Who’s Looking for an Indianapolis Web Printer?

Web presses print on continuous rolls of paper, much like you’d picture a newspaper press. Large printing rolls press the ink onto long sheets of paper coming for huge rolls. It’s efficient and common among many business verticals. So who exactly is looking for an Indianapolis web printer?

Whether you’re thinking about launching a periodical, looking for technical publications or considering how to make your business printing more efficient, you may be in this category.

And it doesn’t have to be in the immediate Indianapolis area. Your business may sit somewhere in the Midwest. You just need quick, efficient, quality web press printing.

Here are a few solutions an Indianapolis web printer may assist with:

Technical Publications

As a manufacturer, your business may produce technical publications for your final assembly. From tech sheets to instruction sheets and beyond, printing technical publications is a low-cost but critical component. You see efficiency as vital. You also likely see cost as a contributing factor, so paper stock and printing costs cross your mind.

Web press printing as you know can help lower costs. Did you know that putting to use vendor managed inventory and just in time delivery could add additional benefits? Managing direct materials well is key.

Periodicals

Magazines, content marketing booklets, periodicals, calendars and other high-volume pieces often run on web presses. If your company already does, or plans to in future, use these for any business purposes, a web printing press just might be perfect.

One example to consider: associations printing monthly or quarterly content for their members. Periodicals like AARP The Magazine or the American Marketing Association publications are great ways to reach their intended audience. Plus they’re a great complement to digital offerings like email and social media.

Catalogs

Sure, we typically shop online, scrolling and swiping our way to satisfaction. The golden era of catalogs when Sears & Roebuck or J.C. Penny may be but a memory. But there’s still something about thumbing through a relevant and engaging catalog.

For many Midwest businesses with products, a catalog could still prove profitable when done well. An Indianapolis web printer could help deliver quality printing with a timely delivery.

User Manuals

From small appliances to high-cost durable goods to B2B components, user manuals help end users understand what they’re working with. Even with augmented reality user manuals on the rise, printed manuals still exist. We still need hard-copy information for many reasons, including making notes.

If your end product needs a manual, you’ll likely use a web press printer to create them.

Midwest Manufacturers – Location is Critical

For any manufacturer, the last component in final assembly – the technical publications and possible spare parts – are critical. You can’t run out of these items, or you risk holding up and even shutting down production.

Many manufacturers simply over-purchase this low-cost component, running the risk of obsolescence due to revisions.

Instead, you could work with an Indianapolis web printer who can also deliver the end product as-needed with an electronic data interchange (EDI) system. This connection can retrieve your projections and specifications, printing what you need, when you need it and delivering it just in time.

Location is critical. A Midwest printer set centrally in the region with the logistics to handle it could help you save money and increase efficiency.

Advantages of Web Press Printing

The biggest advantages to using a web press are its speed and lower costs for long runs. Web presses are:

• Much faster than sheet-fed presses
• Have lower paper cost for rolls of paper
• Handle most folding and binding in-line so product is complete when it comes off the press
• Once it is running, a web press lowers overhead and production times

You’ll find that these advantages usually equate to a lower per-piece price on jobs with long runs.

Disadvantages of Web Press Printing

All is not perfect, of course. Disadvantages you may find for web presses mostly affect the owners and the operators:

• Much more expensive than sheet-fed presses
• Larger, heavy equipment
• Typically require more than one operator
• Loud when running. Some require special sound-dampening rooms
• Much larger infrastructure and power requirements
• Higher make-ready costs and waste

At some point in run length, the advantages and disadvantages cancel out. In general, a long print run is less expensive when printed on a web press than on a sheet-fed press, but a short print run on a web press would be cost prohibitive.

Your Indianapolis Web Press Printer

In 2018, EPI Marketing Services invested in a 2-color, cold-set web press at our Indianapolis plant. The goal of the more efficient press is to better serve businesses across the Midwest and Eastern US with greater efficiency and cost savings.

Indianapolis plant manager Kevin Kinsey breaks it down. “We’re going from about 12,000 impressions per hour to 30,000 impressions per hour,” says Kinsey. “That means we can run more print pieces more efficiently and pass those cost savings along to our client partners.”

The Hantscho Mark 16 adds to the long list of high quality printing tools EPI offers its clients. With more than two dozen presses ranging from digital to offset, web to sheet fed and cold set to heat set, EPI helps partners across its service area find the right solution for their marketing, sales and communications needs.

One way this latest addition to the EPI world helps clients is to produce technical publications like user manuals for products such as medical devices, electronics, vehicles and home appliances. So when you install a new dishwasher from a top-tier appliance maker, you may be touching a product from EPI’s Indianapolis print production facility.

Do you see yourself in this list of who needs an Indianapolis web printer?

Magazines photo by Charisse Kenion on Unsplash