Need Help Printer Cutter for non-graphics business?

[Gino]

I believe the assumptions are more on the OP's part, than anyone, here. We're all being for the most part, realistic, while the OP is reaching for ready-made equations on how to save the company $5 to $7,000 a year. That doesn't sound like a very good business model or enterprising idea, unless you're just trying to find tax write offs because your company is making far too much money and you just wanna put it back into the company.

How or why this OP wants to do this is just kinda odd. Nothing secretive about telling someone they're chasing some kinda folly.

 

[AKwrapguy]

Thanks for the input....

I have a few additional questions.... do all the decals need to be laminated? Meaning does a decal that someone can place on their motorcycle or vehicle need to be laminated, or is the decal material somewhat weather resistant? For example when we order stickers they ask us if we want a laminate and we do not do that, so I thought it was just straight printing on the stock. Is that the laminate you are talking about? I'm not looking for something completely weather resistant but just somewhat durable. I was thinking vinyl was somewhat water proof as it is and when you printed it was ready. But maybe I was missing something. Also I know these don't cut the stucker completely out like we get them from a official sticker place... so that would be additional labor since we would have to cut out the stickers into individual pieces from the sheet they are printed on.

So to answer some of your questions,
Yes there are some companies that do have their own in house print shops for sort runs and promotional material.
If your serious about this I would look at a latex machine rather than a eco-solvent as it's probably going to be more versatile and user friendly for novice users.
If your going to look at wrapping a vehicle I would leave this to a company that does this professionally as it's not as easy as you would think.
Most inks have a limited life when exposed to UV and therefore need to be laminated. If it's temporary say less than 6 months and than will be thrown away than no laminate is probably not needed.
Water proof and laminate in this case have not correlation, again it's about UV protection and scratch protection.
You will probably have to look at getting a plotter as well to cut the decals out. I would avoid a 2 in one machine. Separate machines will be better in the long run. You will probably also have to look at getting a laminator as well.
Most printers will come with rip software but you will need to get some design software such as Adobe CC (my suggestion) but Corel is will also work.

Material storage will also be a concern, work table as well so you can weed and pre-mask.

Are you going to be running this or are you going to hire someone to do it?

 

[JJGraphics]

To be fair, you're not going to save your company then entire cost of your outsourced purchases. At best, you'll save the suppliers profit margin, and some overhead costs that would be absorbed by your existing space, software (adobe), electric bill, business insurance etc. If the margin of profit and existing overhead was 25% of your order total (realistic) then at best you would save around $1750 a year for your employer. If you're an optimist (like me) and think we make 50% profit margin on jobs (after 100% of ALL expenses) then at best you save $3500 a year. I don't believe this is realistic though.

I'm not sure you can justify this decision by saying "we'll save $____ per year." Based on my quick math you'll save around $150 a month. Is it worth it? Probably not. You make your money creating and selling batteries, not the stickers that go on them. If, however, you're having significant supply issues or your business model demands incredibly fast (3-6 hour) turn around times for jobs, then you could probably justify this.

How much revenue could you generate with new products/ideas/marketing in the time you or your staff member would spend creating silly little stickers?

 

[ikarasu]

I personally don't care if someone wants to do their own in house printing. There is enough business to go around for everyone. Everyday a new shop opens, and a new shop closes... This wouldn't be any different.

I still think it's a bad idea - Just because of the logistics of it. OP's 7-8000 is including printing 500 T-shirts per year. I love latex, and I know you can do print/cut vinyl on T-shirts... but to do 500 shirts print cut, then press... it's a lot cheaper to outsource that to someone else.

So lets say thats $2000 for them shirts. Now he is trying to save $5-6000 per year. Now lets add ink costs, Materials, wear and tear, and labour into the mix. That $5-6000 he's hoping to save will drop down to $1-2000 a year, maximum. I wouldn't buy even a HP Latex / cutter for $10,000 to save that... Thats a 5 year return on investment, and taking up so much more time you could be doing something else.

To me.. it's not about having a "Competitor". If a company is trying to save $6,000 a year... They must not be rolling in the cash as is. Spending that 10-20k on a printer/cutter to save money might be pretty financially hard on them.

