equipment and seeking new revenue streams.

This is certainly a promising picture, and one I look forward to painting this month for attendees of the International Publishing Management Association conference. By coincidence, that group is also meeting in Philadelphia. If this continues, I may never have to leave town again.