Printing Industry

Table of Contents  Keys to Using Guide  U.S. Domestic Printing Industry  Emerging Technologies   P2 Practices in Printing  Lithography  Screen Printing  Flexography  Gravure

The U.S. Domestic Printing Industry

Overview

Who is the bigger employer in the United States, the printing or the automotive industry? If you guessed printing, take a bow—an $83+ billion bow. Yes, believe it or not, in the US, printing isn't just big business, it's the biggest. Printers employ nearly 1 million people across the country, placing the meager 780,000 in the auto industry a distant second. Sounds pretty outrageous until you stop to think about it. In a society that's constantly in search of access to information and literally obsessed with record-keeping, it stands to reason that printing is ubiquitous. From new car manuals to tabloid newspapers to t-shirts to those little tags on mattresses, nearly every product calls on the printing industry somewhere along the line. Put in that light, the numbers don't seem quite so farfetched. So the big question is, if it's such a big industry, how come we've never noticed?

The relative invisibility of the industry is due primarily to the nature of the business and the way it has evolved. To understand how the industry works and how to effectively target printing facilities for pollution prevention programs, we need to understand who they are, what they do, and perhaps most importantly, where is everybody?

According to the 6th Annual Report to Congress by the Printing Industry of America (PIA), printers are defined as: "Those firms engaged primarily in commercial printing, business forms, book printing, prepress services, quick printing and blank books and binders." This definition does not include firms mainly involved in publishing. Figure 1 (PIA, 1994) illustrates the economic breakdown of the industry into these seven major areas. Before the screaming begins, according to USEPA data, letterpress really did account for 11 percent of the economic market and screen only 3 percent. However, of all the major printing processes, screen printers are the most undocumented. So, in this case, 3 percent is the number that can be physically established.

Figure 1. From: 6th Annual Report to Congress: Printing Industry. Printing Industries of America, Inc. 1994.

For the purposes of this report, printers are defined by the Bureau of Census' Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) 27. A word of warning about SIC codes might be in order at this time. Anyone who has attempted to use them has no doubt found them to be vague at best and just downright obsolete at worst. SIC 27, Printing, Publishing, and Allied Industries, is unfortunately no exception. While this definition of the printing industry is similar to the PIA's, it doesn't necessarily include firms engaged in fabric and textile printing (largely a screen process), manufacturers of products containing incidental printing or circuit board printers. But, it could. Broad headings and subjective interpretation of various industries leaves the SIC codes open to a great deal of confusion when it comes to actual statistics. It's often difficult to determine what counts under SIC 27 and what doesn't.

There is some good news on the horizon. Even as this manual is heading towards publication, efforts are underway to clarify and to expand SIC 27. In particular, screen printing will be given two separate listings. So, hopefully, two or three years down the road will see a new, improved SIC 27 that will make it much easier to get a numerical handle on printing in the United States. However, for the moment, and for this overview, the current SIC 27, confusing as it may be, is it.

This sort of uncertainty about the codes leads to some large statistical ranging, depending on the source consulted, and what the authors chose to classify under which SIC. But it should be kept in mind that these numbers, while not necessarily deadly accurate, still serve to illustrate the magnitude and the diverse nature of the industry. Also, it's good to note that, if anything, the numbers quoted here underestimate reality. So, while the 1994 SIC 27 may leave out a potentially sizable number of printing operations, it still provides plenty to keep everyone busy for some time to come.

SIC 27 is made up of firms printing by the five most common processes (lithography, screen, flexography, letterpress, and gravure) as well as newspaper, book and periodical publishers (whether or not they do their own printing). The primary focus of this manual is on the five processes mentioned above. They account for about 97 percent of the economic output in the domestic printing industry (US EPA, 1994), and by necessity, are the first step to anything else in SIC 27. (Bookbinders may have their own pollutants, but they can't do much until someone has printed their books.) Figure 2 shows the financial breakdown of the industry by process-type.

