You are probably thinking. ”We have a good working relationship with a wide format company and we send our sign work to them”.
Nothing wrong with a little collaboration and long may it continue for those who work it well, BUT, you might be missing the point.
The print buyer of today is increasingly looking for a one-stop shop because it makes his/her job much easier. We are all working a lot harder than we used to and demands on individual times have never been greater.
Put yourself in the print buyers shoes:-
“ABCX signs have always given us great service but they just can’t do the cut-sheet so I have to find another supplier for that.”
“On the other hand, XYZA signs and digital can do everything and there aren’t any delays in getting proofs back…hmm!”
It is easier for this print buyer to route all their work through XYZA because their are less people to call, less accounts to manage, less invoices to handle, less admin and the result is just the same.
If there is one primary reason that I can give you for expanding your portfolio it is this:- STOP SENDING YOUR CUSTOMERS INTO THE ARMS OF YOUR COMPETITORS!
Your issues perhaps?
- I don’t know if I have the skills in-house to handle wide-format?
- Where do I go to learn?
- How much does the kit cost?
- Can I afford it?
- What do I need to compliment my cut-sheet?
- Am I going to damage my existing business if I take my eye off what I already do?
- What finishing do I need?
- How does this fit into my existing workflow?
This can all seem a bit scary, but when you reduce it to bite-sized chunks, it becomes more digestible.
1.Skills
Wide format devices rely on skills that you already have although in some cases they are much easier. Most digital printers have a RIP as the front end and these days most of them are supplied by EFI.
Training is key and when you choose the printer that suits you, please ensure that your supplier is fully aware of your training needs.
2. Where to learn?
Most training is carried out on YOUR machine, in YOUR premises at a time that suits YOU.
Are you getting the message? It’s all about YOU and what YOU need, when YOU need it.
It is possible to find training courses through local colleges and even extended training through your supplier.
3. Cost of kit?
Perhaps the best way to measure the affordability of wide-format is to calculate how much you have spent on sending the work out in the last 12 months.
Once you know your expenditure, you are in position to interrogate a supplier about getting something in-house that costs less than you spend.
Cost should not be the main driver, but it is one aspect.
4. Can I afford it?
Going back to the top of this article, the real question is can you afford to ignore it?
Digital wide-format is not expensive. Being without it could cost you a lot more.
Machines can be leased or purchased and allowing for a service contract that is all-inclusive, you should be able to manage your output costs accurately.
5. Complimentary equipment
You know what your customers ask for and you know what you can support, but what about the print jobs that you turn away?
Look for devices that fill the gaps in your production with extended colours or substrates
6. Damaging your existing business?
You are principally a digital print provider. All you want from wide-format is to give your existing customers that little bit more so they don’t look elsewhere.
Wide-format should not drain your time and if you have the right device with the right type of workflow, you should find that automation gets the work out quickly, with the minimum of handling.
If the company who are talking to you about the print device can’t help with automation, then you are talking to the wrong provider.
7. Finishing
You probably already have a guillotine and maybe even a cutting table.
The good news is that you don’t need much more, unless you are looking to mount output onto harder substrates.
Space can be an issue for larger format work.
8. Workflow
You already have this too.
Your cut-sheet printers need to get their jobs from somewhere, so I’m guessing you are sending them from your Macs/PCs direct to the engine RIPS.
No doubt your website is receiving jobs too, often by FTP or email (Customers do like to email huge files don’t they?)
There is no real need to change the way you do things in the short term, however, at some point you might want to automate your workflow too.
This includes linking to your MIS and automating job submission, even linking to credit card systems so that you get paid BEFORE you do the work.
There are many workflow systems available, although as a starting point, I would suggest getting a robust and flexible web2print solution that can grow with your business.
I don’t usually give recommendations in these blogs, but on this subject I would like to state that Coreprint from Vpress is a great system to get you started and the company is run by knowledgeable, print friendly people, based in the UK with developers close at hand. (www.vpress.com ).
Web2Print should support all of your print devices, wide-format, cut-sheet and offset with links to your finishing devices.
Get your wide-format process right and you will be sending less work out and hopefully increasing customer loyalty.
Want to discuss wide-format or cut-sheet digital printers and how they can compliment your existing services?.. get in touch.. 07158 604611 or email paul.stead@digitalprint.org.uk