Catalog Cost Cutting ’08, Part 1

2. Don’t print on-demand.
This technology has come a long way, but it’s not a real option for catalogers yet. Print-on-demand is used for very short runs of 500 copies or less. Good applications for this are journals and books, not catalogs.

3. Know your press equipment.
Eliminating small and on-demand printers, you’re best bet is to print with an established web-offset catalog printer. But there are differences between double web and single web printers. Specifically, there’s more flexibility with page count/basis weight combinations with a single web printer. Catalogers should know which is being used to take advantage of this flexibility, along with the various efficiencies of catalog size and basis weight.