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Repair or Replace: Weighing the Options for Your Wide-Format Printer
Introduction
As a service company, every day we receive calls for repair of wide format (typically solvent) printers. Due to the industrial nature of this equipment and the inherent costs of operation and maintenance, many of these repairs can get quite expensive, as our bills attest. Though this is part of the cost of doing business, most people never plan on maintenance for their printers, and typically only have work performed when the unit breaks. Often, they compensate for degrading print quality by slowing the printer down, manually perform more frequent maintenance cycles or worse, deliver sub-standard work to their customers.
So you may have reached this point with your printer, and you need to make that all-important decision – do I fix it, or do I replace the printer? This venue does not allow me to be brand-specific, and some of the manufacturers call their printers parts by different names. However, there are enough common elements to most of the popular printers out there that allow for some good subjective judgments when all the facts are considered.
At the entry level of solvent printing, there are two main printhead technologies, each surrounded by different ink systems and sub systems. These printheads range in price from just under $1000 to over $2500. Clearly proper care of these printheads (many units have more than one) is paramount not only for optimum printer performance but also for reducing long-term maintenance costs.
Though the sellers of this equipment rarely if ever discuss service costs and intervals with their customers during the initial sales cycle, all such printers need periodic preventive maintenance performed. Without any new printheads being part of the mix, the cost of a standard PM can run from $1000 to $2000 for time and materials, plus the technician’s travel to their site.
Typically a PM will include parts such as dampers, pumps, capping/maintenance stations or individual caps, various belts, and so on. Actually, a full bill of materials for a PM may vary widely from model to model. However, we have seen that the overall maintenance costs are similar from model to model – for the $2000 PM, the printheads are more expensive variety, but the PM often “holds” longer than for the $1000 PM model before another PM is required, and the heads tend to be more durable. The printheads are typically far more sensitive on the $1000 PM machine and far more prone to damage and clogging if the printer is offline. Though some industry players say these heads can be recovered, we have had far more success with the more rugged industrial heads on the higher $ PM units, again not being brand-specific.
Return on Investment (ROI)
In the end, so much about running a business and making important financial decisions comes down to ROI, or Return on Investment. Here is a typical scenario to help you with a repair or replace decision:
You have a printer that cost you around $30,000 initially. We often see 4-6 year old printers in this price class now selling for around $5000 if they are in less than stellar condition - which is likely why you are looking to have it repaired in the first place. Let’s say you have budgeted the same $30,000 for a new printer and will try to sell the old unit on your own. For the most part, we see dealers are loathe to take in used equipment on a trade, so the sale of your old printer will be on you.
That gives you a net cost of $25,000 for that new printer, which on a 5-year lease will run around $580 per month plus tax, which will put your monthly payments at around $625/month (this rate will vary somewhat depending on your credit rating and other factors).
Now let’s factor in the costs of some of the preventive maintenance jobs mentioned above. Though most people wince at the $1000-$2000 price tag, as they have no choice they generally will jump in on these figures with little hesitation, but begin to balk when installing new printheads enters the discussion. With the new printheads in the mix, the bills can easily get into the $3000-$4000 range, and we have had some full system rebuilds with as many as 4 heads where the final bill is $6000 or more.
Let’s get back again to the ROI part of this discussion. After all, isn’t it informed decisions that make your business flow more smoothly and most important, profitably? The math is actually very simple – for the $3000 fix, your ROI is less than 5 months; for a $4000 fix, less than 7 months. Remember, should you choose to purchase new equipment, you will still be on the hook for the rest of the 5 year lease term, but with the repair you are done and can begin to “fill the hole” immediately and will be ahead of the game in a relatively short period of time.
Granted, it is not always that simple, as often other factors come in to the decision-making process:
• There is exciting new technology you feel the need to be a part of.
• Your old printer has been giving you steady problems and you find that you have to invest in expensive repairs every couple of months.
• It is simply time - you just want a new printer.
On the surface, it may be hard to argue with any of these points, but let’s quickly analyze the impact of each:
New Technology
• Though often exciting, new technology is often fraught with problems unforeseen by the manufacturer, with quirks in the operation of the unit and/or the RIP printer driver which is usually also new.
• Not uncommonly, the new equipment simply is not yet stable, given the marketing pressures to just get it on the street in time for a show or to make budget. You may be an unwitting guinea pig.
• There is the inevitable learning curve, which has a cost in down time during training, plus inefficiencies as your shop gets up to speed with the new equipment.
- Despite claims from manufacturers, not uncommonly new ink technology has its own set of issues: Proper adhesion to your favorite materials, UV fade resistance, formulation stability, touted flexibility in the case of UV curable inks, dealing with temperature extremes, and even water fastness or other chemical resistance.
• Even with all the testing that manufacturers do, there is no way they run the gamut of possibilities that exist in the field – and their 3rd generation cyan may not match the 1st, so the wrap panel you suddenly have to reprint may not match its’ neighbor anymore, for example.
• As your prior equipment aged, you likely have realized lower costs of operation - first of all with no lease payment, and secondly with ink costs which in many cases decline as printers have been on the street for a while. Though there are cases where new ink technologies carry significant benefits such as no VOC’s, some of this new ink technology is quite expensive when using the $/square foot formula.
