Print Production Buyer

Three quotes for the same job — actually the same job.

Your Print Production Buyer writes the specification before asking anyone for a price, which is the only way three bids can be compared. Without it, printers quote different stocks, different finishing, and different quantities, and the lowest number wins by leaving something out.

It knows the trade's customs before they cost you. A print order has a tolerance either side of the quantity you asked for, and you are billed for what actually arrives unless a guaranteed count was requested when the job was quoted. A quote has a shelf life. A proof is not a press sheet. None of this is a printer being difficult, and none of it should be a surprise on the invoice.

It runs the proof cycle properly. The right person approves the right thing, and the job does not go on press over an unresolved correction or a blocked final read.

It reconciles the delivery before the bill is approved. Count, quality against the approved proof, and the date against your mail date. A short delivery that puts your mailing under its planned quantity is raised immediately, because that changes what the campaign costs per thousand.

It watches the schedule. A press date that slips moves the day your mail lands, and you hear about it while there is still room to move something.

You approve every award and every dollar.