THE TRUE COST OF BUSINESS PRINTING

On the surface, the costs associated with business printing might seem straightforward: hire a graphic designer or outsource the work, design branded professional print materials to be used for marketing, sales, training, service/support, and other office functions, and print the materials. However, there’s so much more that needs to be considered. The actual printing is only one small piece of the overall cost. Other factors to consider include:

Storage

After materials are printed in-house or by a local print shop, where do they reside until they are needed? Offset printing is usually thought of as being less expensive than short run printing since it’s done in bulk, and there are certainly times that call for long runs. But do you want to be responsible for warehousing these materials?  For companies that work out of many different regions or on a global scale, it doesn’t make financial sense to store mass quantities of printed materials in one location if they need to be shipped across the country or the globe since shipping costs can be astronomical. Why not outsource your global warehousing?

Fulfillment & Logistics

When printed materials are stored in-house, who is responsible for putting them together when they are needed and shipping them to where they are needed? It’s common to hear that it’s members of the marketing team taking on these responsibilities, but is this a good use of their time? Think about the labor costs associated with the picking and packing of printed materials and the shipping costs associated with delivering printed materials to local offices, meeting locations, trade shows, or wherever else they might be needed. Why not outsource your global fulfillment and logistics?

Obsolescence

In today’s ever-changing business landscape, printed business materials can become obsolete before they are ever used. This is especially common in highly regulated industries including the medical industry, pharmaceuticals industry, and financial services. There are projects that certainly call for long runs, but printing mass quantities of materials only to throw them away is a huge waste of money and resources. It’s important to leverage the positive aspects of both offset and digital printing to reduce obsolescence and expense.

As you can see, there are many costs associated with business printing, and they all need to be seriously considered. It’s enough to quickly become overwhelming, especially for large corporations that have offices across the globe. Working with an outsourced global printing provider removes that burden. At AA Global Printing, we recognize the total cost of print and provide a clear outline of all costs associated with a print project, keeping the process streamlined and efficient.