PRINT MANAGER
“No. There’s an argument for printers having basic finishing in-house to complement their core activity or skills, but beyond this, it’s better to use trade partners that are absolutely fit-for-purpose in their own specific areas. Finishing is often the most critical or complex part of a job and I’d be more confident placing a job with a supplier who was an expert, who does this kind of work each and every day, than letting a printer do it in-house just because they have a machine. Using specialists will almost always mean a better price as well.”
Andrew Rafferty
Client services manager
Target Direct Print

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TRADE FINISHER
“No. A printer’s job is to put ink on paper and they are not asked to do anything more. What I think is important is to make an alliance with a finisher that is based close to you because of the time constraints. We wrap jobs when they are still wet because they get to us within an hour of being printed. If you go much further away, then you start slipping into the next day’s mail. If you can have everything on one site that’s fantastic – you can offer the customer the full package. But I am not looking into printing, that isn’t what I do – I am a finisher.”
Andy Fox
Development manager
The Finishing Company

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DIGITAL PRINTER
“Yes. We have two Kodak NexPress 2100s and eight Kodak NexPress 2500s and in-house finishing is paramount to our business. It’s an area we have invested quite heavily in with saddlestitching, perfect binding and wiro binding equipment from Duplo. By having finishing in-house, it means that we can control not only the specifications of what we produce, but also timing. If you go to a third party, then you have to work to their schedule – we would have to make more time in our production schedule. By being in-house, we can control the complete process.”
Jonathan Moore
Sales and marketing manager
FSP

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B1 PRINTER
“Definitely. Over the past 20 years, technology has speeded everything up, but clients’ expectations in terms of turnaround times have more than kept pace. McCorquodale is part of TPF Group, which means we benefit from 24/7 on-site support, which can shave hours, even days, off print schedules. Admittedly, from a financial point of view, general finishing is now purely a service to our clients - gone are the days when a finishing department was a profit centre – but it’s still a vital service and one that is best handled in-house.”
Carl Bullwright
Managing director
McCorquodale