Outsourcing Plate making

Does anyone out there currently outsource your platemaking?

 

A lot of people do here.

 

Thanks. I see a lot of views of my post.

If your not doing this now how would any of you feel about getting rid of your platemaker and outsourcing all your plates? What would you say are the pro's and con's of doing this?

Asif, the companies you know of who do outsource their plate making, what are their run lengths? What are the turn times on their projects? Any info would be welcome.

Thanks Dan

 

Most of the small print shops here outsource plates. Run length varies from one printer to another.

 

Can you give me some frame of reference to help define a small print shop? Are they printing 4 color process work, mainly forms or Business cards? What would you guesstimate as an annual sales volume? Are they making 10 plates a day or more like 20+ plates a day?

 

Small print shops with one or two single color or two color presses.
Most of these print shops run low quantity books, posters, business cards, invitational cards and other promotional jobs.
Plate consumption is dependent on job types, but you can say around 20 on average.

 

you may save money on consumables and salary but if the work you are doing is time sensitive one bad plate
can cost you big time

 

I agree with spikeboy, but here in Karachi, there are a few places where many print shops are situated right next to each other, sort of a print market, where all related businesses are nearby and you can get anything within minutes.
But it does not substitute an in-house facility, where you can apply quality standards in all departments, and pre press is one of the most important part of a print house.