When it comes to the wide-format market, printing is only part of the story. Much of the output that comes off a wide-format press needs to be finished in some way as well. That can be as simple as cutting it to the appropriate size, or as challenging as routing out precise, complex shapes.
There are quite a few options available for finishing, but Wide-Format & Signage talked to four experts to get their take on the cutting and routing options available to today’s print providers, and across the board, they all stressed a few key trends.
Faster speeds and automation
First, the experts noted that as digital presses have gotten faster, the finishing solutions have had to follow suit.
“You can have the fastest printer on the planet, and if your finishing process is time-consuming, the printing speed won’t matter much at all,” says Steve Aranoff, VP sales & marketing, MCT Digital. “It’s like buying a Ferrari when the speed limit is 25 miles per hour. Finishing can have an even bigger impact on your profits than the printing itself.”
But, notes Gregory Stewart, Esko product marketing and strategy manager – Digital Finishing Business: “The challenge, particularly for speed, is not to try to increase machine speed – which can only be done minimally – but to reduce the times when the machine is not moving. Better feed and stacking systems are keeping the machines up and running quicker, reducing idle time. We can also argue that more efficient nesting can reduce the number of pieces of substrates required per job, saving material as well as cutting time.”
“The biggest trends are centred on improving overall production workflows – targeting both software and hardware components and each and every phase of production,” agrees Beatrice Drury, director of marketing & communications at Zűnd America. “With shrinking margins and an ever-increasing demand for faster time to market, superior productivity is the ticket to success.”
Automation, in particular, is a big trend right now on the cutting and routing side of the business, with more options than ever before on the software as well as the hardware side. Manufacturers are releasing new machines with automation already built in, but they’re also offering a range of upgrades and updates that any print provider can install to see their productivity increase. And on the software side, the manufacturers and many third-party workflow companies are now offering solutions specifically designed to make the finishing line as efficient and “hands free” as the output side has become in recent years.
Keeping up with substrates
But it’s not just about speed. “Cutting and routing via mechanical tooling has been around for many years,” says Aranoff, “and although improvements continue to be made in speed and accuracy, keeping up with all the changes to the printable substrates has been a challenge.”
In particular, says Warren Knipple, president at Trotec Laser, Inc, investing in a laser cutting system, instead of the traditional mechanical options, can open up a host of possibilities.
“Since laser systems can process a variety of materials like acrylic, glass, laminates, leather, paper, plastics, stone, textiles, and wood to name a few, adding a laser system allows shops to offer their customers custom signage, ADA signage, inlay, point-of-purchase displays, trophies, and much more. In addition, the laser can process very intricate designs with minimal setup due to no physical contact with materials other than the laser beam light,” says Knipple.
“A lot is happening in fabric printing and cutting for both graphics and apparel applications,” adds Drury. More and more wide-format printers are experimenting with fabric applications, from soft signage to applications like custom-printed fabrics for interior design, custom wallpapers, and other innovative projects. For a printer, the ability to say “yes” to any job can mean the different between barely getting by and huge success.
“A number of years ago, a customer of mine was not allowed to purchase a cutter until he could prove to his bank that he could handle the new printer payments for a year,” says Aranoff. “During that time, he was limited to printing only products that could easily be cut by a knife or a rectangular cutter. He made an adequate living by running the printer about half the time, struggling to accomplish finishing without sending it out to a local trade finishing company who might use the opportunity to take the customer direct, and where you might lose control of the quality and timeliness of the delivery to your customer. Forty-five days after he had installed the new flatbed cutter, he was operating both the printer and cutter at 50 hours per week, instead of 20 hours, and taking on much more work from the same customer base, plus much more that he had to turn down earlier.”
Challenges around the corner
But while lasers are one trend in cutting and routing right now because of their versatility, they certainly aren’t the only technology on the market. Today’s print service providers have a huge range of options, including:
Multifunctional flatbed cutters/routers;
Dedicated CNC routers;
Roll-to-roll cutters;
Laser cutters;
Basic X/Y cutters; and
Manual cutting
So how does a printer know which one is right for their operation? “With so many different options available, the wisest and most long-term investment print shops can make is in equipment that meets their current needs – but offers the ability to adapt and expand later on,” notes Drury.
“It’s also important to ask the question, ’What will my next customer ask me to achieve?’ and if that is ‘who knows,’ then having a solution that can handle the most printable materials is desirable, if it fits the budget,” agrees Aranoff.
“Of course, quick printers or commercial printers moving into wide-format sign and display should look at cutting/routing hardware systems to let them expand products they can deliver into a variety of 2D and 3D signs and displays,” notes Stewart. “However, related to this are software solutions that make it easier for them to design finished product just as they design for print today.”
While every shop is different, with the rapid expansion of materials that wide-format printers can image onto, it’s increasingly important to also invest in a solid cutting and routing solution that will not only handle the work the shop is doing today, but will have the flexibility and capacity to tackle whatever challenges might be just around the corner. As everyone from print buyers to interior designers are getting more creative with pushing the limits of what wide-format can do, PSPs who serve this market will want to make sure they never have to turn work away because they don’t have the right finishing options in place to carry the job through to the end.
It is just as important to spend the time analyzing and projecting the shop’s needs for the finishing side as it is on the actual print side – don’t spend thousands, or even hundreds of thousands on a fancy new printer that can run circles around the jobs, only to have productivity and creativity come to a screeching halt as soon as it gets to the finishing department.
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