Under the right circumstances, with a relevant solution, and with the right partner, you can set your own turnaround times, control volume to meet current demand, and potentially save on costs along the way.
Your mission is what really matters.
Membership retention, fundraising, volunteerism, and ongoing outreach: These are all elements of delivering on your vision for your congregation and the community at large. The materials produced to help support that mission – flyers, banners, graphics, etc. – go a long way in communicating the heart and soul of it.
Marketing your church’s core mission and values matters, too. This begs the question… how are they being produced? Are you partnering with outside vendor(s) for all materials? Do you print what you can on the church’s copier, and save the “big jobs” for online print vendors? Have you considered bringing it all in-house (aka in-plant printing)?
The rapid advancement of digital press solutions has made production printing in-house and producing high-quality results much more accessible. Under the right circumstances, with the right system, and with the right partner, you can set your own turnaround times, control volume to meet current demand, and potentially save on costs along the way.
In the spirit of communicating your mission in the most effective manner possible, exploring a digital press solution under your own roof might be worth your while. Let’s dig a little deeper.
3 Questions to Ask as Your Church Considers an In-House Digital Press Solution.
1. Do you have available staff?
Whether you have a full marketing team or an office manager with a relationship with your outsourced vendor, it’s important to have a designated person. From knowing the equipment, realizing its capabilities, and understanding the workflows associated with digital print, it's critical to have one (or several) production specialists for your operations.
According to a Canon Publication, "Enhancing the In-Plant Product and Service Offering," 37 percent of in-plant printer respondents noted "keeping the shop fully staffed" as a top challenge.
2. How much are you actually printing?
Have a fall festival every year and need a couple of posters? That alone may not be enough to justify bringing jobs in-house. But if you’re regularly outsourcing bulletins, booklets, etc., being charged for folding the materials, and having them shipped, you could be spending thousands of dollars quickly.
Consider the one-off, last-minute jobs, too. Printing in-house, especially for short-run jobs (generally a quantity of 5,000 or less), can save your organization drastically by cutting the large set-up costs, processing fees, and markups.
3. What do turn-around times look like?
Churches essentially have deadlines every single week for printed materials. Are you hamstrung by deadlines or stressed about waiting time? What if there’s an found error late on a Friday? Bringing such jobs in-house can often alleviate a lot of tension, worry, and stress and give you the control you need to produce on demand.
3 Potential Advantages of an In-House Digital Press Solutions. (It often comes down to control).
1. Control your costs.
If you’re opting for a large print quantity to help justify set-up costs, you’ve likely got leftover materials. Obsolete flyers don’t do anything but fill trash cans or collect dust. With in-house production, you dictate job size, job materials, and better budget your marketing costs.
2. Control your time.
The process of outsourcing takes time – collecting the correct file format, waiting for a proof, the back and forth that goes with getting it right, and then you wait. Desired turn-around times are much easier when it’s done within your own four walls.
3. Control your job processes.
The possibilities that come with production workflow have increased dramatically with available software solutions. By deploying the right software, you can accelerate workflow from design to completed document dramatically, and make it easier on yourself.
3 Suggestions when Exploring (and Justifying) an In-House Digital Press Solution.
1. Justify the costs.
A thorough assessment or discovery process with a trusted digital press partner will help you closely examine what you’re printing, what solutions may be relevant to your needs, and determine ways to contain wasteful costs associated with your printed materials. Don’t hesitate to set up a meeting.
2. Justify the capabilities.
Remember, your mission is what matters most.
There are plenty of capabilities out there to help produce high quality print. That two-knife trimmer add-on can create some mean full bleeds as a finishing solution… But is it really necessary? Spend some time examining your primary set of jobs, the types of materials you want to produce, and match those with relevant capabilities, features, and finishing options.
3. Justify the partner.
Moving your digital press in-house doesn’t mean you’re going at it all alone. But choose your partner wisely. Are they selling you a system? Or are they ensuring you a solid return on your technology investment? A few things to consider:
- What are their service metrics?
- When are their regularly scheduled partnership reviews?
- Who are THEIR manufacturer partners?
- When you have a need, how can assure you it’ll be addressed quickly?
At Datamax, we understand that your church’s mission is what matters most. By helping you successfully navigate the process of in-house print production, we’ll help you maximize your return on technology investment.
