"There has been a tremendous amount of information developed in the large format digital graphics printing market, but less than 10% of all large format prints are graphics," commented Tim Greene, Associate Director of CAP Ventures' Visual Communications Technologies Consulting Service. "Technical documents such as floor plans, architectural drawings, and schematics are, and will continue to be, the mainstay of large format digital printing."

Several important findings from the study include:

• 40% of companies that produce technical documents intend to acquire new hardware in the next 12 months, driven by the need to add capacity, improve print quality, and increase print speeds.   
• The use of color is widespread in technical document printing environments, with more than half of the survey respondents indicating that a high percentage of their documents are in color.   
• HP, Encad, Xerox Engineering Systems, and Océ are the leading hardware brands in the reprographics market.   
• Electronic Document Management Systems (EDMS) and On-line Plan Rooms are important components of the workflow in reprographics shops.   
• More Data…

In completing this research, CAP Ventures interviewed more than 330 end users and more than 70 dealers on a range of topics in the technical document printing environment. According to Greene, "the results of this study prove that reprographics shops and technical document printing organizations are evolving with the digital world. Much of the conventional thinking about reprographics shops is simply no longer accurate."

The Opportunities in Engineering/Technical Large Format Printing study is the third in the new research program developed by CAP Ventures for the large format digital printing market. The results of this study are available immediately, with the final report to be released by the end of June 2002. Other studies CAP Ventures has released this year include:

• 2000-2005 Worldwide Forecast of Large Format Digital Printing Hardware and Supplies: This forecast includes hardware, ink, and media for aqueous and solvent-based inkjet, electrostatic, thermal transfer, Laser/LED, and digital photographic print technologies.  
• The Professional Large Format Digital Print Market: a comprehensive primary research study on the professional graphics market covering the usage and purchasing trends for hardware, software, and supplies.

CAP Ventures is currently developing the fourth component of its research program, a complete study on the proofing market.

CAP Ventures provides visual communications technology vendors with market research and consulting services to support their business planning, product development, and marketing programs. If you are interested in any of these studies or other assistance from CAP Ventures, please contact Scott Phinney at , ext. 123 or .