Figure 2. From: US EPA Printing Industry Cluster Profile, 1994, p. 5

At the moment, a number of alternative printing processes and technologies are in use and being further refined and developed. These include various electronic, thermographic ion-deposition, ink-jet and Mead Cycolor printing processes. While these newer methods currently account for about 3 percent of the market, their share is expected to be nearer 20 percent by 2025 (US EPA, 1994). Also afoot are numerous "paperless" publishing and recording technologies. It's not inconceivable, given the increasing popularity of the "information superhighway" and new computer imaging and transmitting equipment, that a net-reduction in printed materials could eventually impact the industry. However, that appears to be a few years down the road, at the very least, and until that comes to pass, there is every indication that old-fashioned printing will remain a very growing concern.

Companies, Presses and Employees

Various estimates place the number of printing establishments in the US somewhere between 60,000 - 70,000. However, these estimates are thought to exclude most-to-all of the 40,000+ plants with screen presses, placing the total nearer to 100,000 facilities.(US EPA, 1994). Apparently, screen printers are even more difficult to put a finger on than are the others. So, with that in mind, be warned that many of the numbers in this chapter should be considered suspect in terms of the impact of screen printers. Figure 3 illustrates plant distribution by press/process-type.

Figure 3. From: US EPA Printing Industry Cluster Profile, 1994, p. 15

Interestingly, while the industry does account for a significant share of the nation's total volume and goods, services and employment, at the same time, it is the ultimate small business. Nearly 80 percent of the printers in the US employ fewer than 20 people. While there are some printers dealing in national and international scope, most serve local or regional markets. This is an industry largely populated by small, neighborhood shops, rather than sprawling multi-acre industrial complexes. You just don't find that many printing plants employing 20,000 people.

Of the operating plants in the US, about 46 percent have fewer than five employees, 24.5 percent have between five and nine, and 14.1 percent have between ten and nineteen. Roughly 12 percent employ between 20 and 99, leaving less than 3 percent of all printers in the country employing more than 100 people. Figure 4 shows the distribution of plants by number of employees. This distribution of employment size matches fairly closely with the type of presses in operation. Gravure and flexographic plants tend to be the larger operations. Over half of the flexographic and about one-quarter of the gravure shops employ more than 20. The majority of the shops utilizing letterpress, lithographic and screen presses fall in the under-20 category (US EPA, 1994).

Figure 4. From: US EPA Printing Industry Cluster Profile, 1994, p. 18.

The conclusions, with regard to pollution prevention efforts, drawn from this section should be pretty clear. The majority of the shops that need assistance aren't going to be multi-national conglomerates with the corresponding resources. Odds are, the average

printer is running a lithographic or screen press, employing less than 20, and quite probably, working on a thin profit-margin, without vast pools of cash available for major capital improvements or process reengineering. Knowing the profile of the individual operation will help identify the psychological approach that will be most effective, as well as the technical considerations.

Geographic Distribution

At this point, we have a good idea of who constitutes the US printing industry and we know that there are thousands of printers out there. However, we still don't know where they are hiding. With the majority being so small, they could turn up just about anywhere. And, in fact, that's almost exactly the case. From Alaska to Wyoming, you will not find a shortage of printers. In fact, every single state has at least one plant employing over 100 and hundreds of smaller plants. But, if you want to play Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Printer at a party, ten states stand out above the rest.

California, New York, Illinois, Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey, Michigan, and Massachusetts by themselves account for more than 60 percent of the entire industry. The top three alone are home to over 1/3 of all the plants. Figure 5 shows the ten states by their percentage of the total.

Figure 5. From: US EPA Printing Industry Cluster Profile, 1994, p. 10.

Conclusion

The US domestic printing industry is an entity unlike almost any other. It's the largest employer-one of the largest in terms of economic output-and, if you were to judge by the response of the average person on the street, the printing industry maintains a profile so low that it just about disappears from sight. Instead of a rampaging giant of economic clout, it's a diverse, dispersed swarm of small businesses. The average printing facility is small (<20 employees), probably runs a lithographic or screen press, and has a better than average chance of finding itself in one of ten particular states. But, it could also be 120 people running gravure presses in Nome, Alaska. Probably more so than any other industry of comparable size today, printing is a quickly shifting, unpredictable business.