I'm glad he came here to ask for advice, and is actually doing research instead of being a dumbass and buying everything hoping it'll save him money. And yes, a lot of people are being harsh - But a lot of people did provide good information. I personally don't think he knows all thats entailed. In order to do Decals, and T-shirts... and whatever other promotional stuff he hasn't mentioned, you need a printer, cutter, should have a laminator... T-shirt press, have to find the right vinyl/laminate, right T-shirt vinyl... etc. The labour alone in printing/weeding/pressing 500 shirts would probably cost you're $8000. A lot of the stuff needs speciality equipment... there is no 1 machine fits all. I mean, you can do t-shirts with a latex... But you cant do them efficiently. I'd gouge my eyes out if I had to do 500 t-shirts print / cut / press. you're looking at 10-15 minutes per shirt alone.

Printing in house works for some companies, and it MAY work for you - But based on what you've said.. I don't think so. Of course you can prove us wrong though. Treat it like any business expense. IF you can afford to take the risk... you've done enough research, if you think it'll work.. go for it. I work at a big shop that does screen printing, UV, eco solvent, latex, gerber, you name it - If someone came to us to do 500 shirts... we'd outsource it. It's not worth the time and effort, it's cheaper for us to outsource because we're not specialized in T-shirts. Doing stuff in house is great, when it makes sense.

 

[T_K]

I've just spent all weekend replacing an alternator on my car. Why? Because I don't have the money to pay a mechanic. If I had the money, I'd outsource this job to a mechanic so I can focus on my actual job and my family life. I've added tools to my collection, which will reduce my expenses for the next repair, but that added to the base cost of the repair. Have I saved money off a mechanic? Some. Have I expanded what I can do "in-house"? Yes. Do I want to be spending hours and hours working on my car? NO!

Like many of these guys have said, getting into the printing industry requires investment - not just money either. It takes a LOT of time. I run the printing department inside a larger marketing company. Signage/printing is not our primary business, but it's a valuable support service for our customers. Guess what? It takes a full-time employee to run the printer. Occasionally I help out with other projects, but not often. Also, I'm the only one who can run the printing equipment. That's a vulnerability - I could get sick or go on vacation and production stops. I could train another employee, but each one has his own focus and no one could dedicate the time to do my job well (just like I can't afford the time to learn to do their jobs well).

I mention these two things to say this:

You might save money, but you'll pay for it in time. It will cost you more in the end than you plan on. What if you took the same time and money and invested it into other parts of your company that are already making you money? You'd likely become more profitable. You can choose to be a jack of all trades or a master of one. If you can invest tens of thousands of dollars in printing equipment, you probably aren't as short on cash as what causes me to do my own car maintenance. Focus on what you do well, and it will make you more money so you can pay someone else to do what they do well.

 

[Antigravity]

Okay, so I'll bite...

I only design, I do not own a printer, or laminator. I was trained to run them as a production monkey.
Now, it's true, they are not all that hard to run - but I was taught by very knowledgable trainers who
were there, day in and day out showing how to use them, maintain them and tips on how to be more
efficient. I have worked at sign shops and in-house. What you are doing is easy - once you learn how to do it, and you can remember how to do it if a certain time has passed

I think you are getting some push back (besides the fact that under the terms of participation, you
technically are not allowed on here) is we get people coming on here all the time with no experience
even with design or software thinking they can make a go of it. If you did time to search the forum we
almost always suggest 3 things:
--- Sub it out till you get enough work to justify the cost of the equipment
--- Get a job in a sign shop
--- Hire someone to train you

The other reasons for the push back might be...

One little known fact, most sign shop owners can not run their equipment proficiently... how can they,
they have to wear so many hats.
One universal fact, it's hard to find employees who are really good at running production equipment.
Signshop owners deal with this all the time... so enough of that.

So, I'm going to pretend you are a newbie sign guy and say that if you had a guaranteed $5-7,000
of promotional graphics a year, sub it out until you do 4-5 times that. Concentrate on what you are
good at till you can justify the cost of running the machines profitably. You are not all that much different
than a newbie sign guy except you will only ever have one client. You want to bring it in-house to save
money... 7k a year in reality is nickels and dimes. I highly suggest subbing it out... not because you
intimidate me, but because I think your time might be better spent building the business to the point
where when you get to 20-35k a year in promotional graphics and then you can justify that time and
expense.

