Lowest Cost Of Ownership
The concept we coin of ‘Lowest cost of ownership’, is achieved when the fair price of print is paid using the least amount of your tangible and intangible resources.
From design to the end product there can be number of different stakeholders who have different reasons for getting involved. In addition, the entire buying process would involve different sub-contractors and all this adds their own costs.
At Evolution, we profess to be a ‘one stop solution’ provider and when we get involved in a project at the onset – the planning stage, through to execution and to final delivery and even a post assessment stage – we can be there to provide support, comfort and assurance that any project will meet its objectives in the most efficient manner. We believe that these are the only resources you need to apply other than paying for the product.
We will work seamlessly with your teams, keeping them informed of the progress and deal with any issues. Where, in any eventuality, we cannot make a firm decision, we will immediately cascade back to your team and help minimize its impact.
In addition to this, you need to be aware of certain questions.
Are you fully aware of possible processes?
Firstly, there are changes which have come about, and the print landscape altering because of the betterment of technology. In our lifetime, we have seen many intermediary processes completely disappear, whilst this is a distinct advantage in getting the product to fruition, it brings its own challenges. One has to be aware of these changes and how they may potentially impact and how work has to be done to suit those processes.
How do you currently buy print?
Is the procurement process a separate department or is the buying a fragmented responsibility of several. Print Buyers can be astute, and there are a lot of people who keep abreast of technology, perhaps have a pulse on the market place and are able to get the best deal, only to find, perhaps that it has accumulated costs in other areas. In all cases, whatever the process is being used, it impacts your bottom line.
But, we get a minimum of THREE quotes for all our work?
This has become extremely popular in the last few years and larger companies, Associations and Charities are no exception. This method has its own flaw – the only driver to a ‘good deal’ is price. Our experience suggests, that where price is the only driver, you will have to compromise on quality, service, and turnaround times, not to talk about continuity or even understanding of your objectives. Whilst the argument of getting a keen price is valid, and there are some printers (and print management companies) who may want to make exceptional profits, these opportunities have been greatly reduced due to the over-supply in our competitive market place.