10 Signs It’s Time to Use a Trade Printer

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Trade Printers Help Independent Print Shops Grow

If you run an independent print shop or copy center, your business is likely being affected by two current trends…

a) Customer expectations are on the rise

b) Profit margins are on the decline

Outsourcing print projects to a Trade Printer can help solve both of these concerns. Trade partnerships allow you to offer more products and options to your customers without having to invest in new equipment, add staff, or acquire more floor space.

Working with a trade printer is easy and efficient. You simply leverage their expertise and production capabilities instead of producing projects in-house, allowing you more time to focus on customers, sales, profitability, and growth.

Best of all, trade printers offer wholesale pricing and work behind the scenes. Your customers will never know a trade partner was involved. This preserves your customer relationships as you build your brand.

Is it time for you to partner with a Trade Printer?

The following signs may provide a clear answer…

1. Your Equipment Is Being Pushed to the Limit

If your presses, bindery equipment, or finishing systems are routinely operating at or near full capacity, you may be stretching your resources too thin. Frequent bottlenecks, rushed setups, and delayed orders are often indicators that your current equipment can't keep up with demand.

Also, equipment breakdowns can stop production entirely. Emergency service calls are expensive and usually occur at the worst possible times.

Using a trade printer allows you to take on additional work without purchasing new presses or equipment, thereby eliminating capital expenses and maintenance fees while improving production flexibility.

2. You are Turning Away Jobs You Could Otherwise Sell

Saying "No" to jobs because of size, quantity, or special finishing requirements translates to lost revenue. Most trade printers specialize in projects with custom sizes, large quantities, or other complexities that smaller shops can't always handle efficiently.

Partnering with a trade printer enables you to say "Yes" more often, expanding your product offerings without adding equipment or overhead. Saying "Yes" also minimizes the chance of losing customers to your competition.

3. Finishing and Bindery is Becoming More of a Challenge

Not every print shop can justify an investment in specialized binding or finishing equipment, such as PUR perfect binding, high-volume laminating, die cutting, or specialty folding.

Trade printers often have advanced bindery and finishing capabilities already in place. Outsourcing these projects ensures professional results while avoiding costly equipment purchases and related training.

4. Labor Shortages are Disrupting Production

Skilled print operators and experienced bindery staff have become increasingly difficult to find, hire, and retain in today's labor market. As such, many print shops are feeling the strain from last minute no-shows, higher turnover, overtime burnout, and unexpected delays that disrupt production schedules and threaten customer commitments.

A trade printer can supplement your production capacity without any of the challenges associated with hiring, training, or managing more employees.

5. Your Overhead Costs Keep Rising

Utilities, maintenance, equipment depreciation, production waste, and labor all contribute to rising overhead. When these costs begin cutting into margins, outsourcing part of your production can be a good strategic move.

Trade printing allows you to convert fixed costs into variable costs - paying only for production when you need it.

6. You Want to Focus More on Sales and Customer Relationships

Time spent managing production issues is time not spent on selling, marketing, or nurturing client relationships. Many successful print resellers choose to focus on growth rather than manufacturing.

Using a trade printer shifts the burden of production, allowing you to concentrate on customer service, project management, and business development.

7. Your Customers are asking for More Options and Customization

Today's customers expect a wide range of paper stocks, binding styles, ink choices, and finishing options. Keeping up with these demands in-house can be expensive and complex.

A trade printer expands your capabilities instantly, allowing you to offer more products and options without any additional investment.

8. Customer Retention is Important to You

A key benefit of trade printing is that your production partner remains invisible. Orders can either ship to you for distribution, or they can ship directly to your customers. If you choose to have orders shipped directly to your customers, they will be shipped with your name on the packaging and paperwork.

Since a trade printing arrangement is designed specifically to protect your customer relationships, the name of your trade printer will not appear on anything your customer might see.

9. You want to Grow your Business without Investment or Risk

Growth often requires investment, but it doesn't have to. Trade printers make it possible for you to scale your business up or down based on demand, without committing to long-term equipment purchases or facility expansion.

Trade printing offers print resellers a low-risk strategy for growing their order volume and profitability.

10. You are Seeking More Peace of Mind

A trusted trade printer provides reliable support for overflow work during busy periods, unexpected equipment failures, and specialized projects that are beyond your in-house capabilities. This helps relieve the constant mental burden of wondering "what if something goes wrong?"

So instead of carrying the pressure of handling every possible production challenge on your own, you can gain confidence knowing there is a dependable print partner ready to step in when needed.

Closing Thoughts

Knowing when to use a trade printer is a strategic decision that can directly impact your efficiency, profitability, and ability to grow. If you recognize several of the aforementioned signs in your business, it may be time to explore a trade printing partnership.

By leveraging the expertise and capabilities of a trade printer, you can expand your offerings, meet customer expectations, and focus on what matters most - building your brand and serving your clients.

Color Vision has been Providing Trade Printing Services for over 40 Years!

Color Vision Printing has been providing affordable print services to the trade since we were founded in 1984. We are located in Central Wisconsin, which allows use to ship economically to the entire United States and Canada.

As a full-service provider, we offer both digital and offset production. We also offer a wide variety of finishing and binding options to meet just about any need you may have.

In addition, we have a fully-staffed graphics department to check your artwork files, help make any needed tweaks, and generate proofs for your approval.

We are always happy to provide quotes for your projects. Just use our easy Quote Request form to submit your project's specs and we will email a quote to you. Or, if you prefer to discuss your project by phone, give us a call at 800-543-6299.

As always, our number one goal is to help you grow your business!

Related Article: Elevate your Print Shop by Outsourcing Printing Services