advice on digital press

Hi,

I'm in sales for a direct mail marketing company in the automotive industry.
We mail out around 80,000 copies a month 130,000 during the summer months.
we do everything from 11x14 to 15x22



my questions are.

what are some of the maintenance requirements I need to account for with haveing a digital press?

with the volume of flyers what would be the ideal machine for our business?

I have a buddy in the paper industry who recommended Konica Minolta machines.opinions on the company would be helpful.

The goal is to save money on printing and wanted to weigh out our opinions if Buying a press would be a benefit to us
 
Well I'll be the first one to try and tackle this. First off, digital will max out at 13x19 unless you go with an iGen or Indigo. There's a few smaller presses that will do banner printing but I'm not sure how reliable they are and if it would be worth it.

Secondly, your volumes seem to be well within digital range, as long as each run is fairly short, or there is a lot of variable data. For 4/4 stuff, I think most people here like to have the cut off at 1500-2000 sheets, but you could probably extend that a little if you'd want.

Maintainence issues are generally covered by your click charge.

KM machines have been getting good reviews lately. I personally did not have a good experience with them when we were in the talks with companies. But others here love them. But every one of the big players has a machine that would fit your needs.

Make sure you factor in cost of other equipment and not just a press when you are doing your research. You'll need at minimum a cutter. If you do a lot of direct mail that requires UV, those machines aren't cheap. And maybe an offline booklet maker. Plus variable data software.

Good luck and do get discouraged right away cause I'm sure there will be the typical "you won't save any money, it's a headache, ect" post lol.
 
Victory . . . I pretty much 2nd what AP said . . . you are talking about a pretty major plunge into the print industry . . . both in dollars, floor space, and man power. A better breakdown of your printed requirements would be helpful Is your work all color? Your 11x14 could be done by any number of machines but the 15x22 would take IMHO an HP-Indigo 10,000 which will print up to a 20x29 inch sheet and it probably would handle the rest of you work too . . . but you should sit down now - its price tag is 1.5 million bucks, and you would need a cutter, folder, and other sundry equipment to finish the job. If you already have the mailing equipment that would help and you would not need to hire experience in that area, but the manning in the press/bindery area could get expensive (especially the press operator).

If you don't do many items over 13 x 19 you could continue jobbing the large format jobs and go with any of the leading digital presses, Xerox, KM, or Ricoh. We have had both the Xerox and now a Ricoh and have been happy with both of them.

Good luck on your new adventure.
 
what are some of the maintenance requirements I need to account for with haveing a digital press?

with the volume of flyers what would be the ideal machine for our business?

I have a buddy in the paper industry who recommended Konica Minolta machines.opinions on the company would be helpful.

The goal is to save money on printing and wanted to weigh out our opinions if Buying a press would be a benefit to us

Before we can answer your concerns accurately, we probably need to know a little more about what you now have, versus, what you will need.

Do you currently have pre-press capability? (a production graphic artist person who can set up the art to be printed with bleeds/cut marks?

Do you have pre-press software? (Adobe InDesign, Quark, etc.)

Do you have software that will do your variable data merge to the printed piece? (XMpie, FusionPro, Etc)

Since direct mail is your method of distribution, do you have a person on staff, or, one available to you that can guide you through the myriad of postal regulations and how to properly prepare a mailing for presentation to the USPS?

Do you have any mail presort software? (BCC MailManager, SmartAddresser, Satori, Melissa Data, etc.)

You've given us an idea of your typical mail pieces and volumes, but, we do not know how fast you must produce them. What is the average time you have to get a job in the mail, from the time you get an order from a dealer?

Do you have any "bindery" equipment (cutters, folders, etc.) What type will you need.

Having done many automotive mail projects myself, you probably already know how "time-critical" those mailings are. They usually contain sale dates, and, the mail must be in the homes several days prior to the start of the sale. I would suggest starting small while still jobbing out most of your work. That being said, you need to be looking at a digital press that will handle most (but, not all) of your mailings. But, before making a choice, you need to look at the difference in cost between what your outsourcing cost is versus what it will cost you to produce them yourself (machine lease payments, click charges, personnel cost, etc.). Even if you can get close, there is something to be said for being able to control your own production versus being at the mercy of an outsourcer.

Hope this helps, and, Good Luck in your new venture!

-MailGuru
 
I really appreciate the information everyone,

yes we have our flyers in full color (DABOB)
we do have a in house graphic designer and we do have Adobe.
we do not have..software that will do variable data merge to the printed piece.
or have any mail presort software.
we have the dealerships slots filled a month in advanced but there have been times where we had to turn a job around in a week.
we will need bindery equipment, a folder

couldn't say it better MailGuru its really all about producing your own production,i understand there will be a plunge into the print industry not trying to make a big splash,but take small steps into the right direction
it won't be an easy task and we have a lot to learn threw the whole process.after its all said and done, the deciding factor will be whats better for the company.
 

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