Cost model
Does printing in house cost less than what you buy today?
It depends on your square footage, and the cost model shows you either way. Put in what you spend now on vinyl, sign panels, painted markings or a subcontractor, and the model shows what the same work costs printed in house, how many months to payback, and the five-year difference. When the numbers don't support the purchase, it says so.
Every application is different. Run it below, then we'll go through it with you on your own invoices: 910-632-0320.
The cost model
Run your numbers
Put in what you buy now and what you pay for it. The model shows what the same work costs printed in house, the payback and the five-year difference. Pricing one job instead? Switch to the job tab.
On these numbers, the printer package pays for itself in about 10 months, and the five-year difference is $213,170 after the package price.
Ink is a small slice of the price. Most of the job is your time on site, so price the setup and prep, not just the square feet.
Estimates from the numbers you enter, not a quote. Every application is different, and the team will run the model with you on your own invoices. Prices are for the printer package and include training, lifetime support and the software.
Calculator
Price a single job
Pick the closest size. Ink at about fifty cents a square foot and about $160 a litre, print time at 10 to 20 sq ft an hour. Estimates for the print only; labor, travel and prep aren't included.
Ink cost
About $150
at about 50¢ a sq ft
Ink used
0.9 L
at about $160 a litre
Print time
15 to 30 h
at 10 to 20 sq ft an hour
300 sq ft. The print head is a wear item, about $2,000 on the Pro. Maintenance is about twenty minutes every other day the machine runs.
Who it's for
Three ways to use it
For companies
What you stop paying for
You buy graphics today and want to know if printing them yourself costs less. You aren't adding a new line of spending. You're changing how a cost you already have gets paid.
You put in: application type, current method, annual square footage, current cost per square foot, sites or jobs a year, loaded labor rate, travel if multi-site, and the printer.
It shows: current annual spend, in-house cost with ink, labor, travel and upkeep itemized, year one net, payback in months, the five-year difference, and cost per square foot both ways. No revenue field.
For contractors
Cost per job
For flooring, painting, coatings and sign contractors who install graphics as part of a job. It compares the material you buy and install today with printing it yourself, one job at a time.
You put in: jobs a year with graphics, typical size per job, what the material costs per job today, install hours per job, your loaded labor rate, and the printer.
It shows: cost per job today and printed, the difference per job, jobs until the printer is covered, and cost per square foot both ways.
For service operators
What a job costs to produce
For sign shops, painters, print shops and operators who print for clients. It works job by job. What you quote the client is between you and the client.
You put in: jobs a month, typical job size, your hourly cost for operator time, travel per job, and the printer.
It shows: ink per job, hours on site per job, ink plus time plus travel per job, cost to produce a square foot, hours at the surface and maintenance time in a month.
Illustrative, not a quote. It leaves out taxes and financing.
Assumptions
The numbers behind the model
These run in every mode. Change any of them and the numbers follow.
Assumption
Value
Where it comes from
Ink
About $0.50 a square foot (ink is about $160 a litre)
Our running cost
Print speed
10 to 20 sq ft an hour
Published range; it moves with resolution and color mode. You pick the planning speed.
Setup per job
Set with you
Your crew's experience moves this
Print head
About $2,000 on the Pro, a wear item
Our parts price
Print heads a year
Set with you
Depends on hours in service
Maintenance
About twenty minutes every other day the machine runs
Our routine; the pump box circulates ink every twelve hours on its own
Days in service a year
Set with you
Drives maintenance time
Software, subscriptions, per-print fees
$0
There aren't any
Warranty
Up to five years on new machines
Hardware warranty
Printer package prices: Pro Series $44,995, Tech Series $39,995, Floor Series $39,995, certified reconditioned from $29,995.
Before you buy
When this does not pay
Sometimes the honest answer is to keep buying what you buy now. If you print a few hundred square feet a year, the printer takes a long time to cover itself, and a vendor is cheaper.
If most of your graphics sit above 11 feet, need to come down clean within a week, or are short runs on glass, vinyl is still the better buy.
If nobody on your team will keep up the twenty-minute routine every other day, don't buy one.
And if your project comes with a spec for floors, fire or cleaning, call us first. Every application is different, and we'll tell you what fits.
Check your numbers with us
Pull twelve months of invoices from every budget that touches a wall, a floor or a sign. In twenty minutes We can tell you whether your inputs look right and whether this makes sense for you.
Discovery call
Send us your numbers
Run the model above, then send it over. We will check the inputs against real jobs.
2157 Dexter St, Wilmington, NC 28403