That Roland BN-20, comes with your RIP (Versaworks) you'll need various print material and one set of inks will only run you around 10-12k, and seems to fit well for your needs. I would think laminating would make them last longer, never trust manufactures durability limits. If you get a sample, test the prints to see if they hold up to cleaning solutions that your client might use, then you will know if you need a laminator. I probably would not wrap a car using that printer, if you do, laminate it!

This is obviously a rough estimate because it depends on how large your decals are, but say you get this.... you have to maintain the machine, say 15 minutes a day, thats a min of 62 hours, then print/cut/cut down your decals down to individual stickers at the rate of 1 hour a square foot - and you make 200 square feet a year. 262 total hours

262 x 30.00 total employee hour is 7860.00 a year - it does not seem to add up. Especially with the initial 10-12k expense, getting a clean, ventilated space (depending on the printer) ready for it, training and hiccups.

Good luck to you in whatever decision you make...

 

[Antigravity]

Great answer, to the point insightful no bashing. And contrary to my baiting the guys who were hitting on me I"m not here to be a jerk. Just wanted to see if it was rational overall. Never knew this was only for proffesionals... I just signed up to post a question... didn't even think anyone would be mad about it.

The fact is, as I also stated in a few of my posts, is that I don't think this will save me money overall... so it isn't that really. Yes it was the ability to run some of our product stickers.. but I just wanted to save enough on that aspect to make the limited run stuff more accessible. We've been through it, no company want to print 10pcs 8 x12 sticker or a 4" sticker of custom cut design without charging a lot.... so if I do that 10 times a year I'm paying a fortune for these one off sticker runs for our Sponsored teams. Then when you add the fact then is make is actually FUN to think of how we can use it to market whether its print a specia; decal or make 4 shirts with Heat transfers for our trade show guys. We are more design oriented than most companies and it almost to the point of lifestyle which seems ridiculous for a lithium battery company. But we do batteries for all those Custom Harley Davidsons, Sport Bikes, Race Bikes and Performance Cars... so we are needing cool stickers that can reflect each niche of Motorsport and usually in short runs. So my purpose is just to have a tool that does our basic needs, then offers us this custom creative aspect which solidifies our marketing strategy for portraying ourselves as a cool company and product.

One of the riders we sponsor...

 

[Antigravity]

Another thing to consider. I own a roland eco-sol printer. When I have a customer who needs 4,000 stickers, I usually outsource them to a vendor who has equipment that is far more efficient than mine and can run the entire process (print, laminate, cut) all in one step. Running thousands of stickers is going to take time, regardless of the learning curve.

I don't know enough about your staff, the urgency of these jobs, etc, to evaluate if this is right for you. It may be. Just make sure you're being honest in your evaluation. I know that far too often I'm guilty of trying to do something myself to save money when it reality it's just an excuse to buy more tools.

This is a good point for sure... that is why I must evaluate a real demo of the product in real life. Speed is not important at all...we are not printing for others or deadline. It is for our own personal uses in the business and marketing. I actually would only about 250 to 500 stickers for the products at a time max... and there is no time constraint decals for riders... we will develop some cool artwork and print as needed. This is going to be mostly small run custom stickers with custom cut outs for the designs, and occasional sale banner at tradeshows or to send to our Dealers and Distributors, personnel shirts. Maybe some stickers for the trucks with our name and logo. We already wrapped our Sprinter Van, and could use just for simple Logos and brand name on some the company vehicles.

I am trying very hard to be realistic.

 

[Antigravity]

I currently print thousands of battery decals a year (probably for your competitor) and don't send them out to be done as suggested above (yes, we are a sign company not a battery company). Mostly because we have the flexibility to print one or one thousand as needed.

When you say you are running x-thousand number of decals - are these all the same? Or are they for different products? I understand the want to get these done cheaper, but cheaper isn't always better or more cost-effective in the end. Are you running side label and post labels both? What quantity do you order at a time? That makes a huge difference in pricing from your vendor. Do you frequently change your labels? Do you have any color management experience? Because the bright green in your current race car batteries is one of the harder colors to hit. Or are you okay with an inferior product as long as it doesn't cost as much? Even if you are paying $3 per label for your $600 battery... that doesn't seem to be an out-of-line expense...

And on the promotional decals... are these also printed and contour cut? Are they all the same so it's one big order or several little orders?

