Don’t grow your print operations until growing pains force you to.
All businesses reach a point where they simply can’t produce anymore. Output grinds to a halt, mistakes happen, and costs spiral. Scaling print operations is difficult – but most businesses don’t plan for it until it’s too late.
The good news?
If you have the right hardware and software solutions in place growth can be much easier. Here’s another great news bump:
Most of the solutions you need already exist. You just have to know where to look.
Let’s dive into:
- Why Scaling Print Operations is Timely
- Hardware Considerations When Scaling Print
- Software That Will Bring Everything Together
- How Product Traceability Fits Into Your Plan
Why Scaling Print Operations is Timely
Printing is having a moment.
Commercial printing as an industry is expected to grow from $531 billion in 2025 to $842.44 billion by 2034. Shorter terms gains are just as impressive.
When an entire industry is growing that means several things:
More demand for printing.
More opportunity for your business.
More competition.
But here’s the kicker…
Growing demands growth on your business as well. Going from “busy” to “overwhelmed” is often the result of companies scaling too fast without proper infrastructure.
73.5% of companies plan to focus on increasing productivity. That means getting your hardware and software foundations set before attempting to scale.
Otherwise your production line becomes bogged down with bottlenecks. Late deadlines, upset customers, and backlog take away from your revenue.
When you invest in your infrastructure early, you set yourself up for success down the line.
Hardware Considerations When Scaling Print
All of the best software in the world can’t help you if your print hardware isn’t up to par.
Your hardware is the foundation of your operation. Before you even consider what software you need, make sure you have the right hardware.
Pick the Right Printing Technology
Does your USB inkjet printer at the office actually cut it? If you suddenly doubled or tripled output, would your printers be able to handle the speed?
Printing technology comes in all different shapes and sizes. Not all printers are built for high-volume, high-speed production environments.
When it comes to printing for product traceability solutions businesses need hardware that can handle the throughput. Print commands need to be executed flawlessly every time for brands to track their product effectively.
Industrial Continuous Inkjet Printers are one of the best options for businesses looking to scale without losing quality or production time. CIJ printers have the speed and connectivity required for traceability coding across packaging, bottles, parts and components.
Here are a few things to consider when selecting the right hardware for your scaling business:
- Speed: Is your printer fast enough to handle increases in production? Can it print at the speeds your production lines are moving?
- Versatility: Can your printer handle a variety of substrates? Things like plastic, glass, metal, cardboard etc.
- Durability: Is your printer built for the industrial environment? Dust, moisture, and vibration are all things that hardware should be able to withstand.
- Expandability & Integration: Can your printers integrate to your current production line? You shouldn’t have to replace everything to scale up.
Getting your hardware needs figured out before you scale will save you a lot of headaches later.
Plan for Redundancy
Here’s a question worth considering…
What happens if your printer goes offline? Every machine breaks down every once in a while. For small businesses this may not be a huge problem. But at scale?
Downtime costs money, fast.
It’s important to plan for redundancy when choosing your hardware. That doesn’t mean doubling your machine count. But it does mean having replacement parts available or hardware that can be fixed quickly.
Buying into hardware with modular pieces that can be replaced overnight can save you tons of time if something goes wrong.
Maintenance is Key
This one is often overlooked by growing businesses.
More use equals more wear and tear. You’ll want to have a preventive maintenance schedule going as soon as your business starts to scale. Printers need to be cleaned, old parts need replacing, and outdated firmware can cause huge delays.
By staying on top of maintenance you’ll avoid unnecessary downtime.
Software That Will Bring Everything Together
That covers the hardware side of scale. But what about software? Print operations need solid software solutions just as much as they need hardware.
Workflow Automation
Does your print production process feel like a roller coaster ride? Stopgap solutions and manually created files will kill the momentum of a business.
Quickly.
Automating your print production workflow is the best place to start when looking for software solutions. Manual processes are slow, and when your business is only doing a couple hundred prints a day, manual might be okay.
But when you start scaling? There’s no way a team can manually monitor and manage everything that is going on.
Workflow automation software can:
- Minimize human error when it comes to job setup and scheduling
- Streamline file prep and prepress work
- Reduce time spent routing jobs to specific printers based on job requirements
- Create customizable real-time production dashboards
Print Management Software
Imagine if you had a software solution that allowed you to monitor your entire printing operation from start to finish.
- Job tracking
- Cost analysis
- Inventory management
- Quality control
That software exists. Print management software solutions are made to integrate directly with your production hardware to create an end-to-end print operation that runs itself.
Having software that allows you to automate, integrate, and create transparent workflows is the future of growing print businesses.
Cloud-Based Print Management
Another piece of the software puzzle that is really starting to pick up steam are cloud-based print management platforms.
Cloud platforms allow you scale your management software as your business grows. There’s no need for costly on-premise servers and you can manage multiple production facilities remotely.
How Product Traceability Fits Into Your Plan
Something that hasn’t been covered yet is product traceability.
Monitoring your products through every step of production might not be important to your business right now. But what about down the road?
Governments and regulatory bodies are enforcing stricter serialization and traceability guidelines than ever before. All products need to have clear traceability from the moment they are produced to the moment they are delivered.
That’s where product traceability solutions come into play.
This particular market was valued at $7.50 billion in 2024 and is expected to reach $25.75 billion by 2032.
You read that right.
As governments and industries impose more stringent requirements on product traceability, print businesses will be relied upon to provide that bridge.
Product traceability solutions break down into 2 important segments:
- Coding and marking: Products are marked with some sort of unique identifier. A QR code, barcode, date code, batch number etc.
- Data integration: Printing systems need to integrate with ERP software and warehouse management systems to keep track of products throughout the supply chain.
Building traceability into your print operations from the get-go will make your business’s life exponentially easier.
The Takeaway
Trying to scale your printing operations can be stressful. But if you have the right hardware and software solutions in place it doesn’t have to be.
Businesses looking to scale their print operations should invest in hardware that:
- Is built for speed
- Can keep up with high-volume production
- Integrates to your growing production line
Software should focus on:
- Automating tedious manual workflows
- Tracking jobs from start to finish
- Allowing you to easily manage your production facilities
Finally, take product traceability into consideration when planning for growth. Regulations are only going to get tougher. Building traceability into your process from the start will save you tons of time down the road.
