Wikipedia defines the idiomatic usage of the term “silver bullet” as “any straightforward solution that is perceived to have extreme effectiveness.” The goal for manufacturers of many wide-format digital printing systems is to develop this “silver bullet”—a single device that can effectively produce the widest variety of applications and therefore help print service providers (PSPs) realize a return on their investment and higher profitability as quickly as possible. Why is this such an important objective? Well, it looks like an opportunity from an equipment manufacturer’s standpoint. For example, InfoTrends recently collaborated with the International Sign Association (ISA) to survey over 170 sign shops about their digital wide-format printing businesses. What we found is that there is a lot of outsourcing, even among wide-format print shops. In fact, only about one-third of respondents were not outsourcing any wide-format print work.

This is perfectly understandable on some level; wide-format print customers may request a job that a sign shop is not equipped to produce cost-effectively. This might be because of substrates, volume, turnaround time, or the need for specialized finishing. Shop owners know that it would be unwise to invest in a piece of wide format production equipment that they won’t regularly use. InfoTrends’ survey results suggest that some sign shops outsource some of their wide-format work for this very reason—46% of respondents have their own wide format printing equipment, but they still outsource on occasion (likely for projects that cannot be cost-effectively completed in-house).

Figure 1: Do you have your own wide format digital printers or do you outsource wide format digital work?