I ask these questions because there may be some cost-savings you could get by how you handle your current way of doing business. Maybe your orders are small enough quantity that the set-up makes them expensive, but if you ran 500 instead of 250 the cost would be considerably less. Are you currently designing your labels in-house? Or is part of your expense the design time from your vendor? If you want to take the printing in-house that's up to you, but it will be years before you realize a return on your investment - and then it will be time to upgrade the printer. And no one has really mentioned the cleanliness and area you will need to run a printer in a production facility.

You hit the nail on the head on EXACTLY why I'm asking these questions and wanting this in-house.... For example we have 8 different size batteries but with 14 different lables for those 8 case sizes. Yet we sometime change specifications so the lable has to change. I also like to change the lable each year a tad to know exactly what year the batteries were built. Then we do stickers to give out at trade shows and countour cut look s much better rather than a rectangle or circle. But we also want to do short runs of 50 pieces for cool decals that people will WANT and actually put on their window and vehicles. And to do small runs of Countour Cut sticker is massively expensive when your only talking 20 to 50 stickers of a certain design and doing 10 or 20 different designs a year.

Then when I add in the fact that I could do a heat transfers for 5 to 10 shirts for our staff, or even make 15 more to sell at a trade show then I can do that. Banners, lettering for our truck, Windows for our offices, wall hangs of our sponsored teams in the offices, stuff for our tradeshows... and do it all in house and one or two pieces at a time it seem reasonable overall if we used it as a Tool to market ourselves more and in a better way. Is it a waste of money? If we CAN use it the way I intend, no.... But, I'm trying to be realistic also and thinking actively about waste and bad cutting or employee time.... But it is also super exciting to think we could do our own stuff in one or two piece runs.... just to see how it looks in real life then making a run of them. Its a business write-off, and if we get a good machine like the Roland 300i it can be sold even at a loss but we walk away having learned alot and probably having created some cool stuff. Or it works awesome and I'm completely happy.

 

[Antigravity]

I think the thread has run it course.... some really insightful comments, and the typical nay-sayers... but all helped me do even more research. I belong to many forums and it appear humans are pretty much the same everywhere... there is the generally helpful, with the typical 10-15% who just don't like what your saying. Anyway thanks to all.

I will post up my future results good or bad... not because you guys would care but because this is an experiment to me, and someone might have the same idea someday. I did the same thing about 2 years ago. I bought a Photography set-up so I could take my own product photography. I invested $3000 dollar in what is called a lightbox... (a box that is lighted inside and you put your products in it to take photos of them) and a $7500 dollars in a top of the line Canon Camera and some lenses. I was freaking nervous spending so much for just taking product shots..... HOLY CRAP one of the best purchases EVER! I can take as many shots as I want with perfect lighting and make the product look like they are beautiful with a perfect reflection over the white background... I can now also use the camera to get outdoor shots of our product in use, or at the races. I can also use it for personal use. So yes a big jump but sometimes these things work out better than expected.

 

[mpn]

The micro starter is a cool looking product. How long does a charge last? Does it recharge fast? The HD Xp 10 looks like a good deal for the work / adventure truck box.

 

[ikarasu]

I think the thread has run it course.... some really insightful comments, and the typical nay-sayers... but all helped me do even more research. I belong to many forums and it appear humans are pretty much the same everywhere... there is the generally helpful, with the typical 10-15% who just don't like what your saying. Anyway thanks to all.

I will post up my future results good or bad... not because you guys would care but because this is an experiment to me, and someone might have the same idea someday. I did the same thing about 2 years ago. I bought a Photography set-up so I could take my own product photography. I invested $3000 dollar in what is called a lightbox... (a box that is lighted inside and you put your products in it to take photos of them) and a $7500 dollars in a top of the line Canon Camera and some lenses. I was freaking nervous spending so much for just taking product shots..... HOLY CRAP one of the best purchases EVER! I can take as many shots as I want with perfect lighting and make the product look like they are beautiful with a perfect reflection over the white background... I can now also use the camera to get outdoor shots of our product in use, or at the races. I can also use it for personal use. So yes a big jump but sometimes these things work out better than expected.

