The three biggest challenges faced in any large-format printing environment currently are turnaround time, cost of ownership and being able to deliver on various types of printing requirements by customers.
Today’s printers can save both time and materials because the latest large-format printers can print onto various types of media ranging from CAD drawings to canvas and even directly onto thicker substrates up to 80mm.
Aziza Mahomed, business development and channel manager for Epson large-format and Colourworks label printers at Kemtek, says: “We also have large-format signage solvent printers that do both indoor and outdoor prints. They can print onto glossy paper, poster paper, wallpaper, vinyl, backlits – there’s a massive range of possibilities, instead of having a single large-format machine per specific function.”
Mahomed says: “Today’s affordable large-format technology has greatly reduced the lengthy turnaround times created by printers having to outsource their printing or having to print onto a substrate then applying it to the object.
“As people have moved from working from home and being offsite towards a hybrid model, this has necessitated flexibility in printing requirements. We have solutions for large-format printing requirements for a small home office right up to industrial size.”
The improved cost of ownership of large-format devices means printers can reap the benefits of having a machine in-house. Mahomed says: “The low cost of ownership also increases profit margins for the customer. Large-format printers come with a built-in cost calculator that shows the yield of ink per colour and the duration of print time.
“All of our large-format printers have an accounting software tool that can be used post print to tell you duration of print, ink yield as well as cost of print. The printer can also add in labour and electricity costs and get a precise cost of the print job. They no longer need to 'guestimate' because they get a precise tally from the software. It’s a big selling point when customers can see the exact cost per square metre. This saves the printer a significant amount of time when quoting customers to produce their print jobs. It also enables an accurate forecast for inventory and consumables and enables the business to run cost efficiently.”
Signage units come complete with a dashboard with prewritten profiles for various types of media stored on the cloud, saving time and enabling them to action the customer’s print job that much faster.
Being able to accommodate more print jobs with all these time-saving innovations means the printer can pay off machines much faster.
Mahomed adds: “A single printshop can offer everything from technical printing to professional proofing prints to outdoor or even a UV printing. The ability to print on various types of media gives them a much larger scope, enabling the printshop to tap into environments that it previously couldn’t. The consistent high quality of today’s large-format printers means that if a business runs a campaign every six months, for instance, it will get consistency time after time – over time.
“Naturally, it’s vital to ensure that the printer supplied exactly matches that customer’s specific needs, but today’s large-format machines offer a great deal of versatility.
“We’d advise a printshop looking at acquiring a large-format printer to visit one of our showrooms. They can bring their own artwork and see the results before investing in a machine. They can also see for themselves how the cost calculator can help them be more accurate in their costing.”
The last issue to be considered, which is something that impacts every single business regardless of size and across all sectors in SA, is that of load-shedding. “Not only do you want a device that has a low power consumption, you also want one that is able to stop printing when the power goes out and resume where it left off when the power returns, without any media wastage. Again, this will result in both time and cost savings for the business.”
Mahomed concludes: “When looking for a partner for your large-format printing journey, choose one that is consistently looking at new technology and the new demands of their market and trying to match these.”
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