UK SIC 18—Printing and reproduction of recorded media

Where 18 sits

1. C Manufacturing
2. 18 Printing and reproduction of recorded media

Contains 2 narrower codes

• 18.1 Printing and service activities related to printing
• 18.2 Reproduction of recorded media

What 18 includes

• The reproduction of recorded media (e.g. compact discs, video recordings, software on discs or tapes, records)
• This division includes printing of products (for example, newspapers, books, periodicals, business forms and greeting cards), printing on T-shirts and other types of material, and associated support activities (for example, bookbinding, plate-making services, data imaging). The support activities included here are an integral part of the printing industry, and a product (a printing plate, a bound book, or a computer disk or file) that is an integral part of the printing industry is almost always provided by these operations.
• The ownership of the input material is irrelevant to the classification of printing and reproduction of recorded media activities. Division 18 covers explicitly the processing activities.
• Processes used in printing include a variety of methods for transferring an image from a plate, screen or computer file to a medium (for example, paper, plastics, metal, textile articles, wood). The most prominent of these methods entails the transfer of the image from a plate or screen to the medium through lithographic, gravure, screen or flexographic printing. Often a computer file is used to directly drive the printing mechanism to create the image or electrostatic and other types of equipment (digital or non-impact printing).
• Though printing and publishing can be carried out by the same unit (for example, a newspaper), it is less and less the case that these distinct activities are carried out in the same physical location.

What 18 excludes

• Publishing activities, see section J
• Manufacture of products with a 3d printer, which are classified according to the product and material used

18 in other systems