How much have commercial printing companies been investing in capital equipment, hardware, and software? Nearly 46.0% of the participants in the NAPL Capital Investment Study, published earlier this month and sponsored by Canon, invested an average of 3.0% or less of sales annually from 2007 through 2009, and 72.5% invested an average of 6.0% or less annually. In contrast, just 15.5% had an investment rate above 9.0%. The average annual investment rate for all companies surveyed: 5.0%
Of course, successful capital investment is a matter not simply of how much but also of how effective. That’s why our study focuses on making better capital investment decisions by improving the capital investment process—and capital investment should be a process, not an event. Among the topics covered:
• Investment priorities: Next 3 years and last 3 years.
• Investment objectives.
• Plans to invest: New, used, or both; expand capacity, replace capacity, or both.
• Most trusted sources of capital investment advice.
• What we’d most like to improve about our capital investment processes.
• How manufacturers can most help us make better capital investment decisions.
• What we believe will be most important to future success in our industry.
For more information on the NAPL Capital Investment Study, please click here.
