Quad to Close Three Printing Plants in Early 2021 (piworld.com)

What notable federal legislative activity took place in 2023? A significant win for the PRINTING United Alliance’s apparel community was the enactment of the bipartisan Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces for Consumers Act, also known as the INFORM Consumers Act. The law will make it harder for criminal enterprises to operate in the shadows of the Internet. The Act took effect on June 27, 2023, and will crack down on criminals selling stolen, counterfeit, or unsafe items in online marketplaces. It requires online marketplaces to collect, verify, and disclose certain information about “high-volume third-party sellers.” The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) can issue civil penalties of $50,120 per violation.

Sun Chemical will increase prices across a broad portfolio of its packaging and commercial sheetfed inks, coatings, and adhesives in North America, effective July 1, 2021. The global raw material environment continues to demonstrate significant inflationary pressures. Raw material shortages are an ongoing concern, and the competition to secure these scarce resources has accelerated the cost increases within a majority of Sun Chemical’s raw material categories. In addition to raw material cost pressures, international and domestic logistics costs have soared as the economic recovery drives demand for these services. “The dynamics within the ink market are unprecedented,” said Chris Parrilli, President of North American Inks, Sun Chemical. “The lingering effects of the Texas weather event and the international logistics challenges coupled with the ongoing impacts of the COVID pandemic are all significantly impacting our operations. Sun Chemical’s primary objective is to keep our customers supplied with the products and services they need to meet their business objectives."

• Revenue increased 8.5% year-over-year, driven by Small Business Services which grew 2.5% and includes the results of several small tuck-in acquisitions and from growth in Financial Services of 28.0% driven by the results of FMCG Direct and Data Support Systems, which were acquired in the fourth quarter of 2016 and RDM Corporation, which was acquired in April 2017. • Revenue from marketing solutions and other services increased 30.2% year-over-year and grew to 40.2% of total revenue in the quarter. • Gross margin was 61.2% of revenue, compared to 63.8% in the third quarter of 2016. The impact of acquisitions and increased delivery and material costs this year were only partially offset by previous price increases and continued improvements in manufacturing productivity. • Selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expense increased 2.4% from last year primarily due to additional SG&A expense from acquisitions which was partially offset by continued cost reduction initiatives in all segments. SG&A as a percent of revenue was well leveraged at 40.8% in the quarter compared to 43.2% last year. Click Read More below for additional information.