CIM Adoption is Slow, Reports TrendWatch

Computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) has yet to be significantly adopted by graphic-arts businesses”?particularly not by prepress houses and commercial printers; nor do they have any plans to do so, according to a report from TrendWatch Graphic Arts (TWGA).

According to TWGA survey data and interviews, only 5% of respondents have incorporated CIM into their production workflow. And while 30% of respondents indicated they “have been reading about/studying CIM” and another 6% have attended some kind of industry event/seminar on CIM, nearly 60% of all respondents indicated that CIM is “irrelevant to their businesses or don't know how it relates to them.” More than three-quarters (77%) of responding prepress shops reported the same sentiments.

“CIM will happen,” projects TWGA, “but its adoption will be slow, especially when you compare it to the exposure and resources dedicated to it in the last 12 months.”
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The report, “Computer Integrated Manufacturing: Hot Stuff? Or Much Ado About Nothing?” sells for $1295. (TrendWatch Graphic Arts, www.trendwatchgraphicarts.com)