HP Latex 315

[TopFliteGraphics]

My 2 biggest customers have gotten away from cut vinyl and are now requiring pms-matched four-color process printed vinyl graphics. I have a long history with both clients and I really think I need to stop outsourcing my printing. This week alone I have spent well over $1000 in outsourcing vinyl printing. Grimco is offering a package deal on a HP Latex 315, Summa plotter/cutter, and Royal Sovereign laminator for just under $20K.

Does anybody have personal, real life experience with this type of setup? What is the real world cost per sq. ft.? I love outsourcing but Grimco is telling me that the sq. ft. cost for printed and laminated 3m IJ35C is $0.65/sq. ft. I am paying signs365, $2.47/sq. ft plus $10 shipping per order. Can I really save that much money? How fast does this machine really print? I will need to get a larger shop to accommodate the equipment, so is it really worth it?

FWIW - I have already exceeded last years total volume of work with these two clients alone...

HELP!!

 

[dypinc]

The real question you need to ask yourself is, do you have the time for the extra work of printing and the finishing involved?

 

[TopFliteGraphics]

As far as do I have the extra time, not really but I am thinking between the wasted time I spend waiting for the FedEx guy, the time I will no longer be cutting, weeding and transfer taping vinyl, and then the money I save, I will either end up having the time or having the money to hire another part-time person to pick up the slack.

 

[BigfishDM]

My 2 biggest customers have gotten away from cut vinyl and are now requiring pms-matched four-color process printed vinyl graphics. I have a long history with both clients and I really think I need to stop outsourcing my printing. This week alone I have spent well over $1000 in outsourcing vinyl printing. Grimco is offering a package deal on a HP Latex 315, Summa plotter/cutter, and Royal Sovereign laminator for just under $20K.

Does anybody have personal, real life experience with this type of setup? What is the real world cost per sq. ft.? I love outsourcing but Grimco is telling me that the sq. ft. cost for printed and laminated 3m IJ35C is $0.65/sq. ft. I am paying signs365, $2.47/sq. ft plus $10 shipping per order. Can I really save that much money? How fast does this machine really print? I will need to get a larger shop to accommodate the equipment, so is it really worth it?

FWIW - I have already exceeded last years total volume of work with these two clients alone...

HELP!!

If you're going to buy a machine give me a shout, I can do even better than Grimco, I will get you 6 Months of deferred payments so you can build up the business without destroying your cash flow. That package is great for new shops but the cost you are getting told are not very accurate, you need to DOUBLE that cost and factor in waste. Every pallet of material that is sold, a pallet is also wasted. LOTS OF WASTE involved and just make sure you factor that in. I am an application and material nerd who also sells equipment.

$2.47 is a great price for outsourcing, you can save money doing it in house but figure the first 6 months you will be wasting alot of product just learning the machine. The machine is very fast and when you consider the fact that you don't have to wait 24 hours for outgassing it becomes extremely fast. You do not need much space at all to run this equipment, its front loading so you can butt it up against a wall no problem.

 

[TopFliteGraphics]

I kind of figured the $0.65 was pie-in-the-sky Sales team numbers. But for it to really be double, that would almost make it not worth the hassle. Why so much waste? Is the equipment not very efficient?

BTW - just signed up for the webinar I saw your site is having on the 28th.

 

[Christian @ 2CT Media]

So here are some hard numbers:
Ij35c is typically around $0.25/sqft
8508 (why you would use this garbage is another question) is typically around $0.28/sqft
Our 365 is averaging $0.17/sqft including ink, average headlife, and cleaning kits at 8pass 100% density
So you are at $0.70/sqft.... But you have to factor for labor, processing time, loss of product, material waste, packaging, etc.

Waste is not entirely due to equipment efficiency, you do lose some on the front end and back end, but there is waste due to printed images not filling the entire width, there is also waste due to laminator failures like bunching or walking, there is also other forms of waste like ink for cleaning or material for profiling, etc.

Printing is not perfect not as easy as pushing print... There is a learning curve and continuing headaches.

