The Printing Outlook 2024 report provides detailed analysis of the latest WhatTheyThink Printing Industry Survey, the latest industry economic data and macroeconomic trends, as well as industry and cultural technological trends to look out for in 2024 and beyond.
The new Printing Outlook 2024 report provides detailed analysis of the latest WhatTheyThink Business Outlook Survey, the latest industry economic data and macroeconomic trends, as well as industry and cultural technological trends to look out for in 2024.
The executive report was prepared by Richard Romano and looks back at 2023 and ahead to what the industry can expect, economically and technologically, in 2024. The report features the results of the WhatTheyThink Printing Industry Business Outlook Survey conducted in Fall 2023, and includes current and expected business conditions, top business challenges, top business opportunities, and planned investments for 2024. Additional questions asked about shops’ interest in adding new specialty graphics areas such as wide-format or textile printing, shops’ hiring plans for the next 12 months, and the current state of automation, and the extent to which print businesses are implementing artificial intelligence (AI)—and for what.
The report also offers the latest government data on printing industry shipments, establishments, profits, and employment, as well as the economy in general, and includes an industry forecast to 2033, as well as some technology and cultural trends the industry should prepare itself for in 2024.
Report highlights:
- 26% of print businesses surveyed said that revenues for 2023 had increased more than 10% compared to 2022.
- In terms of revenues, smaller businesses did better than large businesses.
- Profitability lagged behind revenues and jobs/orders—more so than usual.
- “Increasing plant productivity” is now reported by print business owners as their number one challenge, with “national economic conditions” a close second.
- “Improving economic conditions” and “customers outsourcing more work to us” were cited as the top business opportunities for 2024.
- Few print businesses have any substantial planned investments for 2024, but of those who do, binding and finishing equipment tops the list.
- Production inkjet and folding carton printing (and the two are not mutually exclusive) appear to be the areas in which printers look to be expanding.
- Almost two-thirds of print businesses said they plan to hire staff in 2024, primarily production staff.
- Almost two-thirds of print businesses said they have implemented some kind of workflow automation.
- Use of so-called artificial intelligence (AI) was higher than we had expected, and many print businesses do plan to implement it in some form in the future.
Print business owners will find the report essential for their planning, in order to put the marketplace and their strategic actions in realistic perspective. Industry suppliers will benefit from the insights into printer decision-making processes and the foundation of new industry demographic data that debuts in this report. Non-economic trends also offer ideas for what to pay attention to in the new year, and larger cultural and technological; trends indicate where marketing professionals and brandowners will likely be focusing their promotional dollars.
What’s included in this report
Section 1 presents our Fall 2023 survey data about current (2023) and expected (2024) business conditions, specifically how print businesses fared vis-à-vis revenues, number of orders, and profits.
Section 2 presents our survey data on print businesses’ top challenges, opportunities, and planned investments.
Section 3 looks at what new technology or product areas print businesses are looking to expand into. High-speed production inkjet? Wide-format printing? Textiles? Packaging? What’s hot this year compared to 2019, when we last asked this question?
Section 4 presents the results of our survey question about print businesses’ hiring plans. Do they have any and, if so, for which positions? We also asked about where they are looking for employees.
Section 5 looks at two hot topics in 2023: automation and so-called “artificial intelligence.” Have print businesses implemented some kind of workflow automation? If so, what do they think of as “workflow automation”? We also asked an open-ended question about their challenges in implementing automation. We also asked if print businesses were using AI (or, more appropriately, “machine learning”) for any of their business or production tasks. We had added the AI question not entirely unfacetiously, but we were surprised by the extent to which print businesses were using it in some fashion.
Section 6 rounds up the write-in responses to our open-ended question about how print businesses fared in 2023.
Section 7 rounds up a variety of printing industry data—establishments, shipments, profits, employment, and so on. In addition to commercial print, we also include data on publishers, sign and display advertising shops, and several categories of paper and packaging converters.
Section 8 provides the latest general macroeconomic data. These data are important to put industry data into the proper macroeconomic context.
Section 9 offers what we see as the hot, cold, and lukewarm trends for 2024, as well as WhatTheyThink’s economic and printing industry forecast.
The demographics of the respondents who completed our survey are included in Appendix A. The survey methodology and questionnaire are provided in Appendix B. Our entertaining explanation of survivor bias is presented in Appendix C.
