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We recently heard about a printer who was wanting to go a bit further with quality control and colour management. Actually quite a lot further, all the way to ISO. Usually in these situations technology consultants get brought in to give advice, make recommendations, suggest ideas for improvement, explain process parameters values and recommend kit. Basic consultants' bread and butter.

In this case the printer was apparently very reluctant to accept that, in order to improve control and process management, some workflow changes would be necessary. Keen to hang onto their old workflow, the reasoning was that they should stick to what they knew and what their people were familiar with. Working up a plan to transition to a fully colour-managed and automated workflow would require investment and training that would be too expensive. The preference was to stick with the knotted up knitting and hang the risk it posed to the business.

Unfortunately we hear of this type of situation all too often, and it is usually the route to business collapse sooner or later. On the other hand, and not unfortunately, there are plenty of printers with the foresight to invest in professional advice. For instance sign and display companies choose this route because they have a customer badgering them with requests they cannot fulfil without help. Such situations come about because the printer lacks the expertise to do what the customer asks, or because they had no idea about the topic prior to the request.

We've had situations where printers have only wanted to learn more about say, remote soft-proofing, or variable data print because a customer has requested it. Scary but true. It is amazing that companies manage to keep in business without investing in their own knowledge development. And we still hear all too often the bleat that more industry training is needed. Something doesn't quite fit.

This kind of ignorance is just about understandable on the slender basis that business owners are too busy to keep up with technology developments, particularly in a dynamic sector such as wide-format printing. But that doesn't mean it is excusable. If knowledge development is too much trouble, bringing in a consultant becomes an urgent alternative for printers who need help solving a problem and meeting a customer's needs. There is obviously a cost involved, but consultants can also provide a fresh perspective on the business, ideally that perspective will encourage a more proactive attitude to understanding technology developments.