The jump to Flatbed / Finishing Table (Kongsberg)

[Tattoosleeve]

Hey All,

We've been casually looking at adding a flatbed (FB550) and/or a finishing table (Kongsberg X24) to our lineup for the last year or so but more and more it's feeling like the flatbed at the very least is a necessary investment for us.

A little background. Our main bread and butter is substrate signage, banners, decals, fleet graphics, etc. We of course have portions of our revenue in wraps (both vehicle and powersports), Sign can faces, powersports templates, routered aluminium composite and Komacell wall installs (we currently outsource routering to another local shop), window frost, tint etc but they are all smaller portions of our overall revenue.

We are currently running Epson S30 (x2), Edge FX & Envision (x1), Graphtec FC8600 (x1) and an old Summa Eclipse (48"), Keencut trimmers and Steeltrack cutter as our print/cut equipment.

In order to get even one of the two pieces of equipment we will have to move to a new building that will result in our overhead increasing by at least 100% not including the cost of the lease payments on the equipment. We are in need of additional space regardless of picking up new equipment as we are fighting over each other for space as it is. So we are not expanding solely for space for equipment but of course would aim to be way more efficient and be able to add additional revenue to account for the extra expenses incurred.

When we purchased our first solvent printer 5.5 years ago our workflows and efficiencies changed drastically and looking back at it now it seems like a big no-brainer but that was a $30,000 investment vs an $85,000- $250,000 (plus increased overhead) investment we are looking at now.

We are also currently dealing with a very green production staff and it's challenging having to do things over and over due to poor trimming, laminating problems, mounting problems (using laminator) wobbly cuts, etc. We are hoping to help minimize a lot of these problems by cutting those manual steps from the workflow for our bread and butter products (short term outdoor & long term interior substrates).

We of course also have the option to get only the flatbed to start and expand into the finishing table later but being that we have to move into a larger location to accomodate even one of the pieces it seems like, to maximize the long term return, that it would make sense to get both units at once.

Looking for feedback from other shops that took a similar jump on what sort of benefits, staffing adjustments, additional revenue streams and unforseen problems you ran into when bringing in a flatbed and/or a finishing table into the mix.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

 

[Christian @ 2CT Media]

We were at that point a year ago. We decided to forgo the flatbed printer due to space and get a flatbed applicator to replace our work table and a digital cutter/router as the finishing can have a much higher margin than printing in alot of cases.

At the end of last year we made the leap to purchase a flatbed printer and move to a larger unit.

In both cases our sales jumped significantly. After the purchase of our flatbed applicator we were able to process mounted signs 5 - 10x faster in most cases, giving us more throughput and more money. When the flatbed cutter came on we did 3x the price of the machine in the first month of owning it eclipsing all of our outsourcing (in 1 year of ownership we have billed nearly $500k worth of work on it). Once the flatbed printer arrived in the first 4 months we did double it's coat and opened up quite a few new markets and job avenues.

This year we are looking at growing out of the equipment we have again and upgrading our flatbed printer, switching to a heavy duty cnc router and a separate flatbed cutter (to process flexible stock), and switching our flatbed applicator out for a larger dual head model.

I am a huge proponent for making the leap in business, if you have identified your need, did you cost to value and purchase analysis, and are confident in your ability to sell your new abilities.

 

[Tattoosleeve]

......the finishing can have a much higher margin than printing in a lot of cases.

Thanks for the feedback! Any chance you can expand on this point for me?

 

[Christian @ 2CT Media]

Finishing like custom routing/engraving/cutting/creasing/etc usually brings a much higher margin when priced right vs the competitive market of printing.

Case in point, we routed for one of our clients $185,000 worth of Windows in custom shapes of UV/AR2 3/16" tinted polycarb, That was a single 1 week job and It brought a margin of 67%.

 

[billsines]

Well I can't speak to your specifics on printing, etc, but I can speak to space/efficiency. When we made some changes in space, throughput, efficiency of processes, I was flabbergasted by how much money there is alone in paying close attention to efficiency. Material handling, throughput, everything your gut tells you about how things move through a shop...I can tell you there is probably more money there to be saved than you probably realize. And don't underestimate the efficiency of your team. As they learn (make sure you are taking really good care of them so they stay with you as a seasoned team), if they are anything like my team, what they can do in 5 days per week right now, next year they will be able to do in 4 days per week, the following year 3.5 days per week. Seriously, my shop has become so efficient that it's kind of a pig...I have to throw tons of work at it just to keep it busy. It's actually kind of stressful. But then you take care of them by giving them paid fridays off, whatever else you can think of. They will become efficient and loyal. Best of luck to you.

 

[Superior_Adam]

We started out outsourcing all of our direct to substrate printing. We started getting screwed over so we made the jump and bought our first flatbed a Mimaki JFX200. Was not the fastest but suited our needs at the time and got us by for a few years. We then added the EFI 1625 hybrid. I would suggest looking into the EFI Pro 16H hybrid as we are replacing the 1625 with that model for speed. We had customers begging us to get a cutter/router as they wanted to switch all of their stuff over to us. After looking at the Kongsberg and Zund, we went with the Zund. A much better machine in my opinion and very easy to operate. We just recently purchased the EFI Pro 24f flatbed as our demand has been increasing drastically since adding new printers and the cutter.

 

[Bly]

We got an Oce flatbed and Zund in the last 18 months and while it's a large commitment/investment it's starting to pay off now. We're now doing at least as much direct print as roll fed which gives a better margin.
The Zund is the best investment ever. Not only does it open new markets it improves quality and turnaround times on basic print/board finishing.

 

[biggce55]

We have two 4x8 flatbeds, and purchased a Kongsberg XN24 3 years ago. The Kongsberg has been a blessing, but can be a bit pricey to operate. 90% of the work we do on our Kongsberg is acrylic sheets. The bits do not last long till your edge quality suffers. We are spending around $300-$500 a month in bits. If you plan on milling most of the time, expect to go through a spindle every 12-18 months. We've gone through 3 spindles since we've purchased the machine. Every tech that has been onsite states you get a year plus out of a spindle. Machine runs great, when it runs great. Software is buggy, and to be safe, get the service contract to cover parts. Even with the hiccups we've encountered, the machine has saved the day for us. Fast turnaround, and easy to operate.