Pulling the trigger on a printer? When is the right time?

[JPGraphicsMI]

I've been in the sign/wrap industry for 12 years now. I finally went off on my own in 2020, and business has been great. My quality of work tends to be greater than my competitors (the reason I went off on my own in the first place) and customers are noticing that. I hired my first full time employee, after 1 year, and because he had over 20 years experience, I started him at practically top dollar. We are on the search for another employee, but good employees are extremely hard to find.

Without getting into too many details, we work closely with another small shop that we provide them with installs and they provide us with prints. They get a discount on install and we get a discount on prints. On average, we pay around $1 sq ft for prints, providing our own material. We have our own laminator and cutter, so they just supply the prints. Obviously this is a unique situation, but I'm sure there are some others out there that used 365 or another source for prints before committing to purchasing your own. How did you decide to finally pull the trigger? Is it just a matter of sitting down and comparing the cost of outsourcing, to the cost of the printer plus labor to run it yourself? Factoring in having the ability to print (and sometimes reprint) short notice?

Thank you in advance.

 

[MarkSnelling]

I can't answer your question as I'm not a user, but I'd love any opportunity to put some solvent, resin, or UV printer information in front of you as we blanket the midwest.

 

[Sindex Printing]

I have a shop that I help out printing at $1.00 a square foot on their material. (the other shop runs their own job) It is not a money maker for me but has helped them out and if I need a hand on installs they are always there to help. Just for simple numbers I figure my cost not including vinyl but for ink, maintenance (This includes money towards a new print head and capping station and wipers) is at $.50 a square foot. (roughly close to actual double the raw without any money going towards consumable parts and the print head. I pulled the trigger based on a couple things. The actual asset that you have, the ability to do quick turn items without having to rely on someone else to get the job off in time. ROI at $.50 or $.75 a square foot will take quite a bit of time to achieve to make the investment back. I personally don't like outsourcing just because of the different opinion of quality varies shop by shop. What I expect as high quality has been very different than some of the other places I have outsourced to.

Equipment ownership does have its own challenges on its own. Make sure you have a company or a tech that is there when you need them. It is not an if it is a when. I have had great experience with Vic and Axiom America. Vic has been on of the best techs that I have come across and extremely honest

Good employees are hard to find, but try to find someone that wants to learn and have a passion for it is extremely difficult to find.

 

[Splash0321]

I'll throw in my two cents here just because I took the plunge just over a year ago and its been a ride. Im sure shops with multiple printers dont have this problem but when I bought my first printer and it broke down I was at the mercy of the service techs and the printer manufacturer. They were pretty responsive but when you have a few episodes where you cant print for 2-3 weeks at a time it hurts business and you lose customers. You may still be able to continue the relationship you have with that other local printer and that could save you during your own down times...and you will definitely have down times. Hopefully you have experience with the printing aspect and you wont experience the learning curve I did on my own. It sounds like you are plenty busy to own a printer yourself but just realize the ownership of a printer adds a new set of responsibilities and will require more of your time than current.

 

[Stacey K]

Yesterday.

I started on my own in 2019. I asked the same question in 2020. It took Notareal a year to convince me LOL You will never say, "We should have waited another year". I bought a HP 315.

This is what I've noticed since I got a printer...
• I can do one-off banners same or next day if needed. I do about 120 sport banners throughout the year for the high school. They OFTEN wait until the day before or 2 days before to order because a big game is coming up, etc. Who is the hero? I am! There is no need to stay late to create files and cross your fingers Signs365 gets them shipped in time.
• Reprints - this is the BIGGEST thing. As I learn, my jobs become more complicated which means I screw up sometimes. I can reprint quickly.
• Color matching is much easier to do if you have your own printer. You will notice you become much pickier about color matching when you don't have that "re-order" cost/time hanging over your head. It makes you produce better prints. You also learn a lot more about color and file set up which makes you think differently when estimating jobs.
• Decals- I like decals. I print lots of small decals and sell some and give some away just for fun. It's nice for one off coro signs also.
• Cost - It doesn't sound like you would save a ton of money printing yourself but you would have to look at the reprints and quickie jobs and weigh that part of it.

Edit: I still order my perf from Signs365 and if I have over 5 banners at a time or large banners, those I order out also unless I have time to do them or get bored on a Saturday lol

 

[netsol]

we have multiple printers, but, have not always had more than one.
if the choice is buying a printer OR OUTSOURCING, there is nothing that keeps you from outsourcing current work as soon as you realize the printer will be down

if you made existing customers wait 2 TO 3 WEEKS for work that was promised on a timely basis you deserved to lose them

I am not unsympathetic but delivering the banner, AFTER THE TRADE SHOW IS OVER is of no value to anyone

 

[Gino]

As soon as you can afford it and have at least 2 or 3 days worth of printing needed.

 

[DL Signs]

If your shop already has a laminator and cutter, and buying the print media, a printer is the only missing link. Normally it goes the other way, someone buys a printer only to realize they need the rest, I'm surprised you don't already have one. With your own you can do your own color matching, and provide customer samples, take those quick jobs rather than turn them down, expand into decals, banners, and whatever else you can think of to increase sales volume. It's the best sales tool you can have, everything under one roof.

As far as printers go, the best print quality is solvent, just stay away from white ink, unless you need it daily it becomes a maintenance headache. Best balance between price and quality is a latex, a little lower on the print quality, grainier because they can't do finer droplet sizes like solvent, and not as broad range of media, but the price point makes them a good starter machine. UV's are pretty steep investments, overkill unless you actually need one, and higher maintenance. Make sure you maintain a printer right, do daily cleanings, replace consumables at the required intervals, and they'll give you way less problems. But just like anything mechanical, they will break somewhere down the road, and there will be down time.

Unless you get so much work that you actually need someone dedicated to just print, it can be added to an existing person's job, or a shared responsibility. We do a pretty god volume here, and I do all our graphic design, engineer drawings, print, laminate, cut and weed, lay all sign and vehicle graphics that are done in-house, do equipment maintenance, and more, and rarely need help. It's all time management.

 

[garyroy]

Here's a crazy idea. Figure out the cost of the printer you really need and the price of the laminator too.
If you are doing that much gross business in 3 months, then it might be time to get the equipment.

Example: I want to buy a $60,000 Colorado printer. If I'm averaging $60,000/month for 3 months on a steady basis, it might be time to buy that piece of equipment. I know, some might argue with the amount of months needed, some say 2, some say 4, but you get my meaning.
Also before you buy, read some realistic threads on this forum about the piece of equipment you are going to buy. Remember you will now be a printer and a sometimes repairman. It's easy, anyone can do it....