Moderating screen printing services

The printing industry includes establishment primarily occupied in printing text and images on to paper, metal, glass, and some apparel and other materials. Printing can be divided into three different stages: prepress, the preparation of materials for printing; press or output, the actual printing process; and postpress or finishing, the folding, binding, and trimming of printed sheets into their final form. Companies that supply all three services first prepare the material for printing in the prepress department, then produce the pages on the pressroom floor, and finally trim, bind, or otherwise ready the material for distribution in the postpress department.

A wide range of products are created in the printing industry. In addition to magazines, books, and some small newspapers, other examples of printed products consist of direct mail, labels, manuals, and marketing material. Less obvious printed goods contain memo pads, business order forms, checks, maps, T-shirts, and packaging. The industry also includes establishments that offer the quick printing of documents and support services—such as prepress, embossing, binding, and finishing—to printers.

Many printers are expanding the services they suggest in response to an increasing number of alternatives to traditional printing services. These secondary customer services consist of mailing, shipping, and performing inventory and database management. Growth in these services, coupled with increases in digital printing capabilities, will moderate the decline in employment of printing’s production occupations and generate some new opportunities for workers who are comfortable with customer service and digital printing technology.