Recent years have seen an increasing trend for traditional printers entering the wide-format market, offering services normally associated with a specialist sign-maker. A recent FESPA survey of 225 printers around the globe found that 16 percent were targeting signage as an area they wanted to diversify into, but why large-format?

The chairman of the British Association of Printing and Communication (BAPC), Sidney Bobb,  says he has been encouraging his members to look at the wide-format market for some time, but also believes this could prove beneficial for many signage firms.

“The beauty of large-format is it is the same as what printers do in smaller format, only bigger,” says Bobb, adding: “If they are dealing with a retailer who wants marketing leaflets they should want large displays for their premises to back up the leaflets.”

“Similarly large-format printers should be looking at small-format as well. It’s not a matter of contracting the market—it’s about making it bigger.”

Bobb says a partnership between two firms that can offer all types of printing can prove financially productive for both parties.

“I’m advising members to look at their customers to see which would benefit from wide-format printing. I also advise members that rather than going out and buying a machine immediately, they should form an alliance with an existing wide-format printer and get them to do the work for you.  When the business builds up, you could then consider the investment,” he advises.

“For a sign-maker it is easy business, they are almost wholesaling it. They might get five jobs a week from a printer, where if they see a customer, they are going to get one a week—if that. The same can be done in reverse and they can give the printer the small-format work.”

Major manufacturers HP are set to be the biggest exhibitor at the world’s largest print exhibition, Drupa, and will a significant portion of that space to showcase its wide-format hardware.

Got the t-shirt

Wiltshire-based Copy Color were a trailblazer in terms of commercial print entering wide-format, having almost 20 years experience in the sector.

Co-owner Keith D’Arcy Ryan explains how it capitalises on leads from the other part of their business to drive wide-format print sales: “If someone wants brochures we’ll ask the question, because if people are promoting something, they’ll often be doing point-of-sale work around it.” 

He also highlights finishing as something a printer needs to consider when investing in wide-format equipment, commenting: “The one thing we’ve noticed is we do finishing for others and the nightmare that other people have with it.  I remember another litho company who bought some inkjet printers they used for proofing and thought they could get into posters.”

He adds: “They had some nice orders for A1s and A2s but suddenly they thought, ‘how are we going to trim them?’ We picked up the business.  From their point of view they’d just priced out the printing without factoring in the finishing.”

Specialist UV litho firm Print Leeds are another company to have joined the increasing movement of commercial printers into a province normally catered for by larger sign-makers.  

“We were a bit different because I bought a digital print company, so the piece of kit they had missing from the jigsaw was a wide-format flatbed printer,” explains managing director Rod Fisher.

With the company already completing a lot of short-run jobs printing onto plastics, it was a natural progression, but also made sound business sense, according to Fisher.

“It’s an additional revenue stream which is growing quite quickly. We’ve taken on a marketing and public relations consultant, as well as a telesales consultant, to really push it hard. I just wanted a few more strings to the bow for the print company,” Fisher explains.

While printers getting into wide-format work is not exactly a new trend, it is one that appears to be sharply on the increase.  And with printer’s margins continuing to be reduced for traditional commissions, such as long-run small-format work, it is one which also seems set to continue.