Where is Your Money Going

The real work begins

The preceding involves printers determining what they need, when they need it, and who they are getting it from.

Much of the preceding involves knowing the marketplace, which includes knowing what suppliers are out there, how many there are, and which one has the balance of power. Knowing if there is a lot of unused capacity or if it is a tight market will help printers figure out what kind of prices they'll get. "Most printers are not huge compared to a lot of their suppliers," claims Carter. "So what they need to do is really have a keen eye on some of these markets to see what happens." For example, if a printer is buying paper, it is not going to push around the big paper manufacturers. "So they need to understand what the supply and demand situation is," Carter says. "If the market is soft, they need to understand that and know that there is an opportunity for them to get some concessions in the negotiating process."