After all, the ink is the holy grail for the equipment manufacturers, and often high ink costs come with the new technology.
Now, if this new technology is much faster and you can put it in the same footprint in your shop, or if it offers significantly lower ink costs through a bulk inking system – those are compelling arguments to consider in your decision-making process.
Your Old Printer Is Giving You Problems Too Often
Admittedly, there are times where a piece of equipment has given you its life with good service, and that it is time to simply move on with something new. It may be older technology, or may have been the first in a product line where the later models offered significant improvements in speed or reliability, etc. However, we have found in many cases if a repair is done properly the first time, that work will carry the piece of equipment for some time and not necessitate further repairs so quickly. We strongly resist the urge to save customers marginal dollars on a job when not replacing a particular part can cause problems again in the short term. The cost of travel time and labor is too great, as is the cost of down time for our customers.
How can you avoid falling into this trap?
• Be involved in the repair process. Have the technician explain what parts are being replaced and why, and ask what other related parts may need replacing now or in the near future. Determine the cost of the parts, and the impact on the labor portion of the job if they are replaced at the same time.
• Going a little further on this concept – Do it right the first time! For example, if you are replacing a $1000 printhead, replace the $30 damper at the same time (price is model dependent). The technician takes the dampers off when he removes the printhead. Plus, some dampers have filters in them, and yes, they are a consumable part. Why call a technician back to replace dampers? Keep in mind there may be 4-32 or even more dampers depending on your printer model.
• Insist on detailed service records as to what was replaced for any given repair.
• Keep these service records. They will help the technician on any future repairs, and minimize the likelihood of someone replacing a part at what is too short a service interval, saving you money.
Unless the equipment is really toasted (major electrical repairs, multiple issues, etc.), not to repair is really not a good option. If you don’t repair and simply unplug the unit, it may lose pretty much any value it may have had, as printheads dry out and other systems fail along with it.
You Weigh The Options and Choose To Replace
When all is considered, you may choose to replace anyway. Whatever you do, you will want to protect your investment for resale or for trade in purposes. Here are some thoughts:
• If it is still working but the performance has degraded, print a series of verification prints such as nozzle checks, industry-standard quality tests, etc. to show where the printer “was” when you took it out of production.
• If it is still a worthy piece of equipment, invest in a flush kit to get all the ink out of the lines. Keep in mind that this process has limited effectiveness. Once charged, it is very, very difficult to remove all ink, pigment, and particulates from a printing system, as eventually the flush will dry out too, leaving your printer dried out, almost as if ink had been left in it for all intents and purposes.
• If it generally works but needs significant repairs such as printheads, you may be better off selling it “as is” rather than repairing it and then trying to sell the unit - unless you can sell it yourself. There are several factors at work here. If you choose to repair the printer, you are essentially doing so at “retail” price for the parts and labor. Most buyers will not acknowledge that, any more than you will get 100% of your investment in the beautiful kitchen you put in your home in order to sell it.
If you want to get $8000 for your printer, why put $4000 into it, when you could possibly sell it for $4000 and let someone else worry about the repairs? This is especially the case when selling it through a dealer or repair company, either of whom could repair it at “wholesale” for the parts and labor. We run into this all the time. We have just repaired a printer for someone and they now wish to sell it. As a perfectly working unit, it is now like a low-mileage car worth far more than book value because of the functionality it again has, but you may never get what it’s really “worth.” Whatever you do, move as quickly as possible and find out from your technician what is needed to keep the unit functional so the self-maintenance routines can run to protect the printheads. As we tell people all the time, it is all about keeping the heads wet in a solvent printer.
The Importance of Regular Maintenance
Given the cost of this equipment and of repairs, we are constantly amazed and the poor care and neglect of many printers in the field. Equally important, we are appalled by the apparent lack of training given to the users of this equipment, at least by what we are told. This section could be an article in itself, but here are a few very basic pointers:
• Ask lots of questions during the installation about daily maintenance requirements, and of any technician who comes to service your printer. There are certain basics you need to follow, but most technicians have their own pet techniques for doing things. Learn some of them.
• These are not bad questions to ask even at the pre-purchase stage, not only to see what you are getting into, but also to see how familiar the seller is with the equipment. If a salesman doesn’t know, ask to speak with his technician. At a minimum, this will give you an idea of the quality of support you can expect post-purchase.
• Keep ‘em clean! That means printheads, cap station, wipers, etc – basically any area where ink is exposed and can accumulate.
• Keep the heads wet. Whether it be head washings, nozzle cleanings/wash (names vary according to printer), run as recommended. Even better, if you are not busy printing, make up a small file of a variety of colors that will use every ink in the printer and run it daily. It only needs to be a few inches long, just get the heads firing. Also, don’t forget light cyan and magenta, or other non-CMYK variants. The ink needs to be kept moving in these units.
The Bottom Line
The bottom line, this is no longer a fledgling industry and the technology has begun to stabilize to a large degree. There is always the bleeding edge of new ink technologies, higher speeds, etc. that can cause some issues at the outset. However, with proper care and maintenance, most of today’s wide format solvent printers, properly cared for and maintained, can give you years of dependable, reliable, and profitable service.
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