By: Pat Lange
September, 1997 ‑ inform
Micrographics as an industry is dead... The market for microfilm is gone, as electronic
imaging and optical disk storage have unceremoniously shoved micrographics out of
the business market... Micrographics services and suppliers are going out of business,
or else consolidating in order to stay in business... Since new technology is always
better, regardless of the cost, any business which does not embrace the newest technology
will be left behind.
Such dire statements and predictions regarding the micrographics industry can be
read or inferred from the literature of the early 1990s. Whether the literature
addresses it as micrographics, microfilm, computer‑output microfilm, microforms
or micro‑imaging, the inference is about the micrographics industry. While
some of the aforementioned statements are partly true, the purpose of this article
is to show that micrographics, and microfilm in particular, has weathered the storm
of electronic imaging competition and has bolstered its position so that it is far
from a dead industry.
A Little History
Microfilm, a film‑based technology of photographically‑reduced images,
dates back further than the Franco‑Prussian War of 1870‑71, when carrier
pigeons took messages on microfilm. Therein lies a useful property of microfilm:
a micro‑sized, space‑saving substitute for stacks of paper. It found
its way into commercial use with the Recordak Corporation in 1928, and even today
that aged film can be retrieved and viewed on any existing microfilm reader‑printer,
since all one needs for viewing the film is a light source and magnifying lens.
Complementing its reduction capability is microfilm's stability, longevity and
legal acceptance. When it is properly processed and stored, microfilm will remain
stable for up to 100 years and, if produced in the regular course of business, it
is legally acceptable as a substitute for paper documents. Thus, microfilm and other
microforms, such as microfiche, computer‑output to microfilm (COM) and aperture
cards grew in popularity as storage media for business records.
A 1995 article in Office Systems further explains the historical business market
for micrographics:
The past two decades have witnessed tremendous changes... The 1970s saw the introduction
of new products and technologies.... As the '80s came to a close, micrographics
still dominated the document‑imaging market, but it was beginning to lose
ground to electronic imaging. Midway through the 1990s, the micrographics market
is declining. Some manufacturers have totally abandoned the technology, and others
have consolidated with companies who were once competitors.
Indeed, AIIM reports that it was 1991 when electronic imaging surpassed micrographics
in total sales. Since commercial electronic imaging systems first appeared on the
market in 1984, this quick rise in market share from a new technology seemed to
portend the end of a once noble microimage industry.
Going Digital
Micrographics is an image technology dependent on photographic processing. Electronic
document imaging is computer‑based, and thus digital, which is one of many
reasons for its rise in popularity.
Andrew Grove, chief executive officer of Intel, summarizes the environment that
explains the business outlook for microfilm versus the newer electronic imaging
technology of the 90s. He states in a Forbes article: I have a rule... 'What
can be done, will be done.' Like a natural force, technology is impossible to
hold back. It finds its way no matter what obstacles people put in its place. The
beauty of this rule is that it can be used to look into the future. All we need
to do is remember what already can be done: All information can be expressed digitally.
All information can be transported in digital form. All information can be stored
in digital form. If all this can be done, the rule says, it will be.
This inevitable force of technology had disciples in the imaging industry. It led
to feelings that businesses should at least be investigating conversion from micrographics
to imaging to avoid being left several technological generations behind in records
and information management, not to mention being left behind in the profits race.
A Rebirth
Time and technologies march on, and the explosion of the information age, with its
consequent business needs, catches micrographic systems in a technology time‑warp.
Electronic imaging technology allows timely information to be delivered to the user
at a desktop, whereas micrographics technology does not, and, as imaging technology
matures, micrographics is viewed solely as an archival medium. Well, some may have
had this view, but not all.
It was January 1996 when Anacomp, noted as being in a dying industry that converts
data to microfilm and microfiche, filed for bankruptcy and reorganized. The situation
was not as bad as it seemed, because Riva Atlas, in a July 1996 Forbes article,
revealed that the securities analyst studying Anacomp and the micrographics industry
expressed the opinion that "the micrographics business isn't dead. Converting
data to micrographics costs 10 per cent of what it costs to convert data digitally...
