This article was first published in the March 2021 issue of Australian Printer, by Graph-Pak managing director Tom Ralph
Post-press is more important than pre-press or printing as no matter how you look at it, without post-press the rest of it is basically sitting around waiting for the next mover.
People under value post-press and sometimes make mistakes such as going for the cheapest rather than the best or not even looking at any other section of a quotation except for the price and not looking at the technical specs such as the output and capabilities as they are more important, they determine return on investment.
In the last two decades, I have seen many customers simply walk away from my projects because they were only looking at price.
I have also seen a very large percentage come back in the short future after buying something cheap, only to find out that the decision they had made is actually costing them a lot more than my original proposal, that offered a higher capacity solution, thus a better return on investment.
It is a fact that waiting to consider post-press production until a print job is complete can result in a disaster. This is because careful planning of your post-press needs to be done before you accept a print job. On so many occasions, mistakes are made and people can easily lose money on jobs because they have not quoted it correctly through their post-press.
For example, a job needs to be banded in 5s, yet no one has considered how that is going to happen and how much labour it would involve to band the job. I am sure that anyone who is reading would agree that these are easy mistakes, but costly ones. My tip is “measure twice, cut once”.
There have been a dozen outstanding new technologies come through in the last decade within the post-press space. One that is becoming more and more an information request, is rotary die cutting.
Even though it has been around for a long time, technology breakthroughs separate the men from the boys. Rotary die cutting competes with flatbed die cutting and platen systems, however has gone to a whole new level with the introduction of mag cylinder plate applications, and make ready in minutes as opposed to hours.
At Graph-Pak, there is demand for the Rollem Insignia Rotary Die Cutter. This machine features outstanding new technology and this die cutter can also be coupled to a folder gluer for inline processing of packaging and stationery products, giving the end used a really good return on investment.
Normally the companies who buy these machines make their minds up fairly fast when they see everything stacking up, such as automation, high output, fast make readies, flexibility and versatility, minimal labour all equals a great ROI.
Such machines are necessary for printers who are looking beyond the next six months, which is something you have to do if you are in a business. Printers need to be more focused on not being boxed in on one particular segment of the market.
Owning an Insignia Die cutting machine allows you to be capable of a lot of versatility such as, perforating, kiss cutting, scoring and embossing, all in a single pass. Insignia systems eliminate sending out profitable work as well as allow for infinite expansion into new markets, such as door hangers, parking passes, shaped invitations, unique mailing pieces, folding cartons, kiss cut stickers, ID cards and more.
With consumers expecting products quicker, printers need to stay in the loop, talking to suppliers and not just waiting for something to happen. They also need to ask as many questions as they need, because the world and technology is constantly changing. If you don’t ask questions you will be left behind.
I believe higher quality finishing equipment is ultimately the future and that the industry should be heading in that direction when considering post-press.
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