In-House Printing Vs Outsourcing: The Pros and Cons

In-house or outsourced? It’s a question many companies ask when thinking about their printing options, and it is also a question that’s not quite as straight forward as it might seem. Both have their own pros and cons, and what works for one business won’t necessarily work for another. To help you decide which is best for you, you’ll find a comprehensive rundown of the advantages and disadvantages below…

Before looking at the pros and cons, it is important to mention this: when looking at the options for outsourcing printing, this article assumes that you’ve done your homework and picked a good company. As with every industry, the standards can vary wildly, so it is important to speak with a number of different companies offering outsourced printing before you agree on the best one. Also, if you find that a company isn’t doing their job, don’t be afraid to walk away, as there are many other companies eager to take your business instead.

Cost

When it comes to business, the number one concern is always cost. The easy assumption to make is that outsourcing is always going to be more expensive than printing in-house, however this is not always the case. For smaller businesses, keeping the work in-house is going to be more cost efficient, however larger businesses will find that outsourcing frees up both time and resources – time and resources that can be better used elsewhere. Just think of the staff member who spends five hours a day printing. Couldn’t they be earning the company money by dedicating these five hours to something else?

To truly understand how much in-house printing costs, you should add together the cost of materials and the wages paid to staff when printing. You should then add on any extra money they could be making elsewhere, in order to reach a final figure. You can then compare this to the prices charged by printing companies, and understand how much the true cost of outsourcing will be.

Convenience

It’s no secret – printing is one of the most monotonous jobs anyone can do within a business. What’s more, it can take a long time to finish even one run of brochures, leaflets or documents. This is where outsourcing can really help, as it takes away the inconvenience from you and your staff, and instead places it at the feet of someone else. As mentioned earlier, this means that staff members can get on with more important jobs, therefore making your business more money in the process.

Of course, there are times when in-house printing can be more convenient though, such as when a job really needs to be done in a hurry. After all, it isn’t too convenient to arrange for an external company to print something in a rush, and then potentially have to go and collect. This can generally be prevented by proper planning though, which will ensure that all items are printed well before they are needed.

Quality

Quality is one area where using an external company wins hands down. It’s no surprise really, as the amount specialist printing companies invest in machinery, staff and other costs ensures that they are always able to offer the very best. In comparison, the printing tools owned by many businesses – even by many larger businesses – are usually far inferior, and only really good for printing simple text documents. This is because investing in expensive printers and other equipment would simply not be financially viable.

Control

When you send items off to be printed, the first you’ll see of them will probably be when they land on your doorstep, nicely packed together in one large bundle. The problem is simple: what if all of the printed documents are not what you wanted? You’ve then wasted lots of money, as well as waiting for a considerable amount of time. This can be avoided when printing in-house though, as you’ll be able to supervise the entire process, ensuring that everything is done exactly as you want it to be.

It is possible to print externally and still maintain control though, providing a process is put in place. The most vital part of this process is insisting that the print company sends an example before every job. That way you’ll be able to check that you’re getting exactly what you want.

So, as you can see, there are advantages and disadvantages to both types of printing, however on the whole, outsourcing is preferable for most businesses. So, if you are thinking about outsourcing, all you need to do now is search for the best company to suit your needs.