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If your business or project requires high-quality, high-volume, high-speed printing, the chances are good that your basic office copier just isn’t going to cut it. You need a production printer. But which one should you choose? What features should your production printer have? In this guide, we’ll explore the key features to consider when looking for the perfect production printer that ideally fits your needs.
What Is a Production Printer?
Standard office copiers are designed to handle a variety of common office tasks like printing, scanning, making copies, and even faxing. They’re extremely useful machines, indispensable workhorses in most businesses of all types and sizes. But they’re not designed for professional printing, especially at high speed, volume, and quality in a range of sizes.
If that’s what you need, you can always outsource the job to third-party printing companies. However, while that may be the best option for one-off print jobs, it’s far from an ideal solution if you need professional-grade printing on an ongoing basis. Dealing with third parties can be time-consuming, especially if the job is botched and needs to be redone. Outsourced printing can also be significantly more expensive than printing in-house, and create privacy and security risks for your data.
That’s where an in-house production printer comes into play.
A production printer is a professional-quality printer designed to handle high-volume printing at a much higher quality and speed than standard office printers. They’re essential if you need to print brochures, booklets, catalogs, posters, pamphlets, and marketing materials. Or, you may just want the peace of mind that comes from knowing that your machine can handle the heavy workloads you need it to perform.
Which Companies Use Production Printers?
A production printer will add value to any company that needs to do significant quantities of professional-grade printing regularly. But they’re particularly useful for:
- Publishing houses
- Print shops
- Marketing and advertising agencies
- Educational institutions
- Large corporations (that produce reams of printed material)
- Packaging companies
Features of Production Printers
There are dozens of different production printers to choose from, with different sizes, prices, and features that vary from model to model. So, which one is best for you?
The right production printer for your business depends first and foremost on your requirements. What’s your budget? What kinds of documents will you need to print, and on what materials? How much space do you have available in your office for a production printer? How important is the quality of the color of your prints going to be?
These are the kinds of questions you need to answer to find the best fit for your needs. An experienced copier company like JD Young can help you dig into the details and identify the perfect machine. Let’s take a look at some of the key features that should inform your decision.
Speed
A production printer will generally print much faster than a standard office copier – that’s one of the main benefits of the machine, after all. Most production printers can print as many as 100 pages per minute, but some can print at significantly higher rates. If time is of the essence, a production printer with a higher print speed may well justify the extra cost.
Color
Some production printers place greater emphasis on the range and quality of the colors that they can print. Some offer comprehensive color management features, while others are more rudimentary. Better color options and management features generally come at an extra cost. So, make sure you buy a production printer that gives you the color quality you need but doesn't include features you don’t.
Print Quality
Your production printer should be able to print at a resolution of 300 dpi (dots per inch) – the industry standard for commercial printing. But what if you need to produce image-rich, glossy materials at very high resolution?
Some production printers can print as high as 4,800 dpi, which should be more than enough for almost every conceivable use case. And, many offer resolutions of up to 800 dpi (at a price). If you need to print graphic-rich materials in very high quality, consider a printer with a Raster Image Processor, which optimizes complex graphics before printing, ensuring the highest quality possible.
Consumables
All printers devour consumables like ink, toner, and paper. This is particularly true with a production printer because they generally print at high volumes. The more you use it, the more it must consume.
Different printers use different consumables, and not all are as easily accessible as others. For example, some may have to be imported. That might be worth it for a specialist machine that fits your specific needs. However, in general, it’s worth choosing a production printer with readily available consumables in your area. Downtime, because you’re waiting for ink stocks to arrive from China, could be a business disaster.
Integration
Are you using workflow automation or access control systems that your production printer will need to integrate with? The chances are your production printer will have to be integrated into your workflow and management systems. Some have broad integration capabilities built-in and can be plugged into your existing architecture with relative ease. On the other hand, a machine that won’t easily connect to your network can disrupt your business for days, or even weeks.
User Experience
Like all modern printers, a production printer will come bundled with software to handle print jobs sent via your computers or over your network. But not all printer software is made equal. It might seem trivial, but if your print requests are sent by less tech-savvy employees, hard-to-use printer software can have a significant negative impact on morale and productivity.
Budget
Needless to say, budget is a key consideration in the decision to purchase any major piece of hardware, and a production printer can be costly. The ideal production printer may be beyond your budget to buy outright. However, many providers offer options for leasing machines as well.
You won’t own the machine, although in some cases you may have the option to purchase at the end of the lease term. However, since a lease agreement generally includes a maintenance agreement and the monthly fees are much lower than the upfront purchase cost, for many businesses, leasing is a cost-effective, highly efficient solution.
Choosing the Right Production Printer Provider
If you’re in the Tulsa area and are looking to buy or lease a production printer, contact JD Young. We stock a wide range of production printers and other office equipment and offer the kind of experience and reputation that only decades of delivering high-quality service can provide. Contact us today to discuss your requirements and get a quote.