When Converting set out to do a story about seven or eight years ago on moves by commercial printers to also become package printers, we had a hard time coming up with a lot of examples.

Not anymore. If the business of printing brochures, posters and advertising materials was competitive back then, it's certainly even more so today. And it seems as if a week doesn't go by when we don't find out about another commercial printer expanding into territory traditionally held by converters.

Now some new research backs up the trend as well. Completed by NPES's Print Industries Market Information and Research Organization (PRIMIR), a study found that 43 percent of label and tag producers surveyed consider themselves commercial printers. Nearly a quarter of those who print rigid packaging (corrugated) and 8 percent of those doing folding-carton work indicated the same thoughts.

Pressmaker KBA North America concurs. Its research also indicates that a distinction between its packaging and commercial printers is becoming less sharp. Why? "Our printer customers are differentiating themselves by using our presses for both packaging and commercial work," says Ralf Sammeck, president and chief executive officer of KBA North America. "They are able to grow their customer base by offering a one-stop service to produce a client's point-of-purchase displays and folding cartons as well as their brochures. No longer are they being pegged a packaging printer or commercial printer."

Three recent examples: Seattle-based Trojan Litho, Johnson Printing & Packaging in Minneapolis, and Ed Garvey & Co. near Chicago have each added KBA sheetfed-offset presses that can handle both their commercial work as well as their established or potential package printing. Similar installations by other major offset pressmakers abound.

Need further evidence of the convergence of these print markets? That won't be difficult to find at this fall's PRINT® 05 and Converting 05 trade shows in Chicago. About a quarter of the nearly 800 exhibitors there will be displaying equipment and other products designed for folding-carton, converting, label and flexible-package printing, says organizer Graphic Arts Show Co.

One exhibitor in particular exemplifies the blurring lines of print. Narrow-web pressmaker Gallus has signed on. The company (partially owned by Heidelberg) has never participated in a PRINT event before. "We weighed our participation against other events that have served our market in the past, and felt this was the best way to put our best foot forward in opening up some new markets for our products," says Gallus president Jonathan Guy. "We have every confidence that our participation will be a huge hit among both tag and label customers and commercial printers alike."

No, you don't need glasses. The lines of print are definitely blurring. But as Trojan Litho president Wayne Millage says, "Our focus is to make sure that we are responding, pro-actively, to our customers' needs." And as long as that philosophy stays a key part of your business, your customers' success will be your success—no matter what you print.