Sounds like you want the printer / cutter for the right reasons. So long as you know the limitations, I'd say go for it. I'd get a Latex - With solvents you need to run them daily / every other day, do lots of cleaning / maintenance... and especially when your learning, you don't want to break a $3000 head due to head strikes, which unless your running the printer daily / get really familiar with it... odds are you'll get lots of strikes. Where as the HP Latex's are more forgiving, and if you damage a head... it's a $100 repair that you can do yourself.

It'll be great for labels, just as good as a solvent for T-shirts... though I really only recommend T-shirts for short runs, if that, as you're going to also need a heat press, and it is time consuming.

Talk to Bigfish, He's always been straight/honest about products and their limitations, as well as being an expert in Latex... he's really good with Media and suggestions. I'm sure he can hook you up with a good price, and is more than happy to suggest what medias you should stock.

Good luck! You're in for a long, hard journey. But it is a fun one, if you're into this kind of stuff. Also, I didn't see anyone else mention it... But with a cutter, you can cut the sticker out completely. It's called Perforated cut for Graphtec.. Watch some videos on it, pretty much any cutter you buy from the big 3 brands has the feature in it.

 

[Mainframe]

Antigravity, I have some advise for you but first I have some questions for you,

Do you have the physical room for a printer/work table in a clean environment? I think the printer and work table should be housed in an office type environment, kinda like an office a graphic designer would use, but only bigger. A 3x8 table is ideal.

Do you generate your files from a Mac or PC? (this question relates to my personal experience)

Of the 5 to 7 grand, how much of that is banners, paper ad pieces, cards, or flyers etc

Who will be running the printer? You personally? 1 other person or many people? (this is a printer head strike question, print heads are sometimes 4 grand each, x 4 and well since the print heads ride over the material with just fractions of an inch clearance you have to be careful when running decals, the material comes out and can bunch up and the heads get ruined)

 

[Mainframe]

Antigravity, I advise you buy a 54 inch Roland, Roland printers come with a great rip program but it is pc based so a dedicated pc for the printer is ideal, do you design on a Mac? If not you are set just run everything on the same pc.

If you get a 30 inch printer you can't print a 3 foot banner or a 4 foot banner! I think a Truevis VG 540 with the 8 different ink configuration would be ideal for you, you need the 8 config to hit those racing colors for the bikes etc.

Those 30 inch printers are almost the same footprint size as a 54. And if it doesn't work out you can sell it easier.

Normally it is rare that an in house graphic, production set up works out well but you guys design in illy so if you are as good as you say you are with designing in vectors then you will be fine.

Just keep in mind when you get a printer it will have 4 heads that cost 4 grand each, plus a tech to replace them, so if the media bunches up while printing it will cost you cash and down time (This doesn't usually happen if you are careful when running the machine and pay attention to the printer while it prints)

You can learn to hand laminate if you need to, the big squeegee works great. Also learning to put transfer tape on would be ideal. Pm me if you have questions.

 

[SignMeUpGraphics]

I wouldn't suggest a VG if he wants a trouble free machine...

 

[Gino]

One of the riders we sponsor...
View attachment 132240

So, putting a picture of some kid flying through the air is a reason for doing this stuff in-house ??

That picture means about....... nothing towards making a decision. What a waste of space.

Anyway, now you know, this is a forum for professional sign people and those wanting to enter into it as sign people. Coming here and taking and not giving anything back, but lip and attitude is not really necessary, since you're the one looking for answers. What an ungrateful person you've become in your short visit with us. Then, you go onto say, you've gotten what you needed and you'll be back to report on things. Do you think anyone here, really cares ?? Again, we're pretty much ALL sign people here... and we do tend to band together and when someone is trying to take business away and go in-house with it, most don't like that too much. To each their own.

Your sparse needs for small orders makes this an even more poor decision on your boss's part. Like I said earlier, someone in your company just wants a toy.

Good luck. ​

 

[Antigravity]

The micro starter is a cool looking product. How long does a charge last? Does it recharge fast? The HD Xp 10 looks like a good deal for the work / adventure truck box.

