Membership Has Its Advantages!
Rising global demand is providing lift for the U.S. industrial economy to accelerate in 2017. According to the Institute for Trend Research (ITR)—an NPES (Booth 3255) partner that provides members with economic analysis and industry forecast reports—industrial production entered an accelerating growth trend in May, after contracting since late 2015. The mining component of industrial production has underperformed in the manufacturing and utilities segments, but higher commodity prices are helping support recovery. The North American rotary rig count is rising, as firms attempt to take advantage of increasing crude oil and natural gas prices.
The consumer sector has been an area of strength, even as the macroeconomy turned downward. Retail sales growth recently ticked up, and we expect an accelerating growth trend will persist. Disposable personal income is rising as employers compete to attract and retain workers, increasing the resources employees have to potentially spend on goods.
Within the construction industry, office buildings and warehouse buildings construction are growing at double-digit rates, and will be strong areas of opportunity in the coming quarters. Construction segments that are currently experiencing recessionary trends, water & sewer facility construction, and manufacturing buildings construction are expected to recover later this year. The housing market is more mixed. Multi-unit starts is in a recessionary trend, and will likely continue to decline through the end of this year. Growth in the single unit component is expected to lift total housing starts.
How does the general economy impact the potential for your business? More importantly, when you look at your company’s sales data, how do you know if you’re keeping pace, leading, or lagging compared to your competition?
To assess your company’s performance in the marketplace, you need access to information: Will the recovery continue to strengthen? How long it will last? What is the market size for different products? Who is buying what? When will they be making those purchases? To help find the answers to these questions, NPES member companies have a resource available to them: the NPES Market Data Program.
This program has provided participants with information on the size of the printing equipment and graphic arts supplies marketplace for 60 years. The program is free, legally monitored, and confidential.
The “traditional” printing equipment and graphic arts supplies program provides dollar and unit shipments for 80 industry product categories. Participating member companies provide monthly shipment information to an independent consultant and, in return, receive quarterly market data reports. From this data, members can gauge their performance, evaluate the emergence of new market trends, and forecast future product sales. NPES conducts this data collection effort through an independent consultant to ensure the confidentiality of participating members.
The Production Digital Color Press program collects quarterly unit data and dollar estimates of these products by five duty cycle classes for North America, giving those NPES members data on the size of this market, shifts between classes of products, and information on whether the market is growing, declining, or stable.
NPES also works with the Institute for Trend Research (ITR) to provide participating member companies with the quarterly NPES Advisor. This report offers U.S. market-specific updates and forecasts on seven industry product segments. ITR also provides snapshots of U.S. macroeconomic indicators that members can use to predict their own future activity. These quarterly reports are provided at no cost to NPES member companies participating in the NPES Market Data Program. Member companies that do not participate receive a limited report with basic information.
The NPES Market Data program now offers it all: current and historical shipment information, expert analysis and forecast, and the ability to know which customers to target. To participate in the NPES Market Data Program and receive these benefits, contact Jason Goodwin, Manager, Market Data Programs, at email: jgoodwin@npes.org or phone: 703-264-7200.
