Encouraging trade printing or job-work printing can be a double-edged sword. 

While trade printes provide wholesale printing to print resellers who sell to the ultimate client, and may or may not own printing equipment (either second-hand or even third-hand machines), job work printing involves no press at all but renting time on someone else’s equipment out-of-hours.  The points in favour would be  additional sources of income for printshops, either in the form of rental income for their dormant, out-of-use machinery and reduced investment on marketing and logistics on additional job orders.

Successful trade printers in the developed world are likely to be found running factories  with the latest high-tech printing equipment in a market where turnaround times are important.  But the factors against such a deal would be undercutting as well as reliability factors and might even give rise to unhealthy market practices like grabbing from the other person in an already overstretched market.

This issue of PrintWeek MEA features an interesting article on team building and employee safety factors.

With the summer officially over, printers and print suppliers are bracing themselves for ‘season time’, or official months for increased turnover and higher profits, followed by participation in shows and exhibitions.  In short, its time for brisk business.

 

Shilpa Jasani is the editor of PrintWeek

MEA magazine.