Adding Printing Services to our Company

[fouad]

Hello,

I own a Graphic and Web Design Company, i decided to start a printing business also.

i'm not looking for something high priced, so its better to go Digital.

What do you think about Xante - Ilumina ? is it good ? any other choice at the same price range?

Also i checked AeroCut Quatro from Morgana, anyone tried it ? if i have a custom die cut is it able to do that?

I still need a laminating machine and a UV machine in order to start.

If you have any suggestion about new machines or other machines to add to my collection let me know.

Thanks in advance

 

[Possumgal]

You might look at Okidata printers also. They make some pretty good machines that do high quality prints, but their consumables prices are usually less than Xante's.

 

[Craig]

Look at the Impressia, MUCH more cost effective to operate than OKI and Ilumina. We have around 600,000 on one we bought last July. Don't get all wigged out on the UV coater, it may not be necessary, we don't have one and most people don't care if it is coated or not. As a matter of fact I have not lost a job because it wasn't coated. Concentrate on a GOOD cutter and a GOOD folder for finishing. The cutter is THE MOST USED piece of equipment you will have, so don't go cheap.

 

[msaeger]

Look at the Impressia, MUCH more cost effective to operate than OKI and Ilumina. We have around 600,000 on one we bought last July. Don't get all wigged out on the UV coater, it may not be necessary, we don't have one and most people don't care if it is coated or not. As a matter of fact I have not lost a job because it wasn't coated. Concentrate on a GOOD cutter and a GOOD folder for finishing. The cutter is THE MOST USED piece of equipment you will have, so don't go cheap.

I only service the machines but I agree with Craig what you can do with it after you print it is probably more important than the printer. I have machines at printers and at offices and the reason the office people send out stuff is because they don't have the finishing devices. I have offices that have the same exact printer as the print shop they are sending work to and they send it out because they can't or don't want to do the finishing.

 

[Stephen Marsh]

Concentrate on a GOOD cutter and a GOOD folder for finishing. The cutter is THE MOST USED piece of equipment you will have, so don't go cheap.

I only service the machines but I agree with Craig what you can do with it after you print it is probably more important than the printer.

I often joke with our new Accura MIS customers that printers should perhaps be called finishers.

We may only setup 1-4 printing operations, however finishing could have 20 or more operations setup.


EDIT: A similar topic thread is underway here:

http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/33364-starting-small-print-shop-printer


Stephen Marsh

 

[fouad]

You might look at Okidata printers also. They make some pretty good machines that do high quality prints, but their consumables prices are usually less than Xante's.

Thank you, i will check Okidata

Look at the Impressia, MUCH more cost effective to operate than OKI and Ilumina. We have around 600,000 on one we bought last July. Don't get all wigged out on the UV coater, it may not be necessary, we don't have one and most people don't care if it is coated or not. As a matter of fact I have not lost a job because it wasn't coated. Concentrate on a GOOD cutter and a GOOD folder for finishing. The cutter is THE MOST USED piece of equipment you will have, so don't go cheap.

Okay i will check Impressia again, yea your are right for UV Coater, but we wanted to have everything related to the business.
Regarding the Cutter, i asked you guys to check Aerocut Quatro from Morgana and give me your feedback about it or tell me about a good cutter and laminator that can facilitate my work.

I only service the machines but I agree with Craig what you can do with it after you print it is probably more important than the printer. I have machines at printers and at offices and the reason the office people send out stuff is because they don't have the finishing devices. I have offices that have the same exact printer as the print shop they are sending work to and they send it out because they can't or don't want to do the finishing.

Thank you msaeger, i got your point

I often joke with our new Accura MIS customers that printers should perhaps be called finishers.

We may only setup 1-4 printing operations, however finishing could have 20 or more operations setup.


EDIT: A similar topic thread is underway here:

http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/33364-starting-small-print-shop-printer


Stephen Marsh

Yep, your are right !
I will check the thread thank you

 

[fouad]

I often joke with our new Accura MIS customers that printers should perhaps be called finishers.

We may only setup 1-4 printing operations, however finishing could have 20 or more operations setup.


EDIT: A similar topic thread is underway here:

http://printplanet.com/forums/digital-printing-discussion/33364-starting-small-print-shop-printer


Stephen Marsh

Stephen btw i have been in the market for 4 years and i am outsourcing all my printing tasks to a printing company and for the last 6-8 months i have been outsourcing printings from 8k to 17k per month for this reason im thinking about getting some machines.

 

[Craig]

That's not a cutter. Im talking about this type of cutter. You would be so limited with that Morgana thing it wouldn't be funny. Start with a hydraulic cutter.
Challenge Products - Paper Cutters

 

[Reprography]

Cutter wise I'm with Craig here, get a good old hydraulic guillotine and learn the art of manual trimming. It'll take you a day to work out how to cut up a sheet of SRA3 for example in the most efficient way, but once you get going you'll be saving so much time as you can get through a large volume of cards in very little time. Yes you can leave a card cutter to run... but seriously, those things are not the most reliable machines in the world, you will find yourself unblocking it constantly.

Another plus of manual trimming is you can pre-press your sheet so yourdifferent jobs are pre-stacked, so say you have 50 sheets of SRA3 high you have piles of 50 of that type which makes for easy separation and packing... you basically have just got through 3 or 4 jobs in 5 minutes.