STATE OF THE INDUSTRY: Your 2015 Forecast
P+P: Based on past trends, what are your expectations for the future of business forms?
SO: Continual overall gradual decline. Certain product types will see faster declines while others may not decline much. The demise of the business forms industry has been predicted for years, but our problems are easily narrowed down to: 1) Technology alternatives-a new disruptive technology could make drastic changes overnight. 2) Our customers are aging and more wholesale manufacturers-to succeed we need to find replacements for this channel. The Great Recession brought some younger talent to the industry, but we must find more resellers to fill this coming void. We are having successes through several reseller channels other than the traditional print distributor. 3) As our customers become younger, we must sell the benefits of print. From forms to commercial print to labels, print sells and we should be proud of what we can offer a customer by complementing their other strategies and needs.