Messe Dusseldorf has commissioned a series of global trend reports to be published in the run-up to Drupa 2016.
Four surveys will be carried out between early 2014 and the start of the Düsseldorf trade fair in 2016.
About 65,000 "top decision-makers" listed on Messe Dusseldorf’s database of Drupa visitors will be invited to take part in the surveys.
The questionnaires, which are being developed in partnership with Printfuture in the UK and Swiss market research firm Wissler & Partner, will focus on areas affecting the printing industry across the world.
The first will explore what impact the transition to online communication is having on the printing industry and the opportunities it presents. The subject of the other three surveys will be decided later.
Printfuture managing director Neil Falconer said the new reports could potentially be the most important in the industry and offer the first accurate region-by-region breakdown.
[Related: Landa favours shorter Drupa cycle]
"Unlike the smaller, more localised surveys that are quite common in the industry and tend to be around install numbers, this will be on a much larger scale and will focus on specific trends in different geographical regions and how printers are adapting to them," he said.
Alternating with the trend reports will be the Drupa barometer, which will provide data from the same respondents but will be an overview of the state of the industry, investments and global install numbers. The first barometer is due to be published in January with a further three before Drupa 2016.
Messe Düsseldorf president and chief executive Werner Dornscheidt said the "fundamental structural changes" in the industry made such data more important than ever.
"With these new tools we can provide our exhibitors and the industry as a whole with important new insights thereby delivering vital information for strategic decision-making," he said.
"I expect these results to also produce concrete, valuable information for the strategic development of Drupa."
[Related: More international news]
This article originally appeared at printweek.com
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