TexSmart
Can we expect service, quality and reliabilty to be good at any cost?
Have you ever thought about the fact that every sales company/reseller is always screaming that then have the best product, the best service, the best support, the best after sales and the best warranty? Not even mentioning also they might include that they also have the best price. I love sales people but, I’m in marketing. I sometimes look at these marketing actions and feel really bad about them. I believe they are misleading the market and sometimes they are just propagating pure lies.
It’s like buying the best sandwich at the cheapest joint in town. What is the service like, well they will throw the sandwich on the counter and they are not serving it on a nice plate for you to eat. OK, that's the minimalistic service model, how about the warranty? Do I get my money back if the sandwich is not ok or if I get sick will they pay for my doctor’s bill or my sick pay? Unfortunately, no they will not. So, the result is that you will never eat there again but all the pain is yours. There is just no relief for this.
The same goes for the printing-hardware manufacturing world. There are many people that are buying inkjet printing equipment just because they believe these cries that are send into the market are true. The explicitly missing terms like reliability, advanced technology, patents or even just a clear “what do you get for your money “, are just not there. If the manufacturer is from a faraway country with no local offices, nor service staff to support you, what do you expect. Remember, miracles are for free and wishes you pay for.
Take for example the advertised printing speeds in draft mode or how I call them garbage print modes. These speeds are basically useless for anybody buying a printer. It tells you how fast a printer can print garbage. You only should talk about real production speeds. Speeds that give you sell able quality for your customers. You also need to think about more fundamental things like, what is my total cost price per sqm (maintenance, ink, substrate, write-off, head degradation, service contracts, operator cost and financial burdens). ROI calculations will set you back for a few hours but its worth it. I hear people buy inkjet printing equipment just because of the ink price per liter, without investigating the facts of consumption, head cost and maintenance waste all of these things need to go into the equation. You really need to do your homework, you need to check how much ink is purged by the machine each day for cleaning and maintenance, how much ink Is needed on the substrate to get a good quality image, including solid colors. The energy needed, space needed, operator cost and much more. For example, did you know that the price of one square meter of finished print on a printer with UV inks and a solvent printer are about the same, when it comes to ink pricing? This is just something many PSP’s just don't know. Yes, UV ink is more expensive than a good eco solvent ink but, you also use only half the ink to get the same result. Did you know that its not the speed of the printer holding you back for fast production, but the drying of the ink? If you print faster than drying capability of the inks, then you will have a mess on the roll after printing whole day or overnight.
This is one of the reasons why UV technology in the large Roll-to-Roll markets is still growing, the ink is immediately dry after printing and production speeds are fairly high these days. When we talk features, one of them should be, “Can I print reliably overnight?”. If your printer can run all night without failures you're the king, but if it can only run supervised, your losing money. As a consultant I don't design products, I evaluate them. I look at the total feature set of these products. I look at the options like overnight printing, ink cost maintenance ratios and much more. Just the total ROI for your company and yes, its different for each printing company in Europe and the UK. The cost of an operator doing nothing for many hours is too high for anybody not to care. If the printer is making money while you are sleeping due to all the advanced technology in the printer you will be happy. You need to be in the loop of things, like error reporting, auto cleaning, nozzle-out detection and other features. It will give you the understanding that there is a reliable piece of hardware in your shop doing its job.
Reading about this exact subject, I found something that explains it really well in my opinion. It was a sign in an automobile repair station that made me laugh but also made me think about it, as this is very true statement in every way.
We offer 3 kinds of Service GOOD-CHEAP-FAST But you can only pick two ! Good & Cheap won’t be Fast Fast & Good won’t be Cheap Cheap and Fast won’t be Good
This is a great illustration of the real world of service, so don't expect the best service if you pay nothing. The service and after service should be what has been promised by your vendor and its costs money. It doesn’t have to be the best, but you need to know what are you getting for the price. If not, you would buy a printer where you don’t know what will break down and if it will be fixed of not. Reputable hardware technology companies are always moving ahead, including innovation and technologies from there industrial machines, in their entry level machines. They are spending huge amounts off R&D dollars to make your product better. Like preemptive maintenance, this is something new that is now starting to appear. Just imagine that a service engineer arrives at your print shop and asks you if he can replace a specific part that will break down in the next 8 hours of production. The vendor knows this because they have all the printers connected via the net to a central hub and they can see what is happening to all the printers worldwide. So, if multiple printers are all showing this failure, your printer will probably also get the failure. Replacing it before it happens gives you better uptime and uptime is the new magical word in the print industry.
In our industry we have been struggling with these facts for some time now. Some of the leading manufactures are now finally only publicizing the production speeds. This is a great step away of the exaggeration of facts that they were doing for so many years. These are speeds that are really possible with the right quality and reliability that can be sold to your customers. It will take some time to understand and accept that the speeds advertised are going to lower than what you thought, but at least when you buy the hardware it works as advertised. Speeds that are production speeds can finally help you calculate your margin before buying the hardware. When talking to your vendor ask about it. There are also a few manufacturers demanding that you need to use their original inks. This is not because they want to make a bigger profit, but they want to guarantee your production and save you money in the long term. Yes, original ink more expensive on the first impression but you have full warranty and service to back this up. Off course you need to look at the base ink price but also look re. the total picture. See it as an extra insurance policy for your print production.
If they don't offer service then it’s up to you to find a better alternative. Just don't take the first option to start with the alternative ink before you really try and calculate the difference. I believe we all would like to have printers that just work. Remember the cost of ink is not the biggest expense, substrates, time, staff and customers dissatisfaction are costlier then more expensive inks. Do remember that 3rd party inks are there and they are not all bad, most of the 3rd party inks are as good or sometimes even better than the inks from the OEM. The reason for this is that they need to be better else why switch. Companies in the specialty ink business have developed inks that give you different performance or special colors. So, don't just drop 3rd party in the basket that they are cheap and not good. Many of the top ink manufacturers sell their inks to the hardware vendors, as making specialty inks is not easy. The good old days of cheap and bad quality Chinese inks is long gone. Importing them is the bigger hassle and not worth it at the moment for most of us. So next time you want to buy a production printer think more about the total picture not only the cost, speed and ink price. If your careful, your next printer might just be the winner you have been looking for. If you are still hesitant, call in a consultant to be your helping guide in this forest of opportunities, make your ROI and support you in your buying decision. I can help you find the right tree in that big ugly forest. Enjoy print and the margin. Mike