Is a Production Printer Right for Your Business? + Costs

It’s safe to say most businesses have adopted some form of marketing to help increase leads and brand awareness. 

Marketing efforts usually include production-quality printing needs, such as flyers, posters, brochures, and more. 

For example, a common strategy to increase brand awareness is hanging or handing out flyers. Others may take booklets or pamphlets that discuss their products and services to social events. In addition, company employees today still use business cards as a form of advertising.

Regardless of how your business utilizes these materials, the amount of money and time spent on outsourcing these production materials is likely to be higher than if you used a production printer to keep all prints in-house. 

What is a production machine? 

Production machines allow companies to keep their printing and marketing material production in house. Within your own company, you can print postcards, invites, brochures, training manuals, tabloid-size paper (11X17), and different sizes of books/booklets.   

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Many production machines can fold, staple, and hole punch while producing high-resolution materials efficiently.   

Production machines range in size, price, and functionality.

For example, the PrimeLink C9065 can be considered a light or entry-level production machine as it has a monthly print volume of 50K pages per month. This multifunction printer (MFP) has the standard print, scan, copy, and fax functions, with a large tablet-like interface that provides access to a wide range of productivity tools and apps.   

Once you move beyond the entry-level production machines and start looking at machines like the Iridesse Production Press, you’ll get much higher print volumes (475K pages per month in this case). These machines do not have copy, scan, or fax functions, as they specialize in high-volume printing.     

Simply put, production machines are reliable powerhouses that let your business handle a variety of printing needs in-house.   

Pros and cons of a production machine 

While these machines can provide value for those who need production materials, like any product, there are pros and cons one should evaluate.     

Pros  

1. No more outsourcing   

One advantage is not having to rely on a production company, which tends to be costly and timely. A production machine allows you the convenience of printing marketing materials, walking to your machine, and having the print in your hands within minutes.   

2. Control of your output  

Production machines enable you to have complete control of your output.  If you are sending out print jobs now, you may need a minimum number of ordered prints.  Or you may send them off and realize you have a typo on the business cards and must reorder at your expense.    

When you have your own machine, it’s the ultimate “print on demand” device.    

3. Low printing cost   

Production machines help keep the cost of printing materials low. Outsourcing becomes costly, especially if there is a mistake or a needed change. Re-printing 100s of brochures will hike that cost up.         

Cons  

1. Cost  

It’s no secret that printers cost money, especially the production units. Some production machines can cost upwards of $1 million. While leasing will help break the payment up into more manageable monthly payments, it’s still an investment. 

However, if your company sends hundreds of materials to be printed elsewhere, the cost will likely be offset.   

2. It’s not for everyone   

Along with cost, if you only print a few marketing materials per month, the cost likely won’t be offset by the in-house printing.     

Another factor is that you may not have someone on staff who can dedicate the time to operating the machine. Although printing is not hard, and anyone can be trained on the machine, outsourcing your printing elsewhere may be more productive for your office environment.   

Is a production machine right for you? (& how much will it cost?)   

Now that we discussed the pros and cons of a production machine, it’s time to determine if the machine is right for your business needs.  

Ask yourself these questions to consider if you should invest in a production machine:   

• How much are you spending on outsourcing your print material each month?  
• What marketing materials are you currently printing?  
• How much are you printing(monthly print volume)?   

If you have marketing production needs and outsource frequently, it’s likely time to invest in your business by leasing a production unit.   

Which production machine is right for you? 

If you’re looking for a starter production machine, a model from the Xerox PrimeLink series is a good option. The next step up would be the Versant 280/4100. If you have extensive production needs, we recommend the Iridesse Production Press.  

Below, we review these three machines.      

PrimeLink C9065 

Features:    

• Standard multifunction color printing and production  
• Fluorescent Specialty Toners add gold, silver, white, clear, or fluorescent cyan, magenta and yellow at an additional cost  
• Up to 75 prints per minute (ppm)  
• Up to 50K pages/month    

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Versant 4100 

Features:    

• Production quality color printing for advanced media types such as labels, brochures, decals, labels, and many more 
• Advanced finishing options such as a binder, booklet making, stacking, cutting, hole punch, and more
• 100 ppm 
• 250,000 pages/month  

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Iridesse   

  Features:   

• Up to 6 inline drying stations   
• Optional white, silver, clear, and gold specialty dry ink at an additional cost  
• Full-Width Array and Automated Color Quality Suite  
• Additional high-capacity feeders  
• 120 ppm  
• 475,000 pages/month   

  

 

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Invest in your company

When deciding if a production machine is right for you, consider your company's needs first. Spending money on outsourced materials that you may have to reorder and reprint if any additional changes are needed wastes time and money. Your company could be printing these materials themselves. 

If you try to print flyers or marketing materials on a printer that does not have high-resolution print quality like the MFPs and printers we discussed earlier, you'll end up with low-quality prints.

Finally, printing thousands of flyers on a smaller machine not built for a high print volume will lead to an increase in service repairs and a shortened machine lifespan. Overprinting is one of the common mistakes people make with their copier/printer that we want you to avoid. 

Investing in a machine that fits your printing and production needs will save your business time and money, especially if you are currently outsourcing all of your marketing materials.