Table of Contents
| Introduction: Panic! At the Disco | 5 |
| A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out | 5 |
| Pretty. Odd. | 5 |
| Vices & Virtues | 6 |
| How This Report Is Organized | 6 |
| Nota Bummer | 7 |
| For More Information | 7 |
| 1. Business Conditions | 8 |
| Revenues | 8 |
| 2023 Revenues | 8 |
| 2024 Revenues | 10 |
| Jobs/Orders | 11 |
| 2023 Jobs/Orders | 11 |
| 2023 Jobs/Orders | 13 |
| Profitability | 14 |
| 2022 Profits | 14 |
| 2023 Profits | 16 |
| Business Conditions Summary | 17 |
| The WhatTheyThink Business Conditions Index | 18 |
| Looking Ahead | 19 |
| 2. Challenges, Opportunities, and Investments | 20 |
| Top Business Challenges | 20 |
| Business Opportunities | 23 |
| Planned Investments | 28 |
| Looking Forward | 32 |
| Full Table of Business Challenges | 33 |
| Full Table of New Business Opportunities | 34 |
| Full Table of Planned Investments | 35 |
| 3. New Products and Services | 38 |
| High-Speed Production Inkjet | 39 |
| Wide-Format Printing | 40 |
| Textile Printing for Soft Signage | 41 |
| Textile/Fabric Printing for Garment Printing/Decorating | 42 |
| Direct-to-Garment Printing | 43 |
| Décor Printing | 44 |
| Specialty Printing | 45 |
| Corrugated Packaging Printing | 46 |
| Folding Carton Printing/Converting | 47 |
| Flexible Packaging Printing/Converting | 48 |
| 3D Printing | 49 |
| Printed Electronics | 50 |
| Looking Forward | 51 |
| 4. Hiring Plans | 52 |
| Specific Positions | 53 |
| Recruitment Sources | 54 |
| 5. Automation and AI | 57 |
| Automation | 57 |
| “Artificial Intelligence” | 60 |
| Use Now | 61 |
| Will Start Using in 2024 or 2025 | 62 |
| Considering Use After 2025 | 63 |
| Won’t Ever Use | 64 |
| Don’t Know | 65 |
| Looking Ahead | 66 |
| 6. In Their Own Write | 67 |
| 7. Graphic Communications Industry Economic Trends | 70 |
| Printing Establishments | 70 |
| M&As | 72 |
| Printing Shipments | 74 |
| Monthly Shipments | 74 |
| Year-to-Date Shipments | 75 |
| Annualized Shipments | 75 |
| Industry Profits | 78 |
| Capital Expenditures | 79 |
| Graphic Arts Employment | 80 |
| Employees Per Establishment | 81 |
| Productivity | 83 |
| Publishing and Advertising | 84 |
| Sign Manufacturing | 85 |
| Establishments | 85 |
| Employment | 88 |
| Productivity | 89 |
| Outdoor Advertising | 91 |
| Establishments | 91 |
| Revenue | 94 |
| Employment | 95 |
| Packaging and Converting | 96 |
| Paperboard Container Manufacturing | 96 |
| Paper Bag and Coated and Treated Paper Manufacturing | 99 |
| Stationery Product Manufacturing | 102 |
| Other Converted Paper Product Manufacturing | 105 |
| Corrugated and Solid Fiber Box Manufacturing | 108 |
| Folding Paperboard Box Manufacturing | 111 |
| Other Paperboard Container Manufacturing | 114 |
| Looking Forward | 116 |
| 8. Macroeconomic Data | 117 |
| GDP | 117 |
| Proprietors’ Income | 118 |
| Corporate Cash Flow | 119 |
| Industrial Production Index | 120 |
| Durable Goods | 120 |
| Personal Income | 121 |
| Consumer Confidence | 122 |
| Consumer Sentiment Index | 122 |
| Consumer Price Index | 123 |
| Employment Cost Index | 124 |
| Employment and Unemployment | 124 |
| Full-Time Employment | 124 |
| Part-Time Employment | 126 |
| Multiple Jobholders | 127 |
| Unemployment Rate | 128 |
| Employment-to-Population Ratio | 130 |
| Labor Force Participation Rate | 132 |
| Not In Labor Force | 134 |
| Self-Employment | 135 |
| Unemployment Claims | 136 |
| New Business Formation | 136 |
| Retail Sales | 137 |
| Architecture and Construction | 139 |
| Architecture Billings Index | 139 |
| The Economic Landscape | 140 |
| 9. Industry Trends and Outlook | 141 |
| Trends Affecting the Industry | 141 |
| Hot Trends | 141 |
| Lukewarm Trends | 143 |
| Ultimately: The Only Trend That Matters | 144 |
| Industry Shipments Forecast | 144 |
| Inflation Multipliers | 146 |
| The Last Word | 146 |
| Appendix A. Demographics | 147 |
| Primary Business | 147 |
| Franchise | 149 |
| Products | 150 |
| Location | 152 |
| Employees | 153 |
| Appendix B. Methodology and Questionnaire | 154 |
| Questionnaire | 154 |
| Appendix C. Survivor Bias | 163 |