Large Printing Plants and Publishing Equipment

Printing plants in the great cities are getting so large that they require large capital, and it is a question whether they must not soon follow the development of other large industrial establishments, operated by capital, engaging high-priced expert people to run them.

However, many of the good publishers of today were originally one-man propositions. There is usually a combination of a good salesman and a good mechanical manager who work well together, but whatever the personnel, the brains and ability must be there as the first essential toward profit-making.

The second essential is an up-to-date equipment. A good printer may maintain an existence with a lot of
Old machinery and type, but the money is made with the newest and best presses, feeders, folders, and supplies. When you see a machine that will produce ten per cent, more than the one you have, it pays to make the change and drop the old servant. Printing is a ten per cent, business, and with machinery that is ten per cent, behind the times you are just at 0.

As soon as a new printing office is moving well, the proprietor should begin to solicit the class of work that will fit in best where he needs it. This does not mean cutting prices to get fillers. The only filler worth having is one that pays its ten per cent, profit. The manager who once gets an office to paying a moderate profit, and builds up on the principle of keeping it balanced, is on the road to success.