Illinois Printers — Competition’s Fierce

Ralph Johnson, president of Lake County Press in Waukegan, sees overcapacity and declining volume of work, along with pressures brought about by global expansion, as continuing for the foreseeable future.

“Our industry will continue to contract in terms of both the number of firms and total employment,” Johnson remarks. “This process is a natural progression in a maturing industry such as ours, and those firms left standing will be akin to Mother Nature’s survival of the fittest. As in any industry, only the strong and successful (i.e., profitable) printers will remain viable.