Feb 24, 2022
A business' profitability and success come down to one thing: how fast you can get the work out and how fast your technology can handle it.
Your print technology determines your productivity, efficiency, and competitiveness. You could be missing out on new business, or even the opportunity to expand with existing clients if you haven't upgraded in the last couple of years. There are 25,000 commercial printers in the United States that currently generate approximately $900 billion in domestic revenues annually; this business is expected to increase, creating a global market worth $472.35 billion by 2026. There is no doubt that print is here to stay, and with advanced printing technology, it will only expand as privacy concerns and oversaturation of digital platforms increase.
The past few years have brought about a whirlwind of changes. On top of the decline in printing needs due to many work-from-home strategies, there has been a significant shift in the number of print companies, the kinds of services they offer, and the way they provide these services. Certainly, traditional print shops have felt increased pressure due to a rising number of online print shops offering fast delivery times and catering to a wider array of clients. By offering low-margin, high-volume services, these online shops have forced commercial and industrial print companies to lower their prices, making it more challenging to do labor-intensive, low-value work. However, there is no need to lower your price to compete with these services: by upgrading your print technology, you can offer your clients a world of high-quality print jobs at a price they can afford, delivering a value that no other company can match.
Technology innovations have a great deal to do with the types of embellishments print businesses can offer. To simplify processes and lower production costs for special effects, equipment manufacturers have added features and capabilities to digital printing presses, digital enhancement presses, and finishing solutions. Many digital print solutions now offer five-color options, which means that you can effortlessly offer spot color, gamut expansion, specialty inks, coating, texturing and security.
The enhancements produced on digital printing presses can also be applied to printed materials using digital enhancement finishing devices. These machines utilize inkjet printing heads to produce texture, foil and dimensional effects. Help your clients stand out from the crowd by offering exciting opportunities for direct mail pieces and marketing materials that include special effect coating (including protective coating), 3-D texture, digital foiling, high gloss and even watermarks.
New substrates like plastic or textile substrates such as linen or non-woven fabric are tough, if not impossible jobs for older presses. Wide-format and flatbed printers make these jobs easy and quick while delivering the quality and precision you expect. Even better, these new enhanced presses do not require plates, screens, or dies, allowing print service providers of all sizes to take advantage of this technology. To make sure that you have the ability to provide the services that your customers want, and to retain their valuable business, talk to the Milner production team to learn about upgrading your printing system.
While the older MIS products were perfect for their time, many of their vendors have not made the commitment to keep these systems current with the changes within the printing and mailing industries. In today's market, an effective MIS can support the operations of a print shop and provide the tools to be competitive. In order to deliver a system that meets these challenges, your MIS vendor must be one that continuously updates their product to match evolving industry needs. Milner can not only help you automate your production processes not only with Print MIS, but also with other capabilities such as Web to Print, Job Management and batching.
Print businesses are making investments in technology but have yet to reap the benefits. Many businesses consider hardware investments to be similar to software investments, without realizing there are some significant differences. This often results in the implementation of web-to-print technologies without the shifts in mindset required to make these technological shifts successful. Investing in web-to-print technologies leads to better color production, reduced wastes, and fewer production cycles. With web-to-print investments, you will see an increase in customers, an increase in customer retention, and a decrease in waste and reorders. The best workflow is one that is designed to ensure the highest quality at the lowest operating costs and that’s just what Milner will help you accomplish.
Today's technology is more advanced than most print professionals realize, and it costs a lot less than you might think. If you run a busy print shop and have been feeling stuck with your current mode of production, now might be the time to reach out and ask questions about how a print technology upgrade can help enhance your business and your customers’ experience. With a wide selection of production and commercial printers from brands you trust, Milner’s print experts can right-size a solution for you.
