Be proactive, be profitable

Over the last 25 years, we have gone from colour copiers costing £25,000 to OKI colour printers starting at £500, so technology is much more accessible these days. The biggest influence on our technology to date has been white toner. This innovation, created by OKI, now allows us to print on just about anything, whether it is a sign, a piece of wood, plastic, acrylic, anything. The non-textile applications have just gone through the roof.

The real benefit to sign-makers with this is it acts as an addition to their sales team that will force them to be more proactive with existing and future clients. The sign industry today is changing; we found at Sign and Digital UK this year there is a higher number of people that operate from home. These companies have websites and they do not need the big premises anymore. They do not need substantial amounts of stock and all these things in the past you needed to be a sign company. These days, you can pick up a Roland or a Mimaki or a cutter, for example, and you are in the business.


What we bring is this incentive to get people more proactive with their marketing to offer more to their clients. I think sign companies historically do the job they set out to do and hope the customer will come back, but now we can go back to that client and say: ‘Can we do this job for you too?’. It is a competitive market and you have to keep in touch with your customers.

Sign companies need a printer such as the OKI white toner printers we supply, a plotter, and a heat press, as well as imagination. Be prepared to send samples out. Sending out a personalised notebook to your customers, taking the time and effort to put their logo on and send it to them, results in a fantastic reaction.

Expand your creativity

With recent developments in this area, more flexible inks and a huge range of substrates and printable blanks now available, creativity is the key business argument for sign-makers to look closely at how the technology can benefit them. It is all about offering customers more choice, expanding the sign-maker’s portfolio of services and adding more creative options to those services.

The level of investment required to enter new markets is relatively low these days, Mutoh’s LED UV printers provide a host of application opportunities at relatively low capital expenditure. These printers are very easy to operate.

The Mutoh ValueJet 426UF A3+ desktop printer is ideal for gadgets such as phone cases and keyrings, but is also perfect for industrial labelling, bespoke signage, and creative image applications. Relatively low investment means sign-makers can invest and get an ROI easily and quickly.


Taking it up a step, the Mutoh ValueJet Hybrid models, VJ1638UH and VJ1626UH (64" wide, dual head/single head), can print onto both roll and rigid material, which opens up even more opportunities. Both these models will soon be available with flexible ink, which makes them an even more attractive proposition. They provide exceptionally high quality graphics for short viewing distances such as trade show graphics, POS/POP, customised interior decoration, small lot packaging prototypes, banners, and posters. Varnish and white inks are supplied at the same price as CMYK inks to handle transparent or non-white substrates without losing colour power allowing the user to create special print effects and multi-layer printing for prints with high added value.

Mutoh’s dye-sublimation and direct-to-textile printers are renowned for excellent colour reproduction and fine detail. At the end of the day, it depends on where the sign-maker sees opportunities in their marketspace and customer base as to which technology will reap the best rewards for them.

Tools of the trade


As any business develops, diversification can often be a fundamental way of increasing profits and securing the future of the company. For sign-makers, this quite often means investing in new technology to broaden their services, but not only will this serve their existing customer base, it will attract new customers too.

At the heart of this is being able to offer more products that existing customers and prospects can purchase. If they are already buying branded signage and posters, the upsell is to wow them with a lightbox through backlit print technology and educate them on the power of branded marketing collateral, such as pens and giveaways, that can be printed direct-to-object using LED UV.

The common factor in these products is the design or the logo which is incorporated into the finished product. These can be stickers, posters, flags, iPhone cases, banners, backlit signage, and a raft of others. Although some technologies, such as a print and cut device, can produce many of these sellable products, there is no machine that can do everything. A sign-maker, just like a carpenter, needs several tools of the trade to be versatile.


The good news is there is some seriously advanced digital technology out there at an affordable price, providing a good return on investment. Mimaki’s CJV150 series integrated printer/cutters provide high quality printing at fast speeds and a smooth workflow with simultaneous cutting and utilising the popular SS21 inks can produce an array of creative print options; metallic stickers, vibrant decals along with banners, posters, and canvas prints. The Mimaki CJV150 series is also compatible with dye-sublimation inks and can be installed to print to transfer paper for garment marking fabrics, mugs, graphics, and promotional items. Direct dye-sublimation hardware, such as Mimaki’s Tx300P-1800 provides high quality output onto polyester substrates at print speeds up to 68sq m/h, making this printer an ideal option for soft signage producers. There are also a multitude of options for direct-to-object printing with Mimaki’s LED UV technology, with the UJF MkII series of small-format flatbed printers having capacity to print to objects made from plastic, glass, metal, leather, and many more substrates.

The investment in new technologies and applications gives any sign-maker the opportunity to promote their services to a wider group of customers that have different requirements, but by doing so they can ensure they keep their customers returning and attract in new ones too.

Keep them coming back


There are two main reasons why sign-makers should make the leap to direct-to-object printing: profitability and versatility. Adding an extra dimension to what you can offer your customers keeps them happy. Whether they are looking for banners or phone cases, if you can provide what your customers want, they will keep coming back time and time again.

Giving your business that competitive advantage is key to standing out, offering a one-stop-shop for your existing customers as well as offering new customers a vast range of options. Everyone in this industry knows that it is better to say yes to business and outsource than to turn a customer down—and investing in in-house personalisation printing means the lion’s share of the profits remain with your business.

Personalisation is huge right now, and investing in our VersaUV LEF technology is a great way to get ahead, with consistent quality across a range of applications. With none of the set-up costs involved in pad or screen printing, and the easy availability of low cost blanks to print onto, it is easy to rake in the profits and exceed your customers’ expectations.


Equipped with specialist ink to produce impressive effects, from embossing and matt prints through to white ink to ensure your vibrant CMYK inks pop, there is no reason not to expand what you can produce to profitable new horizons, helping you to retain customers and encourage new business.
 
If you are already using Roland DG’s technology, the LEF series is compatible with Versa Works Dual RIP software for a streamlined workflow; just set it up and let it go. The LEF fits seamlessly into a variety of office and workshop spaces, whether you are looking at the ideal starter solution, the LEF-12i, a more powerful model in the LEF-200 or the more production intensive LEF-300. 

So, in conclusion, direct-to-object technology is a great way to make your business even more profitable without sacrificing your time or altering your current workflow. If becoming a one-stop-shop for your customers’ needs appeals to you, UV technology is the way forward.


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