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| Ferny Reading to the young'ns |
We have this Gnomette (Ferny) sculpted as a Garden Gnome (below). We haven't made the molds for the casting, but we did scan her into a 3D image, which we will use for a 3d Printing test.
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| We used Sculpty. This image was taken when she was under construction. The sculpture needs to be fired before we can make molds. I bought a kiln, which is being set-up to do that. As you can see, she is not yet holding a book. That book will be made separately. She is intended for use as a display in bookstores. |
Regarding Printing;
As we progress to completing the Illustrations for the book series, publishing methods come into play. Bringing the wholesale cost down to the lowest possible amount, allows for discounting the MSRP. this gives the retailers and distributors more latitude on the selling price. But for the sake of registrations, the MSRP is set based on jobbing the components out, which basically means there is a mark-up at every step along the way. If I keep the publishing in-house I can eliminate that markup, or at least reduce it. In-house that markup is not an immediate outlay and I have more control over that expenditure.
If I receive orders for large quantities, it might be practical to explore a printer who uses a web press. but that would only come after some distribution contracts are in place and demand is increasing, along with income..
The biggest issue, other than cost is quality. I have found that different printing presses produce different results. And those result are not always acceptable. This leads me to believe that we need a printing press in house, so that we can maintain consistent results. But beyond that consistency, an in-house press will allow us to print only the quantities that match the orders for product. Jobbing the product out means printing quantities that give us the best price on the job. That also means excessive inventory on the shelves. If we have the press in-house, those costs remain consistent and we can print on-demand. The only variable there being that if the press sits idle for too long, that is costing us money.
So I am up-in-the-air in regard to outlay on one against the other. Jobbing it out, the outlay sits on the shelf, while setting up a print shop gives us a much more extensive and wide range of capabilities for other product lines and services. It seems pretty clear what the correct route is to take. But that won't happen right away.
There are other issues at hand; production line practicalities, wholesale distribution, On-line Sales, shipping/receiving, supply inventories, ancillary markets, retail display... it goes on... and on. So we are approaching it cautiously, but there are "things" in the works that will allow a shift of resources toward crafting the operation to produce these products in-house. In large part it will be an issue of personnel, because certainly, we have the product lines and equipment to do the job. We only need competent and experienced people to implement the plan as fully as possible and proper management and acquisition of the resources, both available and needed.
That could happen through a partnership with an organization already in place, so long as IMS profit margin remains set on a per item basis and a reasonable percentage is pre-paid, but that's a discussion for another time within contract negotiations.
I think a Print Shop is in the cards, as they say. AG
