Thanks to advances in technology and the onset of web-to-print, printing services are faster than they ever have been. However, for those last-minute, super-short-turnaround jobs, which often come out of nowhere, you need more than a quick press and a slick ordering system to be able to say "Yes" to the work with any real confidence.  

Hence, PrintWeek chatted to printers that regularly have to cope with the demands of the unannounced quick-turnaround job to find out how they cope, how they ensure that existing clients are not sidelined by a last-minute, big-money gatecrasher and how quality levels are kept high, even when everything is running at superspeed.

The book printer
CPI Books is a book printer that claims it can cope with runs of one to one million. This year, it was involved with four of the six Booker-Prize-shortlisted titles – in fact, book prizes are a prime source of the last-minute print that comes through its doors

"The key times when we will get last-minute rush orders are when books we print win literary prizes such as the Booker, the Orange prize or the Costa. In these situations, we have to reprint a title very, very quickly to take advantage of the fallout from a win.

However, it’s not just awards time when we get these last-minute requests. For example, we printed the Amy Winehouse autobiography over a single weekend as the book was rushed out after her death. We also did a book for the Royal Wedding, which included photographs of the actual wedding. We had this into the distribution channels within 96 hours over the bank holiday weekend on which the wedding took place.

In the book-prize situations, we try and do as much work in advance as we can. In some instances this can mean sending over to the publisher a proof of the cover or jacket artwork with the winner’s splash across the front before the event, so we have the approval in place when the announcement is made.
On the evening of the prize ceremony, we crowd around the television ready for the result; if our title wins, we get straight to the printing.

If the publisher has specified it, we will have the job scheduled in, the plates made and the staff ready to go. It is all about preparation – everyone has to be on the ball, everyone has to know what they are doing and what the end goal is.

The customer, though, also has to play their part. We have to have the files in time and sign-off on proofs in time if we are to meet strict deadlines."
Dino Bishop CPI UK marketing communications manager

The direct mail printer
GI Solutions calls itself a marketing services support company, reflecting the fact that, as far as its clients are concerned, it’s not just about print these days. That said, print still forms a fundamental part of the process and it needs to be able to react as quickly as other media, so GI has to cope with unannounced fast-turnaround work

"There are a couple of situations where we will get last-minute orders. The first is where, if a retailer puts an offer out, a rival will want to react as soon as possible and so they call us. A second situation is within the regulatory arena – if there is a rate change, companies are legally bound to get a mailing out within a very quick time frame.

We have also done things for charities; big disaster appeals that are rolled out extremely quickly. In these situations, we can have the order on a Thursday, data and artwork on a Friday and the packs are mailed on the Monday.

The key to accepting this last-minute work and doing it well is communication with the client, as well as communication within our print team. We are not just dealing with artwork, we are dealing with data as well. It is integral that the client understands that, if we are to produce the order in such a short time frame, the data has to be solid.

It is definitely a team effort – it is about looking at the order and planning properly to see whether it is doable. The jobs are no different to a normal job, everything just happens a lot quicker.

We have to think very carefully about whether we can facilitate a short-notice job without endangering our existing work that is already scheduled. We don’t ever compromise someone else’s mail date."
Alistair Ezzy GI Solutions business development director

The newspaper printer
Archant is a regional newspaper, magazine and contract printing group that prints around 2.25m newspapers per week. Last-minute print is a common occurrence with editors pushing to get the most up-to-date information into print

"In the regional newspapers sector, last-minute tends to be a result of editors holding off on the print run for big stories so we have the latest information possible in the printed newspaper. In Ipswich last year, where there was the series of prostitute murders, this was the case – the editor wanted the latest news in every edition.

Normally, I will get a call from an editor, he or she will explain the situation with a big story and we will discuss what is possible time wise – it will generally mean an extended or re-organised time slot.
Our presses are already running flat out. If we just need more copies, we will obviously overrun the printing of other titles and so we have to have a tight control of the logistics of the operation. Our press capacity fortunately does allow us to move work around to suit a changing situation. It is about managing the various titles and the press capacity available in order to make it work.

It’s obviously a significant challenge, but we are prepared for these eventualities. As soon as a last-minute request comes in I can quickly reach everyone I need to on my team through the internal email system, with all the key personel having Blackberrys so wherever they are they get the information instantly about what is happening.

We also have strong links with local agencies, which means we can pull extra people in within the hour if we need extra staff; we also control all our own drivers and distribution, so we can also contact them straight away to let them know of any changes to plans as a result of a short-turnaround job.

It is essential that everyone involved knows as soon as possible what is happening, what they need to do and when they need to do it.  

Because we prepare properly, we have never had an issue with last-minute printing, we have always accommodated last-minute stories and changes to the newspapers. It is making sure we have clear communication channels in place, and modern technology is crucial to that, as we can reach everyone en masse with the right information instantly."
Clive Want Archant senior production manager

The wide-format printer
Cypher Digital is based in Cumbria and offers a wide array of services, but it is from the exhibitions sector that its rush jobs tend to originate

"In the exhibitions sector, we are finding that we have to do last-minute work more and more as people are putting off purchasing decisions as long as they possibly can. We sometimes get people coming to us asking for exhibitions print on a Wednesday and they need it for a Friday.

The real problem for us is communicating to the client that we need the artwork ASAP if we are to be able to do this type of work.

We offer free proofs with every job, but with last-minute work, despite getting the proof out same day, we often find that a job has to go out without being proofed by the client. This means on our order confirmation we have put down in writing the stipulation that the client receives the print unchecked – there is no other way we can do it and we have to cover ourselves.

What is crucial is that our set standards are kept to, no matter how fast we are turning the job around. Whoever takes the job, will take that job through the process and assess the print at various stages according to our own quality and assurance standards.

We carry a number of paper weights in stock, with the level where we can cope for any sort of demand that may come in. We choose these stocks to fit with the most common weights, so we have a fit for every eventuality within our services.

Another crucial thing we find with the short-turnaround jobs is that they tend to be from non-regular customers and so we always ensure we get money up front, rather than invoicing, as we don’t know who this new client is."
Paul Calland Cypher Digital managing director

The catalogue printer
Cambrian Printers is a magazine, catalogue and brochure printer based in Wales. The majority of its short-notice work comes from auction houses

"We are very much geared up for last-minute jobs, we have set procedures in place when they occur. One of the most common last-minute requests is for auction catalogues.

Communication, both with the client and among our team, is vital, as is the planning. If you are suddenly stepping up production you need to have planned for such an occurrance, so that everyone knows what they have to do in that situation and what to do at the right time.

You simply have to get the quality right. Auction catalogues depict expensive artwork and you have to get the colour absolutely right as a result. That requires close communication between us and the client to ensure correct calibration. It also means having the right kit is important – we have inline spectrophotometers and when we make our press investments, we are thinking about the potential for those presses to be utilised for those short-notice jobs.

Communication is really important – when a project like this comes in, we have a meeting with everyone involved so that everyone knows what they have to do and when. This formalised meeting is a crucial part of the process.

It’s great when you get an email back from a client and they say how they never thought the job would be possible with the short notice and that they were really happy with the result."
Martin Koffer Cambrian Printers business development director