SIC 3951 Pens, Mechanical Pencils and Parts

Contenidos

• NAICS CODE(S).
• INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT.
• BACKGROUND AND DEVELOPMENT.
• The Pen.
• Ball Point Pens.
• Felt-Tip Pens.
• Roller Ball Pens.
• CURRENT CONDITIONS.
• INDUSTRY LEADERS.
• FURTHER READING.

SIC 3951

This industry contains establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing pens (including ballpoint pens), refill cartridges, mechanical pencils, fine and broad tipped markers, and parts.

NAICS CODE(S)

339941

Pen and Mechanical Pencil Manufacturing

INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT

In the mid-2000s, pens alone generated $2.5 billion in annual retail sales, according to the Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association. Total industry shipments reached $1.1 billion in the early 2000s. The ballpoint pen, introduced to the U.S. market in 1945, continues to dominate writing instrument sales, accounting for 73 percent of the total. Combined sales of markers/highlighters, roller ball pens, and mechanical pencils represent about the same market share as ball point pens alone.

Writing instruments are sold to wholesalers and retailers and then are resold to consumers through fine jewelry stores, stationery and office supply stores, department stores, discounters, mass merchandisers, catalog showrooms, and specialty stores. Pen manufacturers not only produce writing instruments but also are responsible for marketing and selling these products to retailers and consumers.

BACKGROUND AND DEVELOPMENT

The Pen

The earliest writing instruments were developed during the ancient civilizations of China, Greece, Egypt, and Mesopotamia nearly 5,000 years ago. Mesopotamians used wooden styluses to impress their characters on wet clay tablets. The Egyptians used hollow reeds to apply ink on sheets of papyrus, while the Chinese drew ideograms with brushes made from animal hair.

The Europeans began to use goose quills as ink pens in the sixth century, and this practice grew rapidly during the Middle Ages. Flocks of geese were specifically bred for their feathers as quill production became an important industry throughout Europe. For nearly 1,000 years the quill pen remained the most popular writing instrument.

In the nineteenth century, however, the steel pen replaced the quill. The steel pen point, or nib, first appeared in England sometime between 1790 and 1803, but this product was not manufactured efficiently or economically until the 1830s. Fifty years later, American inventor Lewis Edmon Waterman created the fountain pen, which featured its own...