CD & DVD Replication

[MacTwidget]

I wasn't quite sure which forum to post this in...

Does anyone have any experience with small CD/DVD Replicators that also inkjet on the face of the media?

A few of our customers have the need for disc replication that will accompany their printed collateral.

For some of the smaller quantities I'm thinking about bringing it in-house.

I'm looking at the EPSON Discproducer Standard 100 Disc Publisher (PP-100)

Any thought or experience would be greatly appreciated.

 

[edocpublish.com]

Inkjet printing CDs or DVD is very old Technology. The Epson printer is not cheap and the Ink is not cheap. To get the best print you need to buy the "Water Shield" Tayio Yoden (Now they call them JVC professional) Brand CD-R or DVD-R. Cost is around $0.47 per Disc. Many customers will reject Inkjet Disc printed Jobs. If your hands are wet it will smear regular Inkjet the Disc, not Water Shield Disc.

The CD/DVD Duplication Market is dying and margins are very thin. At one point we used to make $1 per disc profit (NET), today if we are luck we are making $0.03-$0.05 per Disc.

If I have to invest in any machine, I would invest in Rimage 600 Everest AutoPrinter. I have Couple of them. Typical Cost is $10K for the system. Consumables are about $0.48 per Disc and Disc is about $0.29.

If you are very very good you will have about 85% yield (the printer will print bad disc because dust or hair or bad ribbon, by the time you catch it you have already wasted about 50 Discs).

If I have to do it all over again, I would never ever buy any capital equipment and outsource every job. It is too late now since I have a 14,000 SQR Feet factory full of equipment.

My Recommendation, find 2 to 3 reliable suppliers and send the work to them and have them do all of the Pre-Press and get a PDF Press ready from them to send it to your customer and save yourself some labor. Typically Trade pricing is $1.5/Disc for qty from 50-100

Good Luck.

PS I was one of Few People who helped Epson Develop this printer. I know it very well.

 

[MacTwidget]

Thank you so very much for your insight.