The US printing industry is nothing else, if not proof of strength in numbers. They don't take up lots of real estate. They aren't generally the major employers in a given area. Individually, they are usually not a major environmental concern. But, when you examine the industry as a whole, you face an entirely different animal. Comprised of thousands of small, independent units, the printing industry employs nearly 1 million in some 60,000-100,000 plants and accounts for somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 billion dollars in business every single year, while at the same time, contributing to toxic air emissions and solid and chemical waste problems on an ever-growing scale. It's too big to be ignored on all fronts, economic, social and environmental.

Looking at each plant individually, it might not seem like the average printer is responsible for all that much pollution. However, whether that assumption is grounded or not, 100,000 individual sources of VOC emissions, petroleum ink wastes, and various types of waste chemicals can add up to a very considerable problem in a very short time.

Unfortunately, the diversity and wide-spread dispersion of the printing industry contributes to its economic survival and viability, and creates a number of sticky logistical problems in bringing wholesale pollution prevention and waste management to the entire industry. With some 100,000 shops operating in nearly every corner of the country, there is, at present, no "short-cut" access to the industry as a whole. Simply reaching these plants presents an enormous challenge, to say nothing of the other factors, such as size, financial situation and location that will also have considerable influence on any pollution prevention strategies that might be suggested.

Facing that and knowing that the printing industry is projected to grow by 3.8-5.3 percent annually during this decade (US EPA, 1994), the environmental problems created by the printing industry aren't going to disappear on their own and without action, will simply become that much more unmanageable each year.

Regulatory and legislative actions may come about, but the size and distribution of the industry again will insulate it from much of this. It's simply not possible to effectively regulate and monitor this many institutions. Printers are going to have to decide on their own that pollution prevention and waste management can be an environmentally and economically productive innovation. Like any other industry, the most effective policing method isn't a regulatory agency, but the bottom line. Nothing motivates like the prospect of increased profits. Skilled technical assistance with a feel for the requirements and conditions of the printing industry is one of the most promising routes to this re-education process.

This is still no quick fix. There is no such thing, at least not to be found under SIC 27. Faced with such overwhelming numbers, even directed technical assistance efforts targeting the industry will initially be a shotgun approach. But, with personnel armed with a little background about the printing industry and some practical knowledge of the various major processes, odds are good that some successes will be achieved. This should lead to a snowball effect. The successful shops that implement new and more efficient techniques will lead others in the right direction.

It's not possible to overstate the value of understanding the printing industry as a whole--what are each individual printers' characteristics, how do they do business and what are their limitations. Going into a technical assistance visit with only an understanding of how the press works, you can make suggestions that will be quite effective in theory, but only by understanding how the printer works, can you make suggestions that are going to be practiced.

Annotated Bibliography

PIA, "6th Annual Report to the Congress of the United States: Printing Industry." 1994. Printing Industries of America, Inc.

The PIA report to Congress provides a very brief overview of the US printing industry, including statistics on wages, composition, and employment. It also offers a cursory discussion of future trends in the industry and a short glossary of new technological terms.

US EPA "Printing Industry and Use Cluster Profile." 1994. Regulatory Impacts Branch, Economics, Exposure and Technology Division, Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, US EPA, Washington, DC.

The US EPA cluster profile offers a little bit of everything, although its main purpose is a thorough statistical examination of the US printing industry. From explanations of the major technologies and new technologies and a look at upcoming industry trends to lists of chemicals used, this book is a good introduction to the technical side of printing. In terms of statistics, from values of exports, to payroll by state, to the number of actual presses of any given type, this book is hard to beat. Unfortunately, the value of these numbers is tempered by their age. Much of the data presented is from the mid-to-late 1980s and is possibly dated by this time.