In a number of corporate applications, the use of specialized paper media remains prevalent. While a number of workflows currently rely heavily on digitization, there can still be quite a few applications that would require special kinds of paper media that are crucial to important projects and their planning and execution. There can be certain scenarios where having the right paper at hand for specialized printing applications can be an important component of the planning process. Engineering plots, blueprints, and banners, for instance, can definitely be used in many applications and this is where having the right place to source these specialized kinds of paper media can be crucial.

Although number and averages, of course, can vary from office to office and state to state, the latest research indicates that most of today’s architectural and engineering offices average 3,500 square feet every month of printing output. In a world where everything else seems to be digital, it is important to remember that there are still offices the tneed to set aside significant amounts of money for printing budgets and the purchase of actual paper.

Bulk Engineering Paper Purchases Require Budgeted Amounts of Dedicated Funds
From large rolls of inkjet plotter paper rolls to the more standard white engineering bond paper, there are many kinds of paper supplies that play important roles in the planning work that is done in firms across the country. And while most of us are certainly not familiar with the inkjet plotter paper rolls and other supplies that engineering office managers need to order, we are, of course, familiar with the work that these firms do. From the streets that we drive on to the bridges that we cross, and from the houses that we live in to the skyscrapers where we work, there are many parts of our lives that are affected by the work that engineers do.

Paper companies continue to play an interesting role in the work that many people do on a daily basis. And while engineers may use more actual paper than other kinds of careers, it is important to note that all occupations are concerned about the responsible production of paper and the highest levels of available recycled content. Consider some of these facts and figures about architects, their career, and their paper use as one example of a world that still exists beyond the digital realm:

• The first plotter was invented in 1953, but there remains a significant need for inkjet plotter paper rolls all these decades later.
• Plotter paper roll widths are measured in inches. And while there are also some specialty sizes used in some fields, common roll widths for wide-format plotters include 11, 17, 18, 22, 24, 30, 34, 36, and 42 inches.
• By the year 2022, the global market for wide format printers is projected to reach $7.2 billion.
• Measured on a scale of zero to 100, paper brightness measures the amount of reflectance of a specific wavelength of blue light. The higher the number, the brighter the paper.
• Fortunately, more than 33% of new paper today is made with recycled fiber.
• In fact, the U.S. paper recovery rate reached an all-time high of 67.2% in the year 2016, the third consecutive annual increase.

Again, numbers can vary from one state to another, but in the state of California the 17,241 architects as of 2016 represented the fact that this state has more architects than any other state. The state with the second-most, New York, has only 10,734 in comparison. Across the country, the 2016 Survey of Architectural Registration Boards reported that there are 109,748 architects.

In the field of architecture, inkjet plotter paper rolls and other paper products continue to be used. It is an encouraging sign that Americans currently recycle more paper products than they send to landfills. The U.S. paper industry, in fact, set a goal of a 60% scrap paper recovery rate by the year 2012. Impressively, they achieved this goal three years early. As the nation continues to rely on the work that architects provide, it is important to realize that paper products are still important in this field, and that the industry itself is helping encourage the use of recycled products.