As a business owner, you have to be sensitive to profit, loss, cash flow, and expectations. It’s challenging enough without running into supply or delivery issues.
In Oscar Wilde’s "The Importance of Being Earnest," one of the main characters displays a dashingly carefree attitude towards life’s responsibilities and expectations. While this may work splendidly for a Victorian satire, it’s a harder role for a business owner to assume. In a perfect world, shipments would never go astray, electronic chips would always work, paper would never be dented, and printers would never require cleanings or repair. Unfortunately, this is not a perfect world, and any one of those things mentioned above can be enough to seriously disrupt your workflow, shut down your production, and smash your deadline into smithereens. But don’t panic - there’s hope! With a little bit of foresight and planning, your disaster can become a miss-aster.
One of the easiest ways to mitigate disaster is to make sure you have ample supplies on hand, and one of the most overlooked items to keep in stock is the maintenance tank. Like it or not, your printer requires a maintenance tank to run and when that baby is full, it’s game over. Even if your tank isn’t full, if the electronic chip reader- in-charge decides there’s not enough space to run a print or cleaning cycle, you are dead in the water. No amount of begging, pleading, cursing, or yelling (and I’ve tried all four) will make the printer override the maintenance tank error, and you are out of luck until a replacement tank arrives. A $39.00 investment can easily save your thousand dollar job.
Ink is another item where a spare cartridge is always recommended. Ink has an unopened shelf life of two years (or more!), so an extra cartridge on the shelf can save you a great deal of heartache in the studio. Have a spare set on hand at all times, and the minute you take one from the shelf, order another to replace it. It’s also not a bad idea to inspect your ink cartridge when it arrives.
Make sure it is the correct color, size, and part # for your printer, and open the cardboard box to make sure the tank hasn’t ruptured or leaked. If there is a problem, the best time to discover the issue is the minute it arrives, and not the evening before your job is due.
Paper is slightly different, in that most packaging will indicate if the product inside is damaged or not. If the box is shredded and you can see the roll of paper inside… it’s probably not usable. If the corners are smashed in so that your rectangular box is more of an oval… it’s probably not usable. If you notice damage after delivery, call us right away so we can get a replacement to you. Hopefully you purchased this item as your back up roll, so you can just pop the spare roll from your studio supply closet in the printer and continue with your job.
As a business owner, you have to be sensitive to profit, loss, cash flow, and expectations. It’s challenging enough without running into supply or delivery issues.
If you’re ready to stock up for the new year or have any questions about Epson inkjet printers, ink supplies, or media options, please contact our inkjet team at inkjet@imagingspectrum.com or by phone at 800-342-9294. Let’s make 2018 a great year, and happy printing!
