Maintaining Relationships With Suppliers

Jamie discusses the benefits gained from maintaining relationships with suppliers in the print industry. Read on to learn more.

As a trade printer that specialises in working closely with print resellers and print brokers, we understand the importance a solid customer-supplier relationship. This is why we make it a priority to maintain strong partnerships with several leading equipment manufacturers. One of our longest, and most beneficial, relationships is with Durst. We recently visited their HQ in Europe to learn more about new equipment, print industry trends. It was also another opportunity to experience firsthand the benefits that a solid relationship provides ourselves and our customers alike.

Maintaining Relationships with Suppliers Leads to Savings for All

One of the biggest benefits of having a close relationship with equipment suppliers is the ability to pass on savings. The biggest of these are reduced turnaround time on new equipment, minimised equipment costs, and priority access to efficient equipment.

Thanks to having a good working relationship with our suppliers, we can often negotiate better prices and priority ordering. This allows us to offer our trade printing clients in Australia more competitive pricing per square metre. It also enables them to offer new product SKUs, higher volumes, and better pricing to their own customers ahead of the competition. This is of significant advantage in the fast-paced, competitive print industry.

Print Equipment Suppliers Prefer to Work With Us

It’s not just Australian print resellers and print brokers who prefer to work with us. Another advantage of maintaining relationships with equipment suppliers is that we can leverage our reputation, experience, and size. By partnering with us they benefit from having their equipment showcased in a best practice facility. Plus, they can see how the equipment works in a high-volume environment and get solid feedback. Just as we want be utilising the best equipment, large format equipment suppliers want to work with the best trade printers.

As a reputable trade printer, operating for over 18 years, we’ve become known for our reliability and professionalism. This reputation helps us to secure better deals from suppliers that others can’t match, leading to more savings for our clients.

Our size also allows us to make larger purchases and access equipment that isn’t viable for in-house production. Smaller print shops can then access the products they need through us without the capital outlay for new equipment.

Mutually Beneficial Knowledge Sharing

Another key benefit is the sharing of trade printing best practices and trends. We can work closely with our suppliers to stay informed about the latest trends in the industry. This knowledge allows us to provide our clients with the most current and effective solutions. Plus, since we’re maintaining relationships with suppliers in other markets we often see trends well in advance of Australia.

Our suppliers also benefit from our knowledge and experience in the industry,. This enables collaboration on new product development, and sharing of best practices for improved efficiency and quality.

Both parties are able to stay ahead of the curve and offer innovative products / solutions. This is particularly important in a still evolving industry like printing. New technologies and techniques are constantly being developed – early adopters have a distinct advantage.

Maintaining relationships with suppliers is crucial for our business, and it also offers many benefits to our clients. Through the combination of our experience and their knowledge we can secure better equipment and better deals. This all leads to customer value for you and the retail client.

To see just how competitive these relationships make our prices – sign up for a PrintIQ account today.