Digital Partners

There are times in life when it’s best to follow the adage: "If you can’t beat them, join them." While that might sound like a defeatist attitude, it’s actually enduring wisdom that can produce a relationship benefiting both participants. Making the competition a partner helps both companies survive, perhaps even thrive, in a competitive marketplace. This is the case when signshop owners penetrate the digital market by subcontracting to digital-service bureaus.

Partnering can be a smart way for sign-makers to capture digital opportunities. This strategy allows the shop owner to manage the inherent costs and risks of digital production, without assuming equipment overhead and personnel costs. By outsourcing digital-printing services to a bureau, a signshop can offer its customers a variety of products. Moreover, if a signshop can say "yes" to most requests, it minimizes the risk of losing its customers to other digital-print providers.

Regarding this topic, we spoke to four digital service-bureau experts:

• Mark Gregory, president, and Gary Wolfer, digital-print manager, Gregory Inc., Buhler, KS

• Debra Juster-Sapper, marketing consultant, King Graphic Technologies, Manhattan, NY

• Kelly Smith, COO, Beyond Digital Imaging USA (formerly Supergrafx), Sparks, NV

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• Rich Thompson, owner, |2276|, Pompano Beach, FL AdGraphics Inc.

Crunching numbers is a critical step in helping a signshop appreciate the cost benefits of subcontracting to a digital-service bureau, particularly for large-format printing. Mark Gregory recently conferred with a sign company that considered purchasing equipment to produce outdoor products.

The signshop had already established a steady volume of digital business that qualified it as a major customer for any service bureau. But even the shop’s projected volume could not justify the expense of owning a super-large-format system.

Large, digital-service bureaus using the full gamut of printhead technologies have equipment investments far beyond the budgets of most signshops. A single, high-end piece of equipment can cost $100,000 to $200,000, while a superwide printer costs approximately $500,000.

Gary Wolfer warns that the first six months of new-equipment operation can be troublesome unless the signshop masters four-color processing. Without this training, substantial quantities of materials and supplies can be wasted.

The Coolness Factor

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Kelly Smith recounts how a signshop purchased digital equipment without proper research. The shop owners bought a digital-print system because they thought it looked "cool." Soon, however, they gave it away to another company. The reason? "We don’t want to work," they said, "we want to sell. We can’t be out there if we’re in here printing. Somebody has to pick the right color and substrate and know how to mount, laminate and print it. That’s too time-consuming for us."

A signshop can rely on a digital-service bureau to use equipment best suited for the application. Debra Juster-Sapper emphasizes the advantage of diverse equipment, from inkjet machines to superwides. When a client demands digital images for visual-merchandising, transit-advertising, kiosks or billboards, a signshop can rely on the capabilities of a competent digital-service provider.

"When the job is produced on the latest piece of equipment, it can be turned around quickly and at the right price. That allows the sign-maker to sell it in the marketplace for a competitive price, which is the most successful way to operate a business," states Juster-Sapper.

Gregory, a company with a 42-year history in the sign industry, estimates that 85 percent of its digital production uses 3M Scotchprint™, with a balance of print options available for multiple applications.

According to Gregory, "As opposed to a signshop doing everything in-house, a service bureau has all of these options to offer. As a result, a sign-maker doesn’t have to sell something that’s over-engineered. Scotchprint is a great product, but if your customer needs something to last four months, and that’s the only output option you provide, you may have a difficult time selling it. And, when you do sell it, you’ve sold the customer something he/she doesn’t really need."

Smith also illustrates the cost efficiency of using a digital-service bureau. A sign-maker wanted to produce a complete billboard on an in-house inkjet machine. He estimated that it would take him a week and a half to print the same job Smith could produce in two days at lower cost. Additionally, the sign-maker realized that he wouldn’t be tying up his machine on one job.

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According to Smith, "We recently completed another job for a company that has six or eight inkjets, but it needed 40 prints sent to New York, and we did it in one day. The prints were perfect for the application, and they were cheaper for us to produce than for the signshop. In cases where volume is needed, it’s amazing to these guys that it’s both cheaper and faster for us to produce."

Beyond Digital Imaging USA’s $500 million investment in equipment resulted in an arsenal of options it extends to signshops. The company’s equipment includes superwide, thermal-transfer, dye-sublimation and a number of inkjet printers, as well as media coaters, welders and laminators.

Smith adds, "Sign-makers get a little nervous because they can’t make more than 20 to 30 percent on the work they send out, but that’s the current market. At least they don’t have to spend half a million dollars on a piece of equipment because they can still meet their customers’ needs without losing them. They can also continue producing the work they’ve been producing successfully for the past 25 years."

Finding the One

All the aforementioned digital-service bureaus started in the sign industry as family businesses, long before digital printing emerged. They respect the sign-maker’s concern of service-bureau personnel selling directly to signshop clients and believe it’s important to choose a partner who’s strictly a wholesaler.

When seeking a digital-service bureau for a production job, signshops should be specific about the relationship they wish to establish and ensure that the service bureau can satisfy their customers. Smith suggests sending the service bureau a test file and requesting its file-preparation guides. Discuss billing procedures, contact names and whether or not there is to be communication with the customer.

Finding the right partner is like learning to dance — there are always a few missteps. Both Gregory and Smith comment that it’s impossible to always meet clients’ expectations. Smith states, "It hasn’t all been a positive experience with digital printing, but everybody sees the potential."

Juster-Sapper stresses how important it is for sign-makers to work with knowledgeable, experienced people. Primarily servicing the theatrical industry and Times Square, King Graphics set up shop in 1938. Four years ago, it extended its capabilities to the digital marketplace.

"Your name is everything," Juster-Sapper says. "Your reputation is everything. And, your service and price make a difference. But most definitely, it really goes back to the basic roots of being relationship-based."

Customers often provide sign-makers with a disk that may or may not be useable. To avoid this situation, Rich Thompson urges sign-makers to ask digital-service bureaus about which questions are most important to ask customers. Thompson also emphasizes that graphic quality depends on good equipment. Particularly important is a digital scanner to capture high-resolution images. High-end drum scanners generally offer better resolution than flatbed scanners.

Thompson’s business, which began as a wholesale distributor of sign components to fabricators, now sells digital-imaging capabilities. Nevertheless, Scotchprint vinyl graphics remain the bureau’s biggest sellers. Product applications include wall murals, promotional graphics, banners, fleet graphics, floor graphics, ceiling graphics and architectural and directional signs.

Thompson recalls, "In the early days, we had to promote digital printing, create an awareness and basically help build the market. Now, the market is starting to build upon itself, and signshops are beginning to see it as customers ask for graphics on the sides of their vehicles, for example."

Thompson advises sign-makers not to be afraid of dealing with service bureaus. "Working with a digital-service bureau is a harmless process," he reassures. "If the sign-maker doesn’t take that business, someone else will."

Gregory confirms, "Sign-makers need to look at this market, penetrate it and offer the kind of product their customers are asking for. It’s going to be very hard for them to do it on their own. They really do need a partner."