Consolidation--The Juggernaut Hits the Wall

And, of course, as in any other industry , it's important that public printing firms "make their numbers."

"Missing an earnings forecast," Norton observes, "is a sin that takes Wall Street a fair amount of time to forget. Negative surprises will keep investors in other investment opportunities."

Global DocuGraphiX's McClean bemoans the perception in the market that the existing players in the printing industry are in danger of being replaced by more nimble, e-commerce companies. "The single, best course of action to woo investors back into the printing industry will be to show how the industry will become stronger as the existing players take advantage of the Internet, rather than being a possible victim," he contends.