While this business is mature here and in Europe, it's growing in Asia and other
emerging markets." Six months later, a press release was issued with a headline
that FileNet, a major player in the imaging industry, and Anacomp, a leader in computer‑output
to microfilm (COM), were joining to provide integrated information delivery software
applications to streamline customer service processes, regardless of document type
or legacy system.
Further, a business brief in the January 1997 issue of Inform noted that Anacomp
had entered into a five‑year agreement to provide EDS with COM services, systems,
supplies and digital media output services and devices. While there might have been
a shakeout in the old micrographics industry, Anacomp is a survivor in this new
era and a testimonial to the high regard which many in the business world continue
to hold for this medium.
Benefits of Age
Other than paper, microfilm is the only storage medium that has been around for
more than 50 years that is still accessible to the user. Like electronic images,
it offers compact storage, as well as unique features like image‑capture speed,
long life, standardised access, readability without electronic aids, and a legal
status established in case law. One roll or cartridge of commonly used 16 mm microfilm
can store the equivalent capacity of one drawer of a file cabinet, making microfilm
a cost‑effective choice for archiving a great amount of information that can
be accessed whenever needed. It is also used by many companies for preservation
of vital business records that can be reconstructed easily if a disaster strikes.
In the right applications, microfilm still beats paper and optical media, providing
advantages in conversion of large drawings, large format republishing, repair and
maintenance catalogue publishing, and archival preservation.
Not all companies have business records needs that benefit from or make good economic
use of the latest technology's bells and whistles. Many libraries, hospitals,
local governments and financial companies are able to function very well with micro‑images.
A small micrographics vendor in Wisconsin makes a good case for the viability of
microfilm and microfiche because the company continues to gain market share and
increase sales in these media, as noted in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal. The company
says that "what often wins out is costÑconverting documents to microfiche costs
12 cents for 98 pages, and one page of a parts catalogue costs three cents."
The Hybrid Solution
It is common knowledge that the paperless office is a failed promise. Tom Dale of
the Cambridge Consulting Group estimates that 90 percent of business information
is still on paper. Nevertheless, organizations have not given up on the paper problem,
but continue to search for feasible technology that can ease the burden of document
management. Interestingly, the integration of microfilm with electronic document
imaging, in what is called a hybrid system, seems to be the best guarantee of a
future for microfilm, while at the same time it forms a new weapon in the war against
paper. In a hybrid system, microfilm and microfiche devices take on an electronic
character, in that their images are scanned and digitized into an electronic format,
whereupon they can be transported to users or peripheral devices by any electronic
means. Now microfilm is in the best of both worlds an archival medium, but with
the timeliness of electronic imaging.
In a past issue of Inform, Joan Andrew explained it this way: Microfilm storage
and electronic access give you fast retrieval and secure archival retention of documents.
About 80 percent of today's applications have an initial high‑retrieval
phase when information is current... The need to combine images with text and data
and to electronically route information throughout the organization makes digital
storage the ideal selection for the active phase. But what happens at the end, when
files are closed and rarely retrieved? The limitations of digital storage relative
cost, emerging standards, rapid rate of obsolescence and low archival ratings make
it a risky choice for long‑term retention.
Staying Power
Whether or not integrated in hybrid systems, microfilm and other micrographic media
are still in use today, more than 126 years since the carrier pigeon delivery system
for war messages and 13 years beyond the advent of the newer electronic imaging
technology. When the electronic imaging market surged past microfilm's market
in the early 1990s, many thought the use of microfilm and its market would diminish
very drastically over time, but that has not happened. According to the Industry
Specific Group (ISG) for Microfilm in ARMA International, the 1996 revenues from
microfilm equipment and services were estimated to be about $2.8 billion of the
$6 billion imaging industry." Additionally, micrographics vendors are consolidating
and seeking new alliances to answer market challenges.
It is difficult to push an inexpensive, long‑lasting and legally‑admissible
records storage medium out of the way when organizations continue to find uses for
it. The venerable microfilm has remained viable long enough to bridge the analog‑digital
gap to hybrid systems and come to the archival rescue of the younger electronic
imaging. Today, micrographics can declare, along with Mark Twain, that the reports
of its death are greatly exaggerated!