Cost-Saving Series 1 of 3: Overs – It's a Good Thing
To some people, "overs" can be a dirty word. After all, you have to pay for your printing, so you want to keep as close to the budgeted cost as possible. But when it comes to finishing your print products, overs equal savings — in both time and money.
At Nationwide, we want to provide you with great service, but we also want to save you some money and aggravation. So, this is the first of a series of three monthly tips focused on ways to save you costs and eliminate headaches.
Plan for Spoilage
When preparing any print job that has to go to a finisher for laminating, mechanical binding or any finishing service, plan for spoilage. Some might ask: "Why in the world would I plan to waste printed sheets?" Well, anticipating spoilage makes a big difference in the final cost of projects. You are doing yourself a disservice when you demand "no overs." Why?
Spoilage Happens
Spoilage occurs in every binding and finishing operation, so your finisher needs enough print overruns to deliver full counts. For instance, with a laminating project at Nationwide, we use your setups to make sure we apply the correct type of film, such as superstick, glossy, matte or satin. We also use your setups to make sure borders are accurate, and—most importantly—that your sheets of paper are lying flat. So, if you give us 500 pieces to laminate, this could result in only 485 finished pieces.
An easy solution could be to send us your overs. Most print runs produce more copies than are actually needed, usually due to poor print quality or paper problems. Instead of allowing printers to throw out the extras, give the overs to your finisher.
Overruns Guidelines
Several organizations with guys in suits and ties set up overrun guidelines for printing and finishing. Basically, they suggest that customers allow an additional 3 to 5 percent of material for spoilage. In other words, on a job of 5,000 laminated postcards, provide us with a minimum of 150 overruns.
Digital, too
Overs apply to digitally printed projects, as well. Many customers who use digital printing are reluctant to produce overs because of the per-sheet printing costs. But for a job of, say, 500, it's cheaper to have 15 extra sheets printed up front. Without the extras, your finished pieces will likely be short of the desired total. That means you have to go back to the printer to have more sheets printed, so you will pay the set-up fee again. Then you will have to pay a courier to deliver those pieces to the finisher in time to meet your deadline. What a headache! Avoid this hassle by paying a few dollars more for overruns for your digital projects.
The Nationwide Advantage
You may have noticed that we have changed our name and logo to Nationwide Laminating and Finishing. These changes reflect the expansion of our services. It's our goal to provide you with great, timely service while saving you money. If you need assistance in determining how many overs to provide for a project, call us at 800-322-5701. Next month look for the second of our three-email series of tips for saving costs and avoiding production problems.
