When Amazon was founded in 1994 at the height of the internet bubble, its concept was simple. Sell books on-line, then buy them from the publisher to fill the orders as needed.
The mantra was “virtual is good; bricks & mortar are bad.” It sounded good as a slogan but problems soon appeared. Logistics, availability, and volume demonstrated that 100%virtual was not always practical.
Fast-forward three decades to 2025, and Amazon now has hundreds of millions of square footage of warehouse space!
Why the 180º change in philosophy? Because sometimes it makes more sense to have your product on-hand, available for immediate delivery.
Is it better to order your books, manuals, publications, and other printed materials on a strictly “as needed” basis, or should you order larger quantities to cover future use as well?
There is no right “one-size-fits-all” answer. Careful evaluation of your individual situation is warranted.
Let’s say you or a client have a meeting, seminar, or speaking engagement coming up. You expect 30 people to attend. This is serious business, so you plan to provide your attendees with a book or a binder for the event.
You call Copresco. We print 30 sets and ship them to you, or better yet, to your meeting location to arrive a day or two before the event.
We could also send individual pieces to the home or office of each attendee. No waste, no spoilage, and you never even have to touch the material.
That’s the beauty of Copresco’s short run print on demand service. It’s the best, most efficient solution in many cases.
Now let’s look at the above scenario, but with a twist.
You have ten upcoming meetings scheduled for the next couple of months with 30 attendees each.
You could print 30 sets on-demand at Copresco just before each meeting.
That isn’t a bad choice, especially if you anticipate minor corrections or updates after the first meeting, or if you’re worried about last-minute registrations or cancellations.
On the other hand, if you are sure there will be no changes, it is more cost-effective to print all 300 sets at once.
If you order a three-month supply, what do you do with all that printing?Store it in your garage?
The answer, of course, is Copresco’s warehousing, distribution, and fulfillment services.
At Copresco, we help you discover the ideal quantity to maximize efficiency. We call this the “sweet spot.”
Like Goldilocks tasting porridge, the goal is to identify the print quantity that is just right.
What circumstances make larger quantities a good idea? Here’s food for thought.
If last minute orders are anticipated, having inventory on hand can mean the difference between air and ground shipment.
The cost of one overnight shipment could well make up for the cost of holding extra copies in inventory.
Having pre-printed inventory on hand allows at least one extra day for shipment saving both freight costs and hassles.
Sometimes other items are married with print.
Thumb drives, portfolios, notebooks, lanyards; all must be ordered in advance and stored at Copresco.
It may make sense to marry and package everything into kits ahead of time.
In the end, larger quantities are still less expensive on a per-piece basis.
If you know for certain that you’ll be needing another print run in the near future combining quantities may yield substantial savings.
In most cases it still makes sense to print only what you need at the moment.
Printing for the next 90 days of demand may make sense, whereas printing a year’s worth of materials ahead of time rarely pays off.
Copresco is not here to persuade you one way or another. We are here to help you find the best overall solution to fit your needs.
So when you need books or manuals call the company that has digital printing, full bindery, warehousing, inventory, distribution and fulfillment all under one roof.
Call Copresco.