This elite hybrid press reaches speeds up to 18,000 sheets per hour with makereadies of less than 4 minutes. The eight-color Heidelberg XL 106 perfector outshines the competition in terms of productivity and efficiency. In fact, users of the XL 106 often produce well over 50 million sheets per year.Key Printing Industry Trends Reflected in 2021 Printing Impressions 300 Ranking of Largest Companies (piworld.com)
It’s not a major surprise, really, that our 38th annual ranking of the largest printing industry companies in the U.S. and Canada, as ranked by annual sales, is now the 2021 Printing Impressions 300 — and not the Printing Impressions 350 that appeared in 2020. After all, the majority of the graphic arts businesses on our venerable list reported their calendar 2020 annual sales as their most recent fiscal year, with calendar 2019 representing their previous year sales. Given the onslaught, and subsequent shutdowns, of many segments of the U.S. economy beginning in March 2020 due to COVID-19, it’s understandable that CEOs of commercial printing companies were not racing to report their annual sales numbers. And, although the printing industry was ultimately deemed “essential,” many of the vertical markets that these primarily privately-held printing businesses serve were not. Combine that with all the business uncertainty among marketers, brand owners, retailers, and other print buyers, it’s no surprise that many companies appearing on our 2021 list in this issue reported double-digit annual revenue drops.