Selling OffCuts

[TonyDiaferia]

Hey everyone,

We are going to be using a supplier that we have to take an 8" offcut from, and I was curious if there is a reseller type market for this?

 

[PricelineNegotiator]

Can you describe what an offcut is? I'm not familiar with the term. Is it the remainder of a folio sheet that is not translated into press sheets?

 

[gordo]

Can you describe what an offcut is? I'm not familiar with the term. Is it the remainder of a folio sheet that is not translated into press sheets?

If the file to be printed is smaller than the sheet of paper the unprinted area that will be trimmed off is usually called an "offcut".
Sometimes it's just waste, sometimes it's offered to the client to add an print another file on the same sheet as the primary file, sometimes it's sold to other customers to make use of, and sometimes it's used by the printshop to do tests. At creo we asked the printshop to let us know when an offcut is available so that we could run tests using that space.

 

[keith1]

Pad them and use, hand out or sell as note pads.

 

[TonyDiaferia]

Can you describe what an offcut is? I'm not familiar with the term. Is it the remainder of a folio sheet that is not translated into press sheets?

Sorry for the late reply and missing details in my first post! We run a roll to roll configuration on our press. We purchase a 60" master roll and have that cut into 13" wide rolls and we have to take an 8" "off cut" since there's no enough material to make another 13" wide. That was the term they use for us so I assumed it was somewhat universal. Unfortunately, we cannot use that 8" material on our press due to its limitations.

I'm aware of a couple roll to roll presses that run 8" material but I just wasn't sure if there was a market there for that where companies buy off cuts from others.

 

[TonyDiaferia]

Even though that may be sort of an odd size, if you find the presses/companies that have a use for that size, maybe you can create your own market.

'If you build it, maybe they'll come!'

That's a good point. I was hoping someone on here may have a more narrow web press and give me some hope that it's possible I just don't know where to look or advertise those for sale if we were to do something. I figured a forum would be our best bet to get any contacts or referrals. We are fairly new to the label market so we don't have many friends there yet lol

 

[SteveSuffRIT]

Maybe you can donate it to a local or regional school that has a narrow web flexo press.
It might be a tax write-off?

 

[jamesandersonicb]

I don't understand this term Can you explain briefly.

 

[gordo]

I don't understand this term Can you explain briefly.

Normally the term is used if the file to be printed is smaller than the sheet of paper the unprinted area that will be trimmed off is usually called an "offcut".
The OP had a different meaning - see previous posts.

 

[Stephen Marsh]

I don't understand this term Can you explain briefly.

Webs (rolls, reels) come in a “master” or “parent” or “mill” width that may be larger than a narrow web label press can handle. You are purchasing the entire web/reel/roll, however the paper supplier will cut this down into whatever sizes you need. In this case the master size is 60" wide, with the regular cuts being 13" wide. 60 ÷ 13 = 4.6, so 13" x 4 = 52" with 8" left over as scrap/offcut. Depending on the press and tooling and shop, one may not always purchase 4 even width splits for a given paper stock, however the idea is to increase yield and reduce waste, which is governed by the press, cylinders and tooling, so one may be stuck with a larger than ideal offcut.


Stephen Marsh

 

[turbotom1052]

8 inches of off cut seems like it would have very limited use. If its a card stock weight and caliper it may be worth something, to someone who does biznez cards or hang tags. perhaps you can let your customer hitch an occasional free ride, by slapping some inter office print matter on the off cut. Would go a long way towards customer relations and not cost your company much.