Margie Dana

So now that we are all “connected” all of the time, do you think it really matters if your commercial printer is local?

This is one of those questions that crops up from time to time on panels of print customers, or is posted online in a group or forum. It's something we could debate for a while, I know, because there are customers who strongly prefer to buy local and others who search for the best manufacturer regardless of location.

If all things were equal, it shouldn't matter where your printer is located. I'd bet that 90% of the time you'll be dealing with the printer virtually anyway. You'll have phone conversations and exchange lots of emails. You'll upload files to the printer's site, and you'll approve lots of digital proofs on your own desktop.

If you're searching for a print provider who can produce something very specific and out of the ordinary, you may start a local search and then expand that search if you can't find someone nearby with the right mix of production capabilities and price.

The total cost to you will also be a determining factor (when isn't it?). When considering a printer that's not local, you have to figure in freight. You want to think about where the bulk of your printed materials will be delivered. Having everything shipped to your corporate office is one thing. What if your materials get delivered to numerous locations all over the country? In that case, you might want a printer who's smack in the middle of the U.S. Freight costs influence your choice.

Another consideration is doing press checks. If you need to see a job on press, and you have no restrictions (cost, time, or otherwise) on flying across the country or beyond to do a press OK, you can work with printers anywhere in the world. But if flying out of state or even country to do press checks is out of the question, you'll work with printers close to home.

From time to time I ask buyers about location. I've found that the majority of print buyers work with printers who are local to where they work. They want to support their local businesses. And people who've been buying or designing for print for years have developed strong relationships with their sales reps and their service reps. For these people, there's no place like home when it comes to sourcing print.

Yet I know plenty of print customers who work for large corporations and source print far and wide. They tend to have particular needs for ongoing, large-scale print production, and they source the work with the best manufacturer they can find, regardless of location.

What do you think? Do you only work with local printers? Does it matter where they are?