Connections
Five Tools Print Shops Can Use to Improve Profitability
You can run a print shop with an off-set press or a digital printer, but you can’t run a profitable shop unless you bring in-house the tools that will help you take projects to completion. It’s one thing to print pages, but what if your customer wants you to bind them? You printed 5,000 sales letters, but now the customer wants to take them somewhere else for mailing? You’re losing out on some valuable revenue by not having a couple extra machines around your office. Add extra profitability to your shop by offering each of these services.
- UV Coaters. Adding a UV Coater will give you the capability to apply hi-gloss, satin or matte coating almost on any printed sheet. There are many configurations to the available coaters on the market. Sizes range from 18” to 30” with a modular design to allow for added components like automatic feeders. This is also an environmentally friendly way to apply a finish to your printing. There’s even one line of UV coating that is 99.9% VOC free – exceeding all environmental air quality regulations. Add that to your marketing and get some new green-minded customers.
- Binding Machinery. Whether it’s low volume presentation binding or high volume commercial applications, binding machinery is a low-cost, yet crucial component to a successful shop. Prepare a presentations or proposals, books or newsletters with the look and feel your customers desire by having available comb, coil, wire or perfect binding. If you bind it, they will come.
- Letter Folders. Add fulfillment services to your shop. Every office needs to send mailed statements, invoices and other marketing material. If it’s going out in a traditional envelope style, there’s a folder to automate the process. These machines fold thousands of sheets per hour. There are tabletop models for low volume or floor models for high volume, but they’re all easy to setup and operate.
- Document Mailing Equipment. While you’re folding some projects, you might as well run an inserter for others. Save time and money by speeding up your mail processing. Inserters and pressure sealers keep your jobs in a neat sequential order so they’re ready for outgoing mail bins. Some inserters can fold and stuff up to five different sheets and BRE’s at 4,000 sheets per hour. Plus, a pressure sealer adds a whole new product type to your offerings.
- Laminators. Laminating adds durability and professionalism to any printing project. Toner, ink jet and UV inks alone are not very durable, but by adding even a thin laminate coating you can prevent ink cracking and insures a long handling life to a piece. Lamination also adds to the look and feel of your work You can impress customers and upsell projects like printing for photos, charts, posters and signage.
Improve your profits by adding to your catalog of finishing services. Lloyds of Indiana has competitive prices and a variety of models in each of these categories.
How Print Shops Can Add Direct Mail to Their Service Offerings
Like your stock portfolio, your print shop needs to be diversified. Not too long ago, customers had to have a large Rolodex of options. If you wanted a book printed you went to one printer; signage, you’d go to somebody else; a specialty die-cut job, you’d shop around; and mailing, well that’s labor intensive — better find a reputable mail house.
Then came along the Wal-Mart way of thinking. More and more customers want their print media the same way they get their groceries and sporting equipment: one stop shopping. Well, we can’t put all the blame on Wally. One reason that the market is forcing this change is the expansion of media in general. If my business is juggling web design companies, social media consultants, videographers, mobile software coders, AND I need something printed — well, I’d like to know that the shop that did such a good job on the company magazine can also handle my direct mail campaign. I don’t want to add another specialty shop to my ‘to do’ list.
Your Shop Could Print AND Mail
Adding direct mail capabilities is as easy as adding the right equipment. Add a letter folder, an inserter and a pressure sealer and you’ll turn a nice little profit while making your customers happy.
Take the Formax 6402 Inserter for example. You can configure your machine to have up to six feeders including BRE’s. It’s fast – 4,000 pieces an hour. It’s easy to run – touchscreen control panel. And, it keeps your job in a neat sequential order so it’s ready for sealing and your outgoing mail bins.
When it comes to sealing, you may want to look into the variety of applications a pressure sensitive project may yield. It’s not just for checks and invoices anymore. Pressure sealed mailers offer an inexpensive direct mail option for your client and diversity for your shops catalog of services. Even mid-volume pressure sealers like the Formax 2030 model can crank out 9,000 pieces an hour. Operation is as simple as loading a stack into the feeder and pressing a button.
So, consider diversifying you portfolio. For a modest investment you’ll see a return that’s a little more reliable than Wall Street.
HS-2000-M Manual 10-Up Handi-Slitter
You may be looking for a way to cut business cards with precision, but the boss is cutting your budget. The HS-2000-M Manual 10-Up Handi-Slitter is the portable answer. If you’re running a shop with low volume business card production, this is the slitter for you.
How is it Used?
Take your 10-up cards, the ones you printed on 8-1/2″ x 11″ or A4-size stock, and load them into this compact tabletop unit. The HS-2000-M Manual 10-Up Handi-Slitter will take sheets printed in numerous forms. It won’t matter if they’re laser printed, foil printed, color copied, thermographed, flat printed, ink jet or computer generated. The HS-2000-M will quickly convert them into standard size 2″ x 3-1/2″ cards and remove the trim.
And How Much Does it Cost?
The HS-2000-M Manual 10-Up Handi-Slitter is $1,095 at Lloyd’s. Plus, we’ll throw in free shipping and a gift with your purchase.
HS-2000-B 4-Up Handi-Slitter
Here’s a durable little machine that will slit your business cards faster and easier. The HS-2000-B 4-Up Handi-Slitter is a must have for your shop, because it’s quick, durable, and will make your shop more profitable.
How is it Used?
The HS-2000-B will take your 3-1/2″ x 8-1/2″ card stock with the reliable bottom friction feeder and cut your 4-up cards with semi self-sharpening blades with ease. With amazing accuracy, it will deliver up to 600 cards per minute into bins that hold 1000 cards, ready to box. You can even adjust the guide to save an off register job, and there’s no routine maintenance required with the HS-2000-B Handi-Slitter 4-Up. How Handi is that?!
And How Much Does it Cost?
The HS-2000-B 4-Up Business Card Slitter is $1,395 at Lloyd’s. Plus, we’ll throw in free shipping and a gift with your purchase.
Why Your Law Office Needs A Letter Folding Machine
Regardless of your specialty, family law, criminal, business, real-estate, intellectual property or others, your Law office is sending out a lot of mail. You’re sending affidavits, invoices, and information to prospective clients, and who is putting together that mail? Is your receptionist folding hundreds of letters a week? Are paralegals folding thousands a month? What about the possibility of tens of thousands of letters folded in under an hour, and giving your staff the time to still get their work finished?
This is why your law office needs a letter folding machine:
- Free up your staff for other, less mindless work
- Boost morale in the process
- Have mailhouse-quality, crisp and consistent folds
- Get the mail out faster
Plus, many letter folding machines have settings for different folds. This gives you the ability to create professional looking pamphlets or newsletters in the office without having to send them out to a specialty company for folding. Most even accept legal-sized paper. We’re not sure why that could be handy, but I’m sure it is somewhere. . .
These machines are extremely easy to use, and admittedly a little fun. The best part though, is their affordability. The productivity and time you’ll save with staff, will pay for your machine in no time.
Check out Lloyd’s of Indiana for a really great selection of letter folders and get free shipping. We promise there’s no really tiny type at the bottom of the page.