The results of SGIA’s Specialty Imaging Industry Survey are available now! Designed to create an accurate snapshot of our diverse industry, these exclusive reports — one each for the graphic & sign and garment decoration communities — offer the most up-to-date statistical information for businesses.

“The survey reports provide an unprecedented view of our industry,” said SGIA’s Vice President of Markets and Technologies Dan Marx, “and the data speaks strongly to the robust nature of today’s specialty graphics environment.”

A few highlights:

Graphics and Sign Community

• For the calendar year 2013, two-thirds of companies reported both sales and production had increased over 2012.
• While confidence in the US economy was mostly flat, industry confidence was strong, with 60 percent reporting a positive outlook.
• Companies strongly rely on referrals as a method for reaching new customers, followed by company websites.
• The two most common management-related steps for improving a company’s competitive advantage are increasing Internet presence and maximizing the value of current customers, while the two most common production-related steps are reducing operating costs and adding new product lines.

Garment Decoration Community

• Companies in the garment decoration community are nearly evenly split between business-to-business and business-to-consumer customers, and more than two-thirds of companies serve both local and regional customers.
• The median annual revenue for companies in this segment is in the six-figure range, a number strongly affected by a preponderance of very small companies.
• Companies overwhelmingly use referrals as a method for reaching new customers, followed by company websites.

The two most common management-related steps for improving a company’s competitive advantage are increasing Internet presence and improving customer service, while the two most common production-related steps are adding imaging capacity and adding finishing capacity.

The 2014 Specialty Imaging Industry Survey was conducted between January 1 and February 28, 2014, and asked questions about equipment purchases, markets served, product areas served, current economic confidence and financial outlook of the past year and the year ahead.