Printing Industry Holds on to Early-Year Recovery
Printers Seek Change in State Bid Process
Safety Board Considers Energy Lockout Rule
The printing industry’s recovery should continue in fits and starts until the economy and advertising spending hit their stride late this year, according to the National Association for Printing Leadership.
The association’s Printing Business Index rose to 53.4 in April, holding above the 50 mark for two consecutive months for the first time since 2000. The index has risen for six straight months.
The Printing Business Index is a measure of the industry’s strength based on current business conditions, expected future conditions, work on hand, hiring plans and pre-tax profitability.
“The collapse of corporate profits and advertising made this recession much harder on the printing industry than on the economy at large,” said Andre Paparozzi, chief economist at the National Association for Printing Leadership.
But Paparozzi says corporate profits should improve in the next six months.
Paparozzi says he expects print sales to grow as much as 5% from July through December and up to 7.5% next year.
For the full year, he said sales would grow in a 2.1% to 3.3% range, in contrast to last year when sales fell 3.7%.
An index reading above 50 indicates that more printers report that business is picking up than say it is slowing. The index hit its nadir of 33.4 in October.
Printers Seek Change in State Bid Process
Printers are asking that the old system of getting state agency printing jobs be reinstated.
At the end of last year, the Department of General Service reclassified printing as a personnel service contract. That means all state printing now is routed through the Office of State Publishing, which then decides whether to do the job or farm it out.
In the past, state agencies would contract directly with the private sector as long as they included the Office of State Publishing in the bidding process.
The Printing Industries of California (PIC) trade group has testified in the state Senate and Assembly subcommittees on government service. The group argues that sending all printing through the Office of State Publishing costs state agencies at least $1 million more than it would otherwise.
“Both subcommittees supported PIC’s position,” said the trade group, which is working with the Department of General Service to restore the old system.
Safety Board Considers Energy Lockout Rule
Proposed changes to safety rules on handling energy during the cleaning, repairing, servicing or adjusting machinery and equipment are being considered by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health.
The proposed rulemaking on so-called lockout/tagout rules is modeled on federal standards, which the Printing Industries of California trade group argues should not apply in some cases.
The federal standard requires the lockout/tagout of machines and equipment every time servicing or maintenance is done.
But in the printing industry, the trade group argues, certain tasks require that energy is not locked out. These tasks include clearing some types of paper jams, cleaning rollers, lubricating and adjusting operations and some changing of plates and blankets.
The trade group says that it agrees with adopting the federal standard, but wants California’s Occupational Safety and Health board to recognize that lockout/tagout is not practical for the tasks listed above.
The Printing Industries of California is a member of the ad hoc advisory committee working on the rules.
