How do your company’s profits compare with those of your peers and industry leaders? Is your payroll expense too high? Now, there’s an easy way to find out. These and other key benchmarks are just a few of the measures available to printers who utilize the new customized NAQP Operating Ratio report service.

The National Association of Quick Printers has just announced the release of its customized version of the “NAQP 2008-2009 Operating Ratio Study.” The original study, released in June, continues to serve as a business-planning tool, giving quick and small commercial printers a benchmark for determining how their operating results compare with peers’. But now, the new version enables printers to go one step further and have a customized report showing how their own businesses’ numbers stack up against those of similar firms and industry leaders from the original study’s survey panel of 366 participants.

Since the June release, companies involved in the original study have “road tested” the new customized service, and reviews are overwhelmingly positive. “This is so helpful to see how I compare with other businesses and to learn where I need to change—but also really fun to see how well we performed,” says Charlene Sims of The Master’s Press in Dallas, Texas. Another participant, Paula Smith of Curry Printing/Copy Cat Printing in Baltimore, Md., says, “Trying to operate a quick printing business without this tool is like driving without a steering wheel, speedometer and brakes!”

Based on similar enthusiasm from participants across the board, NAQP has now expanded the customized service into a full study package for all NAQP and NAPL members. “For more than 30 years, NAQP has provided members with business management tools to keep their businesses ahead of the competition,” says NAQP president and CEO Steve Johnson. “This addition complements other research we conduct and offers a way to measure business performance on an annual basis.”

The “NAQP Operating Ratio Study” provides a definitive look at the health of the quick and small commercial printing industry and remains the largest, most comprehensive financial document ever produced by NAQP. Results show that even in difficult times, the industry has grown in terms of sales volume. But expenses have grown as well, with payroll costs rising as a percentage of sales and cutting industry profitability. The customized reports allow members to determine whether their own growth and profitability are in line with the experiences of similar companies in the industry.