Help...questions on contract printing!!!!

Hello, if anyone with advice could put there "two sense" in I would appreciate it. We are a screen printing company that has been around for 25 years. Our main bread and butter would be screen printing smaller jobs (average being less than 100) however I have the man power, as well as the money for used & or new eqiupment.

My question is this, what would you suggest I look into when it comes to doing contract work. What size of dryer/manufacturer, what size automatic machine/manufacturer, chiller, air compressor, etc.

I already have a Zelko 12station/10color that has run great for the last 15 years but I want a back up as well as having it for contract work. I do already have an air compressor and chiller, and I know the newer machines are all servo driven so I dont know if I would even need another air compressor.

Thanks in advance,
Steve

Location: 
United States

My advice is to test the waters first. Do enough jobs to see if it is worth it and your business model will support it. Contract printing is not for everybody. The margin is pretty small depending on your area so you need the volume in most cases to keep it going.