In today’s competitive world, you want your press releases and marking materials produced on the highest quality printers. But this could prove to be difficult for businesses that don’t have a fully staffed printing department with the latest high-end production printers. Unfortunately for some, the best document imagers are expensive and could be out of your company’s budget. Meanwhile, small office copiers and printers are slow, can’t produce the quality printing you need, and generally can’t handle the volume that’s required.
To consistently outperform competitors, a production printer may be essential. In this article, we’ll discuss what a production printer can do and why they’ve become an essential piece of business equipment. Wisconsin Document Imaging proudly offers Ricoh and Xerox production printer options.
What a Production Printer Can Do
If you routinely require high-quality or high-volume printed material, you will need a production printer. These are high-quality printers that are commonly used to produce booklets, brochures, posters, and manuals. They are also beneficial for high-volume printing as they are much faster than small, desktop printers. Sometimes referred to as a digital press, they employ the latest technology.
Much more efficient than the average printer, production printers can provide a variety of finishing options. For instance, stapling, saddle stitching, collating, and binding are some of its time-saving features. By performing finishing operations inline, there’s no need to send the documents out for further production work after they’re printed in-house. An increase in efficiency not only saves time but can also cut down on production costs. These finishing options allow you to print and add any final steps so that your product is completed using only one device.
For those who need to print in high volume, a production printer is exponentially faster than your basic office printer or copier. They can print upwards of 250 pages per minute, much faster than the average office device that outputs around 20 pages per minute. As they’re built for high-volume printing, they won’t require as much maintenance when running nonstop for hours on end. Smaller printers aren’t prepared to print hundreds of pages per day. When pushed to their limits, breakdowns with those printers are common.In addition, with multiple paper decks, production printers can hold a significant amount of paper. Some models can hold 16,000 sheets. When one deck runs out, it automatically switches to another full one. This allows the user to keep the printer loaded and running with minimal downtime continuously.
When it comes to print quality, a digital production printer can produce cleaner and sharper images and text than a basic office printer. These devices generally print at high resolutions and produce great-looking images. Sharp text and images can easily be produced consistently with these professional machines.
Will a Production Printer Benefit Your Company?
Many businesses are investing by purchasing a production printer. Although upfront costs may seem steep, many can pay for themselves in a short time. Your company could benefit from the purchase of one if it requires the following:
- Monthly high-volume output
- Large format printing
- High print resolution
- Documents that require different types of finishing
Companies that print large volumes of copy could benefit from a higher-end printing device such as a production printer. Not only are they built for tens of thousands of impressions per month, but they can also produce them quickly. Companies that need fast turnaround times will find that these machines can accomplish much more than lower-priced, smaller printers.
The higher resolution of these professional workhorses can make all the difference when printing things where details are important. They’re made to print at high resolutions so there’s no loss of details when printing. This could be of utmost importance if printing blueprints, highly detailed diagrams, or images must to be seen as clearly as possible. They also print easily read text with almost no variation in the density of ink or toner used.
It’s much more efficient when you need to produce collated and stapled documents if the entire process can be done on one device. By printing and performing any finishing required on a project all at once you’ll cut down on time and the need to rely upon other pieces of equipment (like a page binder) to get the job done.
In addition, these printers can generally print a variety of different-sized documents. This can be useful if you often print oversized materials. Things like blueprints, signs, posters and larger-sized marketing materials can all be easily accommodated. By purchasing one printer that can accommodate various output sizes, you’ll have a one-size-fits-all output device.
Other Factors to Consider
Other than the obvious benefits of high-volume, high-quality output, several other factors should be considered when deciding to purchase a production printer.
The costs involved in purchasing or leasing a production printer also include the operating costs. In addition to paper, of course, there’s the cost of materials like ink, toner, and other maintenance items that will need to be purchased on an ongoing basis. Some retailers offer packages that include these items, while others will require you to purchase them on an as-needed basis.
When leasing, there may be a “per click” charge after you’ve over a certain number of monthly impressions. Per click charges are sometimes tied into service contracts. There may be unlimited service calls for maintenance or preventative care for a set fee.
Some of these printers can be quite large, especially those with multiple finishing stations attached. Before making a commitment, ensure that you have the space to house one. Depending on the make and model, they come in various sizes and configurations but are significantly larger than a typical office copy machine.
Printing Efficiently and Quickly Can Be Achieved
Purchasing or leasing a production printer may be the right choice for your business. If your organization requires high-volume output with a fast turnaround or routinely has projects that also require finishing, it’s probably the right choice.
For help with making decisions to improve the productivity of your printing efforts in Green Bay, Milwaukee, or Fox Cities, contact Wisconsin Document Imaging.