Trade Printing VS In-House Production

In this article we discuss the various benefits of Trade Printing VS In-house Printing so you can decide which is right for your print business.

What are the benefits of Printing In-House?

When printing in-house, it is likely that jobs will be completed on entry-level equipment with a smaller footprint, and lower volume. You’re likely to achieve a decent quality from these machines – when running at their best these printers have a good output The caveat here is that these machines require longer time and minimal strain.

In-house equipment also gives you the power to print on any stock ad-hoc. Due to the lower volume and accessibility, you can chop and change stocks after each sheet or load. This makes it easy to pump out small orders in a rush and even same day – from the same machine.

On the flip side, you will see that your cost in ink, stock and labour per square meter are much higher. Your pricing then needs to reflect this to be profitable. 

Add to that the inability to run multiple, different jobs in tandem and you will hit your equipment’s max availability (and therefore max revenue) earlier in your schedule.

So you then need to determine whether it is worth running your equipment on an overtime shift and paying higher rates for labour outside of your normal operating hours. This is where trade printing becomes the better, more economical option.

What is Trade Printing

Trade printing is a service where you outsource your printing to another supplier who then produces the work on your behalf. This leaves you with higher equipment availability for priority, short-run or custom jobs, and more time to focus on selling / growing your business. A quality trade printer (also known as a Wholesale Printer) will deal only with you – not your customer – allowing you to focus on growing relationships and your customer base, without the financial outlay for new equipment.

What Are the Advantages  of a Wholesale Printer?

1. Inventory, Experience, and Equipment

Trade printing partners like Mediapoint have invested in the factory space, high-end equipment, staff, inventory of stock, and processes to deliver quality at much higher volumes.

For example our high-volume Durst printing equipment, means we have the capacity to handle 150+ jobs daily. This is achieved by batching and printing stock once a day alongside multiple production shifts in the schedule. That allows us to offer an ultra-fast 24-hour turnaround time for most jobs do.

2. Lower Costs for Us, Higher Profits for Customers

Our consumable cost per square meter is much lower than entry-level and mid-range printing equipment that you may have in-house. 

Since the volumes we are producing for trade print clients are much higher than your average print shop, we tend to buy stock in containers which means we have a lower stock cost.

This means we can focus on printing to a model that gives our reselling partners more margin to work with. We pass the volume savings on – it’s a win-win situation.

When Is A Trade Printer Not Suitable?

Most trade printing models are designed on set products with preset options. That means: set stock, print quality, finishing and packing methods. 

If you are looking for anything a little more off the cuff or bespoke then a trade printer might not be suitable. Generally, the trade printers with the best margins are not nimble. In this case, speaking to a general retail printer, or signage company, might be your best bet.

To make the model work, batching and automation is needed as a trade printer. So doing things like same-day / rush orders would not be suitable. However, turnaround times of 24 hours (even on some solid volumes) is still possible.

A trade printer’s number one priority is to give its resellers the most margin. To do this it has heavily invested in its manufacturing capabilities. All other areas of the business including the frontend, prepress and dispatch need to be fairly automated. So if you require personal service on every order, a trade printer is not the optimal choice. You will be directed to an automated system for the aforementioned benefits of speed, efficiency and cost.

What Can a Trustworthy Trade Printer Like Mediapoint Do For Your Business?

At Mediapoint we believe we are the best trade printers in the market as we allow our resell partners to:

* Add different products to their mix.

* Make more margin from their existing customers without the outlay.

* Downsize whilst becoming more profitable.

* Cut out products that they traditionally produce that are not profitable.

* Focus on the strengths of their business which might be design, selling, or marketing instead of production.

If you have a gap with trade printing products such as mesh banners, corrugated plastic boards, stickers and posters, then feel free to register on our trade pricing page. Mediapoint has been servicing high volume print resellers and brokers exclusively for over 16 years. We have the experience, knowledge and equipment to cater to any requirement.