If you’re in the UK or Europe you will be very familiar with Orange, the mobile (cell) phone giant. This is due in large part, much like any other big company, to the fact that they spend large amounts of cash on advertising and branding. A big chunk of this advertising budget is spent, inevitably, on printed paper marketing in one form or another. Some common examples are flyer printing, instruction manuals, advertising billboards, magazine inserts and direct mail materials. It is completely feasible that such a huge company would spend vast amounts on this type of work.
But a recent news story in the print indusrty press revealed that Orange also spends £7 million every year in the UK on ‘print management‘. Remember this is not spent on the actual printing costs, but on the overall planning and management of all that printing. In these times of recession this amount of money may seem excessive, even for such a big company. Yet that thought wouldn’t last long if you understood what print management is capable of. The simple fact of the matter is this. Businesses who invest in a robust print management solution actually make cost savings as opposed to trying to deal with all their printing inhouse.
A significant proportion of the savings come from the reduction in print waste. Every year, millions of dollars are lost forever in the ‘collateral damage’ caused by color calibration mistakes, messed up print jobs, typographical errors and the like. Where large scale printing takes place this happens frequently and is written off as an expected loss. It is because commercial printers needed to find an efficient solution to these that the discipline of print management was born.
The other side to the savings that can be made comes down to the logistics of managing sprawling print campaigns using different media and a range of different deadlines. Print jobs and schedules are planned in scientific detail to reduce the cost associated with electricity use, overheads and purchase of unneccesary equipment. A classic example is when poorly managed campaigns lead to a maxing out of printers and equimpent during busy periods – if you plan ahead and spread out the jobs you can reduce significant overheads. This in turn can dramatically bring down the costs of printing. Ultimately this means you can print more and generate more return out of your print investment.
I know what you’re thinking – that’s all very well for Orange, but what about our company?. In the past decade the gains in digital printing technology have meant smaller scale print management solutions are possible for small to medium enterprises, meaning that the rest of us can enjoy the same kinds of cost savings the ‘big guys’ have been enjoying for years. So are you making the most of this chance?
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