Preparing for a Wide-format Future

While purchasing new equipment is certainly exciting, with the visions of all the new applications it will open up for your shop, you can’t simply “buy it and they will come.” Planning for the future and how to expand the business is critical for ensuring long-term success.

As you walk the PRINTING United show floor and check out the latest innovations, cutting-edge technologies, and new substrate options, take a few moments to consider these points as well.

Don’t get carried away.

It’s easy to get excited by all the amazing options on the show floor, but don’t forget to think about how the equipment will fit into your operation. Does it add new capabilities, expand capacity, or improve speed and quality? If it doesn’t do at least one of those, then take a step back. You’ll also want to make sure the solutions you choose are scalable to account for future growth, as well as able to integrate with the back-end systems you’re using, such as your RIP, prepress, and workflow software.

How will you market your new equipment?

Just buying a new wide-format printer isn’t going to get customers in the door. Have a plan in place for how you’re going to get the word out about what this means to your customers. Are you going to create a sample box to send to customers? Host an open house? Have your sales team call each customer and tell them about the new capabilities? The only wrong answer here is not doing anything at all, so even as you sign the contract and start planning the installation process, start thinking about how you’re going to promote it.

Diversify your offerings.

In today’s market, there is no such thing as a specialist. The days when print buyers were willing to go to several different vendors for different types of printed products is over. Now, they are increasingly searching for a “one-stop shop” that can handle all of their needs, from signage, to promo products, to direct mail — and everything in between. As you plan your next equipment purchase walking around the show floor, think about the gaps in your current lineup. What types of presses do you already own, and what can you add to diversify your offerings? And it’s not just adding a range of equipment from offset to digital; even in the wide-format space, different ink sets, roll-fed versus flatbed, and the ability to print on different types of substrates can all help diversify the application mix. Think about how to make your operation more flexible and nimble, able to say yes to anything your customers might request. Because if you don’t, the shop down the street will, and your customer will walk out the door.