Digital Short Runs vs. Print In-House?

We are looking into the possibility of printing our own product data sheets (double sided color 8.5 x 11 sheets) and product guide (double sided color 11 x 17 sheet).Our product values often change so it is not cost effective to print large quantities to achieve volume discounts. We are also pricing short digital runs of 25, 50, 75 sheets, etc. I have researched some HP printers online and I'm trying to calculate ink cost per page, paper cost, # of pages per the life of the machine, etc. to determine if we would save money in the long run by handling this in-house. We would also consider leasing a machine.

I would appreciate any recommendations re: the most cost effective way to handle this situation as well as recommended color printer brands and printer vendors. It seems difficult to adequately assess a machine from reading the info online. The printer I was looking at was the HP Color LaserJet 5550 Printer Series (for 11 x 17 paper).Help!

 

How many total prints do you anticipate running per month?

Also what are your quality requirements? Your print quality standards may dictate whether you get 50% yeild, 100% yeild, or 200% yeild out of your drums for example which will be a big part of your cost. Also whether you can settle for non-OEM toner refills for purchased machines or whether you need the higher consistency of OEM toner.

Do you have large non-textured solids that will require more frequent drum changes?

What is your coverage per page?

Depending on coverage, we've paid between $0.30 and $0.50 per 11 x 17 to maintain good quality (toner + drum swaps + transfer kit swaps) on non-leased purchased machines buying retail supplies. Buying gray-market supplies later on (a couple boxers here and a couple boxes there from offices that no longer had the printer(s) as they upgraded to something else via ebay, red tag toner, etc, etc.) we brought our costs down to $0.15 to $0.40, but still noticably more cost and difficulty than going with a maintenance & supplies contract.

I don't have any experience with the 5550. A few years ago when we used canon IR2100's we found we had substantially worn out the main bodies at around 350,000 prints. We may have come a long way from then though... after that we went to leased Ikon machines and are at 850,000 + 150,000 11x17's currently -- overall we save money on a click charge contract and it's a world better to have qualified technicians available (we get much much much better service and support from Ikon than we did from canon direct on retail 3k to 5k printers. Canon builds great technology, but they didn't seem to have nearly as much in-the-field problem solving ability as Ikon does, especially for physical/mechanical issues with the machines.)

So between purchashing and leasing, I would lease with service contract absolutely if it's an option.

 

Jeff - thanks for the info; I appreciate it!

We would be looking at 100-300 data sheets per month at either 8.5 x 11 (double sided) or 11 x 17 (double sided). Currently there is a lot of white space and a large block of color on one page but I would like to redesign the sheets to reduce the areas of color. I would estimate coverage at 10 - 15%. The HP color cartridges added up to @.18 - .20/page - I guess that sounds reasonable considering your costs (I'm not sure if I totally believe it, though). Print quality would have to be high since this is our product literature and it needs to look professional.

I am concerned about paper, scoring/folding, etc. and maintaining a professional image. I'm also a little leery of having to babysit and maintain a machine since I will have other responsibilities to attend to. I want as foolproof an option as possible. Thanks for your comments re: leasing - it sounds easier but what about the cost?

 

Most manufacturer cost per page specifications are based on 5% coverage - 20% CMYK (letter sized sheet) - so this is the usual point where people go wrong as I can't remember the last time I saw a brochure printed with only 20% combined coverage for example. But it sounds like you are looking at extremely light coverage, so this might not be an issue for you. Also with such a light volume it will be a long time before you have to replace $ things like fuser & transfer kit... Honestly I would personally not expect a maintenance issue nor having to babysit the printer within the first year with such a light volume, though I will say that I much prefer the more robust build-quality of our slightly larger machines (about 5x the cost which makes sense to us due to lower cost per print and dramatically longer servicability than our smaller previous printers, but with such a low print volume requirement right now doesn't really add up for you at this point.)

I would give IKON a call and see what they can set you up with - I don't know what they offer for such volume, but they've treated us right and that would be the option I would look at first for a trouble-free start.

 

P.S. For folding/scoring you're probably looking at a $1400 used machine minimum if you want something that's not going to give you grief.

 

Jeff,
Thanks-you have been very helpful! HP's quote was for 5% coverage on one side so that would actually be 10%. I don't really believe it. It's hard for me to accurately estimate coverage but I think the ink usage will be higher than we expect. I guess I would feel more comfortable handing a data sheet to a printer rep and having him/her tell me the "true" coverage. Oh yeah, I forgot 3hole punching in addition to the scoring & folding.

I will check out Ikon and get some info.

Thanks for your time. I appreciate it!

Stacey

 

That's how we got started with Ikon. We sent a couple example copies of what we print and asked what click charge they could offer us. The way I look at it, IKON makes money by being right, whereas the manufacturers selling retail supplies direct make $ by being vague and hoping you'll estimate wrong as there is no gaurantee of yeilds on most of the duralbes or consumables. Now in truth it probably evens out, but it just depends who has to bear the risk. (and IKON's volume purchasing ability makes it so some of the $ can go towards having an advocate on your side, if you will, in their experience.) If you have the volume, a click charge contract makes it a lot easier to account for jobs as you have a fixed cost.

Until you get into the thousands, the cheapest is probably just a big old fashioned 3-hole punch. I think any drill / 3-hole automated punch worth having will be in the $1k+ to 3k range used, and overkill for this.

 

print in-house vs. short digital runs

Jeff,
Thanks so much for your feedback! We have focused so far on the printing aspect but I think we may be underestimating the importance of the scoring/folding/hole punching part. Obviously we want the finished piece to look professional, not "off" in terms of the fold or holes. I checked out Ikon's web site yesterday and requested information.

I appreciate your time!

Stacey