The newest Industry Risk Ratings report from IBISWorld evaluates the inherent risks associated with the Packaging and Labeling Services in the US industry. Industry Risk is assumed to be "the difficulty, or otherwise, of the business operating environment."

The report looks at the operational risk associated with this industry. Three types of risk are recognized in the firm's analysis--risk arising from within the industry itself (structural risk), risks arising from the expected future performance of the industry (growth risk), and risk arising from forces external to the industry (external sensitivity risk).

This approach reportedly is new in that it analyses non-financial information surrounding each industry. Industries are scored on a 9-point scale, where 1 represents the lowest risk and 9 the highest. The Industry Risk score measures expected Industry Risk over the coming 12-18 months.

The industry covered comprises establishments primarily engaged in packaging on a contract or outsourced basis, client-owned goods and materials and these services may include labeling and/or imprinting the package to the client's specifications. This industry specifically excludes the packing and crating of agricultural produce.The industry is involved in specialized packing activities for clients who either prefer to not incur the expense involved in purchasing the required specialist packing equipment or undertake this activity in-house. The product may only form a small part of a client's total range, or is may be a trial one only designed to assess market response. An example may be the packing of medical products (i.e. tablets) in tamper-proof blister packs.

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