Paper Brightness Question

[vniehaus]

I'm new with estimating. I have a quote I'm working on that is a good paying customer. The minimum brightness of the paper they need say 97. The only 97 I've found is 232.87/cwt. I've found some Accent Opaque with a brightness of 96 for 80.00/cwt.

Should I call the customer and talk to them about it or submit the paper brand they ask for in the quote at 232.87/cwt. There is a $15,000 dollar difference in price between the two different paper brands.

Thanks ahead for the help. We need the work.

[HPC]

You probably answered your own question, but if it were me, I'd go with the price on the 96, you need the work and you know that someone else is gonna stick their neck out on the 96 versus 97. Also, go one step further and ask to submit paper samples, in these times your a salesman and an estimator.

[vniehaus]

Thanks! I called the buyer and I she said submit an obtional quote. It's a government job and I think she doesn't want to mess around. They often call for mill specs on jobs in the past. I'm also part time pressman, part time prepress person, data processor, mailroom manager, part time bindery guy, It's gotten down to the nitty gritty around here.

[Erik]

Sounds like you have your hands full! CWT has nothing to do with the brightness of the sheet. CWT is the price given to you from your paper company for stock, that you multiply by the M Weight of the parent sheet to figure out your cost per 1000 sheets. For example:
You buy your house, gloss book for $65.00/CWT, the job calls for 80# gloss book and your best cut is from a 23.5 x 35" sheet. The M Weight of this sheet is 139. So you multiply the CWT ($65.00) by the M Weight (1.39) and it gives you $90.35 per 1000 sheets as your cost. Being government they probably require some sort of recycled content. Accent is not recycled, but Cougar is and also meets their brightness of 98. It sound like a good size job so make sure you get best pricing from your paper Rep. Good luck with it! Press on!

[vniehaus]

Yes my hands are full. We are a small Non-Profit with an In-Plant and half of our employees have disabilities. Also we are in a very rural area without printing skilled people around. So, I'm a trainer too.

Actually this is a web press job and I'm buying rolls. The rolls sheet off to 22"
So I take (cwt*roll weight)/Shts per roll to get my M price. Not sure if we got the job. I offered two quotes with the only paper I could find. One with the 97 brightness that the quote calls for and the buyer specifically said that they prefer to use the paper brand that they call for. And the other with 96 brightness.