What We Do
Print Production Optimization
Is your pressroom running efficiently, or are hidden costs draining your profits?
Our Print Production Optimization (PPO) uncovers and eliminates the hidden waste traditional audits miss – process and procedures that allow you to get the most out of your pressroom.
Change jobs like Formula 1 pit stops and streamline operations for faster, less interrupted printing.
From quick fixes to complete operational restructuring, PPO helps printers significantly reduce costs, maximize productivity and increase profitability – without expensive press investments or upgrades. ROI in a matter of months or even weeks.
Do you want to know where you are really losing a lot of money? Use our experience, built up from experts with know-how of the best printers in the world.
Most print shops track costs, output and productivity – but only days or weeks later with the post-calculation and because the KPI figures cannot show the causes, the search for causes becomes a puzzle and at some point only the deviation is recorded. This means that the most companies are not working at full strength to reduce their costs and inefficiencies.
- Do your post-calculations often show worse results than your pre-calculations?
- Are your salespeople saying that your production is too expensive?
- Is your competition consistently offering lower prices than you?
- Do your KPIs signal that something is wrong, but the root cause always seems to be different—and hard to pinpoint?
Testimonial
“After just one week of Print Production Optimization, Ralf had documented the main time wasters and made recommendations for action. Now that we have implemented them, we have saved so much production time that we can almost do it without an entire line.”
COO, Greater Europe Can Producer
OUR METHODOLOGY
Print Production Optimization
Print Production Optimization (PPO) is tailored specifically for print shops, packaging producers, and pressroom environments. With deep expertise in offset, digital, flexo, screen, and gravure printing, we deliver actionable insights, precise optimizations, and sustainable results.
How It Works
Here’s how PPO transforms your pressroom:
- Print Production Check: We start with a structured on-site assessment to uncover inefficiencies and identify hidden improvement potential.
- Recommendations for Action: You receive a tailored roadmap with clear, actionable steps to optimize your processes.
- Implementation: We support you in putting the recommended measures into practice, ensuring real operational impact.
- Follow-Up Check / Audit: A second assessment verifies the improvements and uncovers additional potential.
- PitStop Training: Based on your specific needs, we train your team using methods inspired by Formula 1 pit crews—focusing on faster set-ups, less downtime, and higher efficiency.
Print Production Check
In other words, we review your printshop’s performance-related processes and procedures, develop optimization options, highlight weaknesses and strengths, and, if you wish, work with you to implement them.
When Should You Consider PPO?
Consider PPO if you’re:
When your sales department is faced by low prices from competitors
When there are increasing differences between preliminary and final costs
When you are considering new investments for capacity or technical reason
When you want to know how you stack up against the competition on print quality and quantity.
Business ROI
A medium-sized printer improved its processes, reduced makeready times and cut machine downtime with PPO, saving around 30 per cent in production time for the same jobs. This is the equivalent of a full shift and has enabled the company to postpone a major new investment for several years.
Case Studies
Streamlining Pressroom Operations
A European packaging group with several production sites had completely different quality and production figures despite similar orders and machines. Production at some sites was 40 to 60 per cent more expensive than at others.
Using Print Production Optimization, we were able to identify the causes and work with the customer to eliminate them. The cost savings from these measures are well into the millions of euros.
The customer now wants to take the next step and pit its sites against each other in a kind of competition for makeready and production times. The winner gets five days’ extra vacation, and the other sites are given the winner’s setup times as a target.
*Results from real industry implementations; company names are withheld due to NDAs.
Testimonial
“Ralf’s knowledge and expertise have revolutionised our press room. We are now working in a leaner, smarter and much more cost-effective way. If you don’t know Ralf, you don’t know printing technology.“
Operations Director, European Packaging Manufacturer
Print Production Consultants
Ralf Gumbel
Partner
Printing Industry & Packaging
Trained as a printer, studied printing technology as one of the best in his year, and was the winner of the Hubert Sternberg Prize.
Extensive experience in the printing supply industry as head of application technology. Comprehensive knowledge of printing inks, printing press construction, and all technical and economic challenges of printing technology and businesses.
Profound experience as Managing Director of printing companies and as CEO of a manufacturer of metal decorating presses. Ralf has extensive knowledge and experience in the packaging industry, especially metal packaging, the beverage industry and folding cartons.
Experience and knowledge at top management level with all 3 major German printing press manufacturers.
FAQs
What is the Print Production Optimization (PPO)?
PPO is a specialized consulting framework designed exclusively for printing businesses. It uncovers hidden inefficiencies, optimizes setup processes, and reduces unnecessary downtime to drive measurable cost savings and increased productivity—without costly equipment investments.
How is PPO different from traditional print audits?
Traditional audits typically focus only on surface-level issues and standard KPIs. PPO goes deeper by analyzing on-site operations, uncovering subtle but significant inefficiencies, and recommending actionable, sustainable solutions tailored specifically to your print operations.
We already track productivity and costs—why do we need PPO?
Tracking productivity and costs provides only outcomes, not reasons. PPO identifies the underlying causes of inefficiencies, providing precise, practical strategies to permanently solve them rather than simply observing their effects.
Is PPO useful only if we are experiencing clear operational issues?
No. PPO benefits both struggling and high-performing print operations by identifying opportunities for further efficiency improvements, cost reductions, and productivity enhancements that traditional methods overlook.
How does the Print Production Check work?
The Print Production Check involves a quick 1-day or detailed 5-day on-site assessment. Our experts observe workflows, setup processes, and production data, then analyze and present clear, actionable recommendations for immediate improvements.
How does PPO handle confidentiality and data security?
The initial Print Production Check is completed in either 1 or 5 days. Comprehensive optimization (including PiT-Stop Training) typically ranges from one week to several months, depending on your specific operational needs and objectives.
What results can we realistically expect from PPO?
Clients typically achieve significant setup time reductions, material savings, and productivity increases. ROI is often realized within three months, with annual savings regularly exceeding six figures.
How long does a PPO transformation project typically take?
The initial Print Production Check is completed in either 1 or 5 days. Comprehensive optimization (including PiT-Stop Training) typically ranges from one week to several months, depending on your specific operational needs and objectives.
What is PiT-Stop Training?
Inspired by Formula 1 pit crews, PiT-Stop Training meticulously refines setup processes to reduce downtime significantly. It involves detailed analysis, practical training sessions, and implementation monitoring to achieve maximum efficiency.
How much does PPO cost?
Pricing varies depending on the scale and depth of your needs. Quick assessments start from €500, and comprehensive projects are priced individually based on your specific requirements. A clear proposal is provided following an initial consultation.
How can we get started?
Simply contact us for a complimentary initial consultation. We’ll discuss your needs, explain our approach, and recommend next steps to quickly start improving your pressroom operations.
Disclaimer
The consultants (B&P Partners) featured here operate as independent service providers. Brandt & Partners assumes no responsibility or liability for the accuracy, completeness, or quality of the content displayed, nor for any actions or outcomes resulting from services provided independently by these consultants.