digital prints and shrinkage

[Gino]

I have access to a flatbed printer and the pricing is very reasonable...however, I don't want my business going to the point where I am reduced to being a sign broker. I don't mean to insult anyone who is one...more power to you.
I realized years ago, before I owned a digital printer that I had little to no control on how things were being printed...ie. Resolution, colour control etc.... Possibly in the future we will all have flatbeds as we all seem to have printers and vinyl cutters...but until that day I really need to keep production more or less inhouse.

That's all fine and dandy, but 30 years ago, it was the same argument, 20 years, again the same and 10 years... still the same..... and here we are and nothing's changed.

I have no idea what you and your shop produces or is capable of in a week's/month's time, but if you were to align yourself with this flatbed guy, you could save literally $1,000's in no time at all. Our first job with our flatbed saved us tens of thousands of dollars. Our first job paid for the equipment and we still made money after all was figured in to the entire equation. Sure, that doesn't happen all the time, but perhaps you could force the issue with the right incentive.

If you were to let your flatbed guy provide you more work, make sure he/she doesn't take any poetic license and reproduces your files 100%, then you could free your printer up to do more profitable in-house jobs. With your flatbed partner, you've just doubled if not tripled your capacity. Just don't promise customers the moon as sometimes things backfire a tad and you might have to do some fast talking.