by Milt Vine
Everything you know is wrong...eventually (or so it seems). That's why I don't possess an endless supply of business maxims. Every member of the printing industry must be endlessly flexible, and most assumed truths eventually prove suspect. But one precept I do believe in is this: Find what you do well and do it. Let someone else do everything else.
For example, most of us don't fill out our companies' tax forms, draft our own leases or negotiate our own insurance rates. Instead, we turn to professionals, making use of their knowledge and training while freeing ourselves to do the work we do best. What brings this whole subject to mind is a recent discussion we had at Seattle Bindery about the practice of storing dies.
There was a time when that topic wouldn't have come up. Seattle Bindery didn't always use dies, and so wasn't called on to store them. But Blake Letterpress was added to the family last year, and the skilled technicians there with years of experience in foil dies, emboss/deboss dies and die-cutting dies have given us the knowledge to offer additional expertise and services.
So now we store dies, and we've all learned plenty. One lesson is that storage is a valuable service, much as warehousing is helpful for the host of other items that come through here. We've also realized that dies, like any product, require particular care during storage. And we've learned that it's helpful to review trade customs when offering a new service so that both vendor and customer are on certain ground.
Warehousing Service. Interestingly, in every focus group we¹ve held, customers have listed warehousing as a growing need because of their own diminishing space. But space isn't the only consideration when it comes to storing dies. Let's face it: dies aren't exactly pallet-sized. But they can get lost; they can be misplaced. Since dies are small and used late in the production process, details such as ordering and inspection can get lost in the shuffle. Ordering alone can be a complicated process (film positive or negative, emulsion side up or down, etc.).
My guess is that many printers have been in the annoying situation of having a presentation folder waiting to be foilstamped because the die was ordered incorrectly or late. But the printer shouldn't have to worry about that. Leave it to professionals instead. Many postpress houses have computer systems set up to track each die from the time it¹s ordered, through use, and into appropriate storage. Dies in inventory can then be researched from your keyboard.
Die Care. It's important to remember as well that dies are made of soft metals, such as copper and magnesium. They are easy to nick, and we've all seen how one small imperfection in a die can ruin a job completely, costing both money and time. Therefore, storage methods become important. We can't simply throw a die in a clasp envelope, toss the envelope on a shelf and forget about it until the next time it's needed. Think of two pennies in your pocket for a week. They bang around in there, and though the changes during that time might be miniscule, the pennies have been affected. And it's the same with two dies stored in one envelope. Professionals know the best methods of storage, and how to inspect a die after storage to make certain that no changes have taken place.
Business Relationships. These are all reasons why we now encourage printers to let us store their dies. It's a service we don't charge for because we know it makes life easier for our customers, and because it helps establish that all-important relationship between businesses that work together on a regular basis. We like our customers to know when they start a job that there will be no scrambling around to find all the necessary components. If we're already storing their dies, it's simple for them to call us and be assured that everything will be in place. If it¹s a new die, they know we can order it and have it in time, because we already know their preferences.
We're not alone in that, either. Most good postpress houses offer die ordering, handling and storage. It simply makes good business sense. It also makes sense to review trade customs concerning storage, which was the point of our recent discussion. The customs adopted by the Printing Industries of America, the National Association of Printers and Lithographers and the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation make it clear that the customer owns the dies (you'll find a specific discussion on this at NAPL). Postpress houses are simply providing storage, care and tracking. We think that's a valuable service, and hope that more printers will continue to agree. After all, a relationship allows each of us to do what we do best.
Milt Vine is president of Seattle Bindery, a postpress house specializing in custom
tabs and presentation folders; folding and stitching; foil stamping, embossing and
diecutting; plastic spiral, Wire-O® and perfect binding. You can reach Milt at
206/682-2558. ©1998, Seattle Bindery. Reprinted from Printers Northwest Trader, December
1998.