How Do You Factor Digital Print Waste When Estimating?

[printguy]

We all know digital printing allows you to print in just the right quantities when needed. Just as Litho has waste, so does digital to a lesser degree. How does the industry account for the waste when pricing jobs? Is it a percentage of the job based on volume? Paper, clicks, finishing methods, all contribute to waste. Would appreciate feedback to this age old question. Thanks.

[dabob]

There is no "set" answer - the most definitive factor is your employees . . some people can set up a folder in 5 sheets some it takes 50 and how many steps are their "post-press" does is coat 1 or 2 sides, die cut, fold, - or does it just trim and ship . . . you need to figure out what the waste average is for each step in your shop - what happens in other shops will not be the waste factor in yours - we've been refining our waste numbers for years.

[Keith]

I'm all digital and use Morning Flight for estimating. It automatically calculates anywhere from 1% to 5% (I think it goes that high). But that is just an estimate. It can vary depending upon the operator and the amount of finishing- the more finishing the higher the spoilage. And once we're out in the press room, we can change it from there depending upon how easy or hard things go.

[pacart]

We have found that with such little waste and the fact that pricing is so dang competitive in the digital market that we don't charge for waste. It literally takes 2-3 sheets and we are setup, so we don't bother and just pass the savings on.

[michaelejahn]

one more consideration. Finishing - if you are applying additional finishing tasks to the printed sheets ( cutting, scoring, folding, etc... ) that sometimes adds to your needed sheets. Quick review of about 5 larger PressWise customers shows me folks seem to add about 10-20 "overs" on average.

[Tpyo]

On the print side, accounting for jobs where the spot colors are critical can be a reason to having extra stock. Most 4/C digital presses have some color variation in the machine's life in between PM's. Even with things like, say regular color calibration and Fiery's Spot-On tool, acquiring acceptable color can take some extra time and stock depending on the customer's requirements. If the job is a stickler, I'd stand by having way more than 5 sheets. If you only run jobs where the customer takes any color you throw at them, I congratulate you and am a bit envious.

[Craig]

Anyone that says 3 or 5 sheets per job is full of crap, unless they are making simple "color copies". You have to account for finishing, drums dying in the middle of the run, paper jams, calibrations, alignment adjustments and on and on.

Like Keith we use Morning Flight for our estimating and job ticketing and it will account for waste at a level you determine. I agree with Michael too, 10 to 20 over is an average for us, but that depends on what we do for finishing, some jobs have been 100+ due to the waste with multiple steps in the finishing.

[pacart]

Our "setup" takes 2-3 sheets, I'm not kidding. This includes 1 sheet for calibration, we have been running our digital press now for 3 years and have it down to a science. Some things we learned along the way are:

1. Don't fight the machine, if it doesn't like a paper, don't use it again.
2. Don't auto duplex - the damn thing will take about 5 sheets just to get it dialed in. If we manual duplex and maintain the same leading edge, it is just about dead on front to back registration with some wiggle every time.
3. If the quality sucks, call for service right away - no matter what you do you aren't going to fix the problem on your own, so just call the tech. Our machine doesn't have parts that we can replace.
4. Consistency - we use the same papers all the time and we don't switch it up "just to save a buck" using the same papers all the time will in fact speed up the process.
5. Know your machine and why it is doing x,y or z. Understand the heat settings and why the toner is pealing off etc..

So yeah I can setup a machine to print in 2-3 sheets, you can tak on another 5 sheets if I need to match a spot color. If there will be bindery, obviously we are going to need at least 15-25 overs...

[JulieWatson]

I would agree with "it all depends about finishing", the more different finishing steps you have, the more extras you need. On average I have experienced requesting 5% for re-print and mailing purposes if that gives an idea, just to always be on the safe side. It also depends on the level of automation of your finishing, which would allow to cut on waste.

[Tpyo]

Having 'house' stock for the majority of jobs does, indeed cut down on set-up time/waste. About half of what comes in our door is not on those 4 or 5 substrates. I regard my job much as an offset pressman; the color needs to match a previous printed sample within a narrow margin. That requires more than 5 sheets, whether I (get lucky) use them or not.
I also ask the point person on the bindery equipment being used what their preference is on overs. If I can accommodate them without too many clicks I will. Knowing the equipment/finishing steps downstream of printing helps a lot to gauge overs, too.