Jim Maggio

For years, the printed forms segment has been the central topic of some ugly rumors: They aren't very eco-friendly; there's no money in this maturing market; a permanent transition to electronic forms is inevitable. Sound familiar?

The United States' financial situation has gotten so dire, President Obama recently called for the freezing of all federal salaries in an attempt to get a hold on the country's debt, which is expected to rise to $2.3 trillion by 2012.

The trick is to identify key markets and then add value through service and related products. It may have seen its heyday come and go but, according to many, continuous product is still a viable profit center for distributors. The key is in paying attention to where and how it's used. For most manufacturers, sales volume on continuous is stagnant or suffering a slight decline, but they say that's no reason to write off this traditional product. "Our overall sales are solid for the past three years, though the percentage of continuous in our sales volume is down, but it's still a majority of