Industry Insights: Reprographics at a Crossroads

IRgA leadership recently announced that the spring 2011 Convention & Trade Show would be the 84-year-old association’s last. As the board figures out ways for the organization to continue to serve the industry, Gary Wilbur, R.S. Knapp, and Bob Roperti, Jiffy Reprographics, shared the rationale for this decision.

“The IRgA has experienced decline similar to that of the reprographics industry. It will scale down to serve a smaller market need," said Wilbur.

The industry is going through a structural change, he added. “Our customers have changed their workflows to processes that in many cases exclude us or, at a minimum, make it very difficult to make enough money to cover the overhead.”

Last year, the IRgA had 200 member companies; that was down from 600 in 1999. Today, there are 185 member companies—148 reprographers, 26 vendors, and 11 complimentary members (affinity groups, regional leaders, media, etc.). While core membership has remained flat, the vendor segment has diminished the most.

When founded in 1927, and throughout its history, the association has fulfilled an important industry niche—to bring together those associated with the process that delivers information throughout the construction cycle—usually through some form of printing or related technology.

However, over the last several years, Wilbur said, our industry became fragmented. Other industry groups formed, there were mergers and consolidations on both the reprographer and vendor sides, and there were typical economic cycles. “Recent changes in technology, along with the growing significance of the affinity organizations, have created a situation where the necessity of the IRgA’s industry role has diminished. As a result, the continued viability of the association remains in question,” said Wilbur.

Assessing the Need

To address the issue, the IRgA Board of Directors went through an extensive process to determine what should be done to ensure the IRgA endures. They spent several meetings discussing more than a dozen proposed business models. They hired a consultant who held one-on-one telephone conversations with industry members, conducted research, and spent a weekend leading a strategic retreat.

The not-so-surprising result:

• • IRgA member customers are primarily those in the AEC industry, but a growing share of members are diversifying their businesses into multiple areas outside of AEC.
• • Members know the design and construction of new buildings will go on and are seeking new ways to participate in the workflow/process. However, reprographers have not been able to replace the amount of revenue they once earned.
• • Reprographer’s role is changing. No longer is the reprographer as integral a part of their customers’ workflow as before.
• • As a result, many reprographics companies are selling new services to existing customers. At the same time, new markets are being identified for the same services.

As for the IRgA:

• • The association has been viewed as an AEC/printing association with a trade show. People are not feeling that this is what they need right now.
• • The IRgA has been struggling to deliver a consistent value proposition.
• • Strong industry associations are where the leaders and successful people “hang out.” Declining membership interest is evidence that this connection is diminishing in favor of the affinity organizations.
• • A successful association needs engaged, passionate members. The survey that was recently conducted attracted less than a 10 percent response. This and other evidence points to a declining level of engagement industry-wide.

IRgA Membership

• • The demographics of our market mirror that of the Baby Boomer generation. We’re not getting any younger, and there are not many new firms entering the industry.
• • Members are looking for new revenue streams in areas where the IRgA does not have expertise.
• • The small shop defection rate is high; they are not seeing value. Likewise, half or more of the larger companies that belong to the affinity organizations also do not see value from the IRgA.