By Gudrun Bonte
Even in a buoyant market, running a signmaking business of any size comes with challenges. Among the constant reminders of this are customers’ expectations to have their jobs produced faster and more cheaply than ever before. Another is the uncertainty of predicting what level and type of work will come through the door.
Indeed, these are age-old problems for the sign industry. In a world where more and more business is being handled ‘on the move,’ however, away from the office and with an expectation of instant access to information, sign shop owners and managers may well wonder if and how they can stay abreast of daily operations without being rooted to their production room floor.
This worry is understandable. In comparison to other businesses, the main focus of signmaking is still on the physical hardware it uses. Nevertheless, software has been developed over the years to facilitate and improve the efficiency of sign production.
Cloud-based software allows these applications’ many features to be stored online and delivered conveniently to signmakers’ desktop and notebook computers, complemented by companion apps for tablet computers and smartphones. Users can access simple text layout and vinyl cutting capabilities, generate job quotes and reports and store new files in the cloud. Sign shop owners can monitor production while they are out of the office, benefiting from constant connectivity with the workplace, in much the same way as e-mail and consumer apps keep people connected in their personal lives with their families and friends.
While cloud computing may have received a lot of hype in recent years, the benefits have already been real for thousands of sign shops in terms of increasing their flexibility and, in some cases, transforming the way they conduct business.
The cloud helps extend software already developed over the years to facilitate efficient sign production.
On-demand tools
The rise of cloud computing has revolutionized the traditional models of purchasing
software, with the introduction of more convenient subscription options. Given the aforementioned uncertainty about the level and consistency of orders from customers, the ability to pay for software as and when required eliminates significant capital investments for sign businesses and, over the long term, will allow them to reduce ongoing operational costs.
So, instead of committing to a large, one-off purchase by picking up a business or technical software package off the shelf in a bricks-and-mortar store, which also entails higher production and distribution costs for the suppliers of such products, signmakers can now simply download software from the cloud for graphic design, raster image processor (RIP) functionality, wide-format printing, digital cutting and other production tasks. By opting for monthly subscriptions, they will benefit from always running the
latest versions or iterations of that software. This is also the case when automatic updates are included in the price.
In terms of flexibility, though, the strongest advantage of the cloud-based subscription model is the ability to accept last-minute customer orders and respond to new business opportunities by purchasing and deploying new software immediately and, if appropriate, only for short periods.
For all of these reasons, accessing signmaking software via the cloud is proving increasingly popular across the industry.
