Today’s sign industry is a significant and growing part of the U.S. and global economies. As the lowest cost form of advertising, on-premise signs are the first – and often the only – regular advertising expense for small businesses. Even with large investments in signage made by national companies, the majority of sign customers are individuals and small business owners. The need to provide unique advertising products for individual businesses has caused the sign industry to evolve differently than most other manufacturing sectors. While most manufacturing sectors are dominated by a few large companies, the sign industry is quite decentralized, with several thousand small manufacturers spread throughout every population center. Some of the defining characteristics of the sign industry are: - Small manufacturers (less than 20 employees) typically serving a localized customer base
- Most plants designed to build signs individually or in short production runs
- Manufacturers often specialized in specific types of signs (electric, carved/routed, architectural, digital printing)
- In addition to the parts of the sign industry focused on custom production, several dozen sign companies operate with a more national focus, specializing in the quantity production of signs for individual clients – typically national retailers, petroleum companies, and large banks.
Supplying this base of several thousand sign companies are manufacturers and distributors of sign products and components. Among the industrial sectors whose products are incorporated into sign manufacturing are electrical components, large-format digital printers, inks, lamps, electronic displays, paints and coatings, vinyl, polycarbonate, adhesives, aluminum, structural steel, heavy trucks, and more. |