Copy General Outsourced Printing Services
In-House Printing vs. Outsourcing: Frequently Asked Questions
With the loss of business and revenue in the wake of COVID-19, organizations like
yours are looking for ways to reduce fixed costs and overhead. An in-house printing
or central reproduction department (CRD) is a great place to start. Here are some
FAQs on switching from an in-house CRD to outsourced printing.
How does outsourcing save money?
Your in-house CRD incurs the substantial cost of equipment, employee wages and benefits, rent,
utilities and more. And you pay all of those costs every month, no matter how many — or few — pages
you print. To learn more, ask for our CRD Cost-Calculator Spreadsheet.
When you use Copy General’s Outsourced Printing Services (CGOPS) division, you pay only for the
printing you order. Curently your organization pays for mistakes, overtime, proofs, and waste in your
CRD? With Copy General those expenses disappear along with the inventory of supplies.
How do we place orders?
Easy. You’ll do that through your organization’s customized web portal that’s available 24/7. It will
list every type of document you can imagine: Training manuals, business cards, brochures, booklets,
postcards, catalogs, perfect-bound books, envelopes. You’ll have your own library of existing
documents ready to reproduce as well as the ability to create new ones.
For expenditures needing approval, we can set up the portal to require an authorized person’s OK
for any or all purchases.
Will we get things as fast?
Just about every order received by noon will be delivered the next business day. Really big projects may take longer, but probably much quicker than if produced in-house. And, if you’ll be distributing the printed piece to customers, satellite offices or members, we can handle that as well by mailing or shipping directly to everyone on your list.
Will we be able to produce everything we currently do?
That and much more. With our variety of digital presses and one of the most complete binding and finishing operations in the region, there’s almost no limit to the types of documents we can produce.
Can you handle our volume?
We’re sure of it. Copy General is one of the largest all-digital printing operations in the region. We have the capability to produce nearly 750,000 color or 1.25 million monochrome impressions a day.
Can Copy General handle mailings?
Absolutely!
Our three full-color envelope printers eliminate the need to preprint and store envelopes. We can print envelopes with full bleeds. Since we address envelopes as they are printed, they can be personalized for each recipient. You only pay for the envelopes you use since you don’t have to but by the box. We offer the same personalization capabilities for postcards or other self-mailers.
We utilize the latest and most up-to-date mailing software along with our proximity to the USPS
Business Mail Entry Unit (BMEU), we get you the lowest possible postage rates and the fastest service.
What types of binding and finishing can you do?
- Perfect Binding
- Saddle-stitch
- Plastic Coil
- Wire-O
- GBC
- Velo
- Stapling
- 3-ring binders
- Drilling
What about tabs? We produce lots of binders with tabs.
Then you’ll love working with Copy General. We make our own tabs, so you’re not limited to one or two standard sizes. We can take anything printed on heavy stock and turn it into a tab, including full-color sheets. They can be personalized, reinforced and laminated. Where appropriate full-color tabs are great places for advertising.
What else?
- Flood UV Coating to give that protective gloss, satin or soft-touch finish to covers, tabs, brochures, sales collateral and direct mail pieces
- Spot UV—the latest in tactile printing
- Laminating
- Gold and Silver Foil (we always have these on hand, other colors are available)
- Die-Cutting allows us to create just about any shape you can imagine
- Flash Drive and CD/DVD duplication
Signage and Banners?
Yes. We can produce all kinds of signage, plain or mounted. We can do vinyl banners and floor signage and window decals.
Fulfillment?
In addition to what we print for your organization, we can store non-printed items such as mugs, baseball caps and other tchotchkes in our climate controlled warehouse. We’ll ship these out on your behalf. If you like, they can simply be more items offered for easy ordering on your web portal.
What if we want to sell to members, customers, franchisees or the general public?
We’ll provide you with specialized web portals that offer your customers self-service print-on-demand for the items you wish to make available—at whatever prices you choose.
Plus, this unique money-saving service eliminates the risk and cost of printing and storing more copies than you can sell. Imagine the quality you’ll deliver and the costs you’ll save in updating printed materials as often as you want without having to recycle unsold inventory of previous versions.
Do we have to totally close our CRD?
No, that’s up to you. Maybe all you need to do is downsize to handle your immediate needs and use your Copy General portal for larger projects.
What do we do with the space formerly occupied by the CRD?
One excellent use for newly freed-up space is to meet COVID-19 social distancing requirements or requests when your employees return to the office. Visitor accommodation, exhibits, demonstrations—you might already have uses like these in mind but haven’t had the space to make them real.
What do we do with our current equipment?
Here you have two great choices. The used equipment company can help equip your organization with economical machines suited your actual needs. Or, if you prefer new equipment, we can introduce you to some of the nation’s major digital printer/copier vendors. The same ones we turn to for our own plant.
If we close down the CRD, what do we do for routine office printing and copying?
Here you have two great choices. The used equipment company can help equip your organization with economical machines suited your actual needs. Or, if you prefer new equipment, we can introduce you to some of the nation’s major digital printer/copier vendors. The same ones we turn to for our own plant.
Ready to discuss Copy General’s Outsourced Printing Services?
Contact:
Laura d’All (laura@copygeneral.com) • 571.322.2144 (D)