Oh oh..if this not a new idea..this seems to be a SPAM!

Anyway tell us more about Home Market. IF its a free soft ware..how does it makes money?

It makes money buy charging the client to print his items. We would be the printer using downtime on other peoples machines.

The software does not exist, just kicking ideas around at the moment

Hi Rich2809, I posted about this company in another idea thread but I think that Vistaprint already does something very like this.

Whenever I order from them it comes from a different country, volumes can be as low as 10 items (or 1 item for T-Shits) so leads me to wonder if they they are doing exactly as you suggest and using downtime on a farm of print machines in various countries. I could be wrong but you may want to check into them to see.
HTH's!

Cates,
Can you tell us the site you use?
Tommy

Hi Tommy,

It's http://www. vistaprint.com.au
but the NL site is
http://www.vistaprint.nl

(FYI: many of the items I've order through Vista have come from printers in Holland and Belgium.)

Catah

Thanks, It is not a vistaprint type idea.I want to be able to provide a low cost service that enables people to print low volumes via our website. This is a template model. A little like blurb.com

Are you talking about offset printers or digital (copier based) printers?

What about the setup time for the printers?

How will the job materials be delivered?

What about proofing?

There is a lot of work put into printing. I know the trouble you're going through and stuff; I've been in the same situation. Interesting idea... but I don't think it will work.

LarsBell

The printers will be offset. The proof will be done by client. The materials will be via UPS FEDEX etc

Arthaus

It will work. The over capacity in the print world is enormous. I want to tap into it via the internet.

Rich2809:
Ok, maybe I'm missing something here but what makes this idea so different to blurb.com or vistaprint from a supply chain and online submission point of view?

You intend to be the middle-man on your site and farm the submitted print data to various industrial printers with downtime just as they do.
Can you explain your supply chain model better for us please?

Without major $ in s/w development by you in template and interface design, how do you see the home market (which you say is part of your target) submittingprint jobs to industrial machines via your site when they simply don't have access to the file types and print prep software which these machines require?

Hi Cateh

We are investing in the templates for the home market.
We would be offering the service as a bolt on for existing sites.
I.E print out your family tree that ypu have compiled, or the recipes you want in a cook book etc.
I do not belive that blurb sub contract their work. They own the machines.

logistically challanging

yes but doable

not easy to dent the fedex/kinkos market dominance

i don't like it

I like the idea.

In the offset world isn't the the setup cost associated to every new batch (is it 'plate lock-up'? Don't know the exact english term!) pretty high? The price per copy of a small batch would skyrocket.

In the digital printing world... this is AFAIK already done, for example through prepress agencies. On the Web search for "print-on-demand", "Print Quantity Needed"...

Two basic assumptions need to be addressed:
1- how much down time is there on industrial printers? I know of several who aren't hurting- THEY look to make sure there is little down time.
You need to illustrate where and when this is. Also, if it was during "downtime" how do you guarantee returns on time?

2- that there are folks who would want to wait for low number print run, that don't mind a long possible wait that can't find an affordable alternative quick and easier.

I know that this is old but, I have 6 komoris and 4 indigos. On the shet fed komori, the set up time and cost of plates makes short runs expensive - even ganged, the set up charge alone would price me out.

On my indigo, I can print one sheet or five thousand at the same cost per sheet and click charge.

Am I missing something?