Re: Kinko's

[Elna Tymes <etymes -at- LTS -dot- COM>]

George -

> Remember that paper and prorated equipment cost are the most
> expensive components of any printing job.

Actually, no it's not - necessarily.  Depends on the kind of job.  The
labor costs in setting up and running a high-quality 4-color print job
are MUCH higher than Kinko's pays, normally.  Add in the labor involved
in adding a varnish, any perforations, scoring, or embossing, and it's
more.

About 5 years ago one could differentiate between printers on the basis
of who had Docutechs or similar setups and who didn't.  Kinko's couldn't
compete with the other Docutech-type organizations on price, but could
on turnaround and other kinds of service.  Now it appears they can
compete there - and obviously do, at least here.

> Since Kinko's is such
> a large chain, they have the clout to buy paper comparatively
> cheaply and resell it to their franchisees at very competitive
> rates. Ditto with highspeed copying/collating/binding equipment.
>
Granted that there are economies of scale, but paper is such a commodity
that I don't think Kinko's is getting much better deals than most.  As
for equipment, Kinko's is newer than most printing shops around here,
and hence the amortized cost of their equipment is probably higher.
Wire-O binding machines have been around for at least a decade, as have
machines to do other types of binding.

About 7-10 years ago it was common to find printers in one shop and
prepress people in another.  The printers were largely blue-collar,
union craftsmen, and knew little about computers.  The prepress folks
were computer geeks with an affinity for super-tweakable Macs, who
tended to regard printers with some disdain.  In order to survive
against the Docutech upstarts, printing companies began to bring
prepress operations in-house, and the printers started learning (and
respecting) computers and the geeks started learning about ink and paper
and craftsmen and service.  The whole printing business then got into a
slow-motion differentiation between the quick-turnaround shops that used
Docutechs and similar machines, and the print shops that offered a
higher quality product, but took longer and cost more.

Enter Kinko's.  Originally, the chain thought of itself as an office
extension for copying and similar tasks.  It has since metamorphosed
into considerably more.  However, even last year they were more costly
than other quick-print facilities for most low-volume book runs.  They
were, however, THE place to go if you wanted it TOMORROW.  And you paid
for it.

Which is why their latest bid was such an eye-opener. We got bids from
other quick-print facilities and expected to see them beat Kinko's on
price. Surprise! Apparently Kinko's really *is* getting into the
printing business!

Elna Tymes
Los Trancos Systems

 TECHWR-L (Technical Communication) List Information: To send a message
to 2500+ readers, e-mail to TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU -dot-  Send commands
   to LISTSERV -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU (e.g. HELP or SIGNOFF TECHWR-L).
  Search the archives at http://www.documentation.com/  or search and
browse the archives at http://listserv.okstate.edu/archives/techwr-l.html