 

[Johnny Best]

Why don't you just use the vinyl plotter you already have, save some money. It may not have opus but you can manually set up registration on your plotter.
Thought you mentioned your also buying a new house in another post about paying yourself, is that the down payment you are using.

 

[TopFliteGraphics]

The plotter I have is an old FC700-100 - not wide enough for the work my customers are sending me - all jobs are 48".

I did mention buying a house, thanks for your concern but the down payment money for the house is totally separate from my business operating funds. That is the reason I pay myself a salary now, so that the funds do not co-mingle thus creating a financing nightmare for that now comes with being "self-employed." I treat myself as an employee of the corporation instead of as "owner." The rules changed drastically after the housing crash. Not like it was back in 2001 for sure.

 

[Johnny Best]

Great, sounds like Bigfish is giving you a good deal on a printer. It also sounds like you are making good money with outsourcing, but having your own equipment will be a lot nicer. I bought my printer into get completely reworked not long ago and while that was happening I went tp Signs365 for everything. Have the printer back now it it is a lot nicer doing it yourself. Good luck with your purchases.

 

[2B]

all points above are valid, just remember that each minute spent on production is less time spent on the rest of the business ( sales, service, design, etc...)
are you looking to bring in an employee to handle the added work, this is a BIG can of worms once this starts


have you verified that this printer can hit these PMS colors?

since you are currently outsourcing these prints, and getting the exact PMS colors, do you have the ability to create your own profiles to match the colors already getting done and do re-orders consistently?
What is the vendors using for a printer? Solvent, Eco-Sol, Latex, UV, Etc... will the customer be okay with a change? depending on the ink / machine there will be a different feel, touch, smell and look.

 

[Gino]

There will be pros and cons for going either way. You'll never find a one size fits all remedy.

However, bringing your printing in-house will also make you more efficient as to turn-around, quality control, costs and just having it at your fingertips. No lost time for freight.... ha, no freight costs, can turn more of this sorta thing out now. You'll find uses for it, since it's basically in your back pocket, now. Sure, you'll have operator time and a learning curve, but who cares ?? Once you get it going, understand the maintenance procedures, setting up your profiles and whatnot, the thing just sings money, anytime you hear it running. You have 10 more weeks of spending $1,000. and you'll have a package deal from Josh paid off instantly.

Think about this....... how many people have asked for something simple and because it's only worth so much, you either over-priced it or turned it away ?? Now, you can turn it out and make an extra $100 in an instant..... probably by using some of those scraps you were talking about earlier...... or........ someone wants something on his truck, which requires 3 layers of die-cut vinyl which is weeding, taping up and laying down 3 times where with a printer, it prints 2 or 3 colors in the same time you can print 2 or 3 million colors, cuts it out and wam-bam..... you're done and you have far less time involved, less material and less costs all around, but you can get more for it, as you have a DIGITAL print and they command a little more money.

Talk to Josh [or whomever] and do it before you spend much more money on someone else's machine, instead of your own.

 

[ddarlak]

i just got a 315 last week, it's pumping out money as we speak....love it

 

[BF33NS]

i just got a 315 last week, it's pumping out money as we speak....love it

Glad to hear Dave! Funny seeing you here

 

[JohnBFryJr]

I got the same 3 pieces from grimco. I think we leased 15k after paying some in cash. Payments are about $250 a month. It has really changed the way we do business. Not waiting for ups. Instant reprints on the fly. I've spent a few weekends figuring it out. Depending on your shop size fitting 3 large peices in was a challenge for me. Well there have been a lot of challenges but u won't regret it.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

 

[TopFliteGraphics]

Thank for the replies everyone. I just spoke with my customer and since the some signs did not get installed over the weekend as was originally planned due to color issues with signs365, I may end up losing this order plus may not get anymore until I have a printer in-house. Guess that the decision is being made for me.Now I have to figure out where to put it all...

 

[dypinc]

Hopefully you have taken the steps necessary and am acquiring the hardware for proper color management and are confident that you can produce the same color matching a quality that you have been suppling your client.