January 2018

Why choose a print management company?

By Team Ink

Just in case you’ve landed on this page before exploring our website, we’re going to nail our colours to the mast and state we’re a print management company. But what exactly is a print management company, what does it do and why choose to work with one?

What is print management?

Print management is easily explained in that it manages a print project from the start (artwork stage and even before) through to finish (delivery). As a company, we’ll help to specify the job, procure the print, manage the job from start to finish including a multitude of different suppliers, arrange suitable delivery or distribution, so you or your team don’t have to.

Myth buster: Using a print management company won’t have a negative effect on print quality. In fact, a good print management company won’t pass on low quality work that doesn’t meet standards to a client.

Why work with a print management company?

Let’s start by asking you a couple of questions:

  • Does someone within your company have a core skill that relates to buying and managing print?
  • Do you feel like you receive a good return on investment from your print buying?
  • Are you confident that you’re achieving the best savings, price or quality with your print?
  • Do you have the internal resources and time available to manage in-house print buying?

If you answered “no” to any of the above questions, then exploring the possibility of working with a print management company could make a significant difference to your marketing efforts.

Myth buster: Using a print management company won’t increase management time and administration. In fact, it frees up staff to focus on the core business rather than print-related activities. It also centralises print, reducing the need for buyers in different areas of the business.

Print production and management is a very niche, specialist skill that many organisations simply don’t have. As print is constantly evolving, print management companies make it their business to stay ahead of the game and pass on this wisdom to their clients.

But adding a middle man will cost me money…

We can safely say this isn’t the case. Any good print management company saves money because we’re able to source the right group of specialist suppliers for each project. In most organisations, print costs can be up to 30% of the total marketing budget, so there is huge scope to save money overall.

However, we should give you a word of warning at this point. We’ve talked extensively that print management companies will save you money, but that doesn’t mean you should choose on price alone. Cheap doesn’t necessarily mean quality. Think carefully about the quality of past jobs the company has delivered for previous clients. Ask to see samples (we have an office full!), along with case studies and recommendations. They speak volumes.

And importantly, using a print management company means having one single point of contact whose responsibility it to deliver the job on time, on budget and to the specification required.