Printing is an unavoidable part of conducting business in any market sector. Manufacturing companies have special needs where wide-format printers offer particular advantages in their use and capabilities:
- Signage in the manufacturing environment
- Banners for special events and meetings
- Large documents for training and operating instructions
- Blueprints and industrial schematics
- Safety materials and warnings
- Packaging documents that are adhered to shipments
Wide-format printers can be extremely useful for a wide variety of uses, including some that may not be recognized until the printers are installed and their attributes are recognized.
What is a Wide-Format Printer?
Wide-format printers are generally those that can print on media in the range of 17” to 100” wide. Many use roll media rather than cut sheet paper and some can print on other materials. Material variations can include a variety of weights and types of paper, acrylic media, and even fabric. These printers are available in both roll and sheet-fed designs, as well as flatbed printers.
Wide-format printers are the right solution for documents and images that require bigger print sizes and higher quality than what standard office printers provide.
Technology Advancements in Wide-Format Printing
Today’s printers use the latest technology, combining high-quality inks with sophisticated hardware engineering and integrated software. Wide-format printers from leading suppliers incorporate the following advanced features to produce consistent high-quality text and images at high speed:
- Unsurpassed quality of images due to advanced droplet technology that uses microscopic droplets of ink to produce printed results with amazing clarity.
- Speed that exceeds the capabilities of desktop and multifunction printers to generate large-format prints, even when mixing graphics with text on posters, blueprints, or banners. A typical wide-format printer can produce an average of 15 poster-sized documents per hour.
- Integrated stacking and folding features.
- Color matching technology ensures that color will be consistent throughout a print job and reprints too. Customers and internal departments alike expect predictable results from print jobs. Color matching ensures quality color results.
Wide-format printers incorporate expanded capabilities that other printers cannot compete with, including creating floor displays, producing high-quality plant layouts and architectural drawings, and quickly transforming marketing ideas into full-color presentations.
How Wide-Format Printing Solves Manufacturing Problems
Manufacturing organizations have numerous printing tasks that can benefit from the use of wide-format printers:
- Architectural drawings and blueprints
- Signage within manufacturing areas for safety reminders, warnings, and employee notices
- Banners for upcoming activities, company awards, and personnel announcements
- Posters for notices and events where a standard letter-size format will simply not provide the quality and awareness needed
- Presentation materials for customers and trade shows. These can be generated internally and customized for specific products or customers. Desktop printers cannot produce the high quality and image size that dazzles customers or promotes products the way wide-format images will.
How In-House Printing Saves Money While Boosting Productivity
Many businesses rely on third-party services to produce large-format documents, as opposed to bringing the capability in-house. It can be cost-effective and even save money by installing high-quality wide-format printers.
This can pay off in multiple ways:
- Faster response – Avoid outsourcing wide-format print jobs and fitting into the provider’s schedule to produce the necessary documents, banners, or other media. This streamlines the printing process.
- Proofing – The first printed version of a document is often not what the designer envisioned. With in-house wide-format printing, a single image can be printed and approved before multiple copies are produced. This can result in significant savings over outsourced printing.
- Quality – You control the results. If there is an issue, you don’t have to send the job out again – just correct the text or image and reprint the job.
- Control – When you need more copies or want to change color, it can be done internally – saving time and increasing productivity.
- Increased security – You may be printing materials related to new products or marketing proposals. Retaining the information in-house ensures the security of confidential information.
- Cost savings – Eliminate sending print jobs outside to costly third-party services.
- Flexibility – With in-house wide-format printers, your employees can generate print jobs for internal production from anywhere – even from mobile devices.
James Imaging – Your One Source for Wide-Format Printing Solutions
James Imaging Systems can evaluate your printing requirements and help you implement the best options for wide-format printing. We have been providing superior printing solutions for our satisfied customers for over 40 years.
We provide and service the highest quality and most sophisticated wide-format printers from leading manufacturers including Canon, HP, and others. James Imaging can monitor your printers to ensure they are properly maintained and that supplies are provided on a timely basis to ensure availability and efficient operation.
Contact the imaging professionals at James Imaging Systems for a comprehensive review of your printing needs and a complete solution for wide-format printing for your business.