ImagesMagUK_Digital_Edition_Feb18

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT www.images-magazine.com 52 images FEBRUARY 2018 Howto know when to change gear T here is no magic formula that accurately pinpoints the precise moment at which a print shop should upgrade from a manual press to an automatic. But the decision isn’t as difficult as you might think. The time to automate usually comes when one manual is not enough to handle the workload. If that’s the situation you currently find yourself in, and you’re considering adding another manual press in order to keep up with production, it’s time to think about moving to an automatic. There are probably a number of factors that have pushed you into thinking about the need to upgrade: • Your arms are longer than your body! You can only do so many manual prints a day before fatigue hits • Letting customers down on delivery times • Customer base has grown • Need for a quicker turnaround Dave Roper, managing director of screen printing specialist Dave Roper Ltd, explains how to decide if it’s time for you to shift from a manual screen printing press to an automatic, and which one to choose Production capability per hour dark shirts Manual Automatic Set up 10 minutes 5 minutes Print time per job 1 hour 45 minutes 20 minutes Break Down 5 minutes 5 minutes Print Time 2 hours 30 minutes Jobs per 8hr shift 4 x 100 T-shirts 16 x 100 T-shirts Quote for job £415 £415 Sale price per T-shirt £4.15 £4.15 Sales per shift £1,660 £6,640 Cost (£1.25 per T-shirt) £500 £2,000 Profit per shift £1,160 £4,640 Profit per week £5,800 £23,200 Profit per year (48 weeks) £278,400 £1,113,600 • Want more output for less input, especially when thinking about space and wages • Need a more consistent print throughout jobs and for repeat business There are clear advantages to going automatic. Your business will appeal to a bigger market as you’ll be easily able to handle larger orders, jobs will be faster to set up and you’ll be able to provide a quicker turnaround thanks to the ability to print faster. Registration will be reliably spot on and the last print will be the same as the first – consistency is key. You’ll also be able to print larger areas and it will free up more time for other jobs, such as marketing your business, all of which leads to increased turnover, and therefore increased value of your business. Time is money The following timings and prices have been arrived at using our team’s years of experience and knowledge. They are estimates based on a print shop running at its maximum capacity, where a typical job of 100 white T-shirts with a three-colour print is, in this example, priced at £415. As you can see, there is a considerable amount of profit gained from printing on an automatic. Dave Roper