A commercial printing company is a big business because everything in it is big. That is because commercial printing is a complicated process and therefore needs to be run seriously with all the needed equipment in place.
Truly, everything in the printing press is big-sized. You will realize it below.
Machines and Equipment
The commercial printers are really big machines. One machine could take up so many square feet of floor space, depending on its capacities. But even the most simple machines can already be very big that you will have to find a place that can accommodate it. Usually, a printing press has at least two machines for efficient operations so they would need a lot of working area. Aside from the presses, there are also the cutters. This is not just the manual paper cutter that you often see in offices or photocopying booths but really big and sharp cutters. Some of them are as big as printers themselves because they also cut big sizes of paper. The paper usually comes in a roll, cut down to smaller, manageable sizes, and further cut down into the more common sizes that we often see in school supplies store. The of course, there are computers, high-resolution scanner/s and inkjet or laser printers. Plus there is the image setter or the color separating machines in order to make negatives for colored printing. There are just so many machineries and equipment needed in commercial printing.
Workforce
Most printing presses are already machine-operated with these high-tech and modern stuff. However, there are also many people required to run it. Sure, it only takes at least one or at most two people to a commercial printer unit; however, to run the entire printing press operations, it is labor intensive. From the front office, you have the receptionist, the sales people, the administration/HR personnel, the finance department, and the utility workers. At the creative/editorial area, there are the layout/graphics artists, and the negative strippers, and the proofreaders.
At the printing area, the production people are composed of the printer-operators and then the “finishers”. There are also the delivery personnel. Some of the tasks overlap because not all the responsibilities are needed at the same time. So everyone must be flexible because if all the workers are too specialized the company will lose money in their idle time.
Commercial Space
Since there are many machines and people needed to run a commercial printing press, then naturally, it would need a big floor area to occupy. Add to that the storage area for papers, film, and ink plus other supplies and the company will literally be sitting on a big commercial space. If you are in big cities where commercial spaces for rent are pretty expensive, the lease could take up a big chunk of your monthly operational costs. That is why the presses and the people are always busy because idle time of both parties means loss of money for the company.
Running a commercial printing company can be a complicated process that would take a huge amount of money in terms of capitalization and operational costs. But if you play your cards right and manage it well, commercial printing is the business that can make you wealthy. Every aspect in the operations should be balance and all the supplies should be protected from pilferage to reduce losses.
Vicky Russell spent 5 years guiding businesses to get new customers and increase sales. To experience fast, full color, high quality and traditional services commercial printing, visit Unitedgraphics.com, one of the most trusted and fast growing commercial printing company: http://www.unitedgraphics.com/