Yeah the MICRO-STARTs are super cool. Start your car in a pocket size device and charge you cell phones, tablets laptops and more... no stickers on those they are screen printed. The XP-10 actually was awarded Consumer Report #1 Rated Jump Starter in 2014 so that was cool for us. They all hold a charge roughly 6-8 month and longer but we suggest charging every 4 months to make sure they are ready for use. Takes about 2-4 hours to charge depending on size. The original XP10 can still start everything including Diesels up to 7.3 liter but was meant for a Consumer, who jumps their vehicle occasionally so it has smaller clamps. the HD is used by Mechanics everywhere and has the beefier all coppper clamps. The XP10 actually can recharge your phone about 10 times off one charge too. If you ever want want one let me know and I can get you 35% off. I'm sure I will be bashed for self-promotion but we can set up a coupon code for anybody on this site to use...we are super business friendly but you have to be a business to get that price, and you have to let me know since I'm the owner, and the guys at the office don't know about this....Just let me know in a PM so I don't get gruff for promoting something.

 

[Antigravity]

Sounds like you want the printer / cutter for the right reasons. So long as you know the limitations, I'd say go for it. I'd get a Latex - With solvents you need to run them daily / every other day, do lots of cleaning / maintenance... and especially when your learning, you don't want to break a $3000 head due to head strikes, which unless your running the printer daily / get really familiar with it... odds are you'll get lots of strikes. Where as the HP Latex's are more forgiving, and if you damage a head... it's a $100 repair that you can do yourself.

It'll be great for labels, just as good as a solvent for T-shirts... though I really only recommend T-shirts for short runs, if that, as you're going to also need a heat press, and it is time consuming.

Talk to Bigfish, He's always been straight/honest about products and their limitations, as well as being an expert in Latex... he's really good with Media and suggestions. I'm sure he can hook you up with a good price, and is more than happy to suggest what medias you should stock.

Good luck! You're in for a long, hard journey. But it is a fun one, if you're into this kind of stuff. Also, I didn't see anyone else mention it... But with a cutter, you can cut the sticker out completely. It's called Perforated cut for Graphtec.. Watch some videos on it, pretty much any cutter you buy from the big 3 brands has the feature in it.

That was actually something I was scratching my head about.... I knew we could do a contour cut... but then I was thinking we still have to cut out the sticker to individually hand them out or send them. But the good thing is our runs will be small so cutting out stickers should not be so bad, but now that you said any cutter can do that it might be something to look into to make it more efficient. I have it on my reminder list to call Bigfish today...

 

[Antigravity]

Antigravity, I have some advise for you but first I have some questions for you,

Do you have the physical room for a printer/work table in a clean environment? I think the printer and work table should be housed in an office type environment, kinda like an office a graphic designer would use, but only bigger. A 3x8 table is ideal.

Do you generate your files from a Mac or PC? (this question relates to my personal experience)

Of the 5 to 7 grand, how much of that is banners, paper ad pieces, cards, or flyers etc

Who will be running the printer? You personally? 1 other person or many people? (this is a printer head strike question, print heads are sometimes 4 grand each, x 4 and well since the print heads ride over the material with just fractions of an inch clearance you have to be careful when running decals, the material comes out and can bunch up and the heads get ruined)

Good points... didn't really think of my work space.... I actually live 2 hours from my Office... so I work from Home 2-3 days a week...so I will be doing it in my home office. I don't do large runs of stickers and will be doing just some banners, occasional shirts. Promotional signs for our tradeshows larger stickers like 12" x 8" for vehicles we sponsor... maybe some lettering for our trucks.

I saw you said buy a 54 inch printer.... that is taking on a bit more than I would like...at least I think that now. This is actually wanted for not such large format stuff. 30" should do what I need. We actually have our Sprinter Wrapped... I did the design for the wrap after they gave me the template with and initial layout... then they came out to our warehouse to wrap it, and those wrappers had a skill set I would never attempt. But I see your point that if you have a 54 you can do whatever you want or just use 30" paper and keep it small.

 

[DerbyCitySignGuy]

Good points... didn't really think of my work space.... I actually live 2 hours from my Office... so I work from Home 2-3 days a week...so I will be doing it in my home office. I don't do large runs of stickers and will be doing just some banners, occasional shirts. Promotional signs for our tradeshows larger stickers like 12" x 8" for vehicles we sponsor... maybe some lettering for our trucks.

I saw you said buy a 54 inch printer.... that is taking on a bit more than I would like...at least I think that now. This is actually wanted for not such large format stuff. 30" should do what I need. We actually have our Sprinter Wrapped... I did the design for the wrap after they gave me the template with and initial layout... then they came out to our warehouse to wrap it, and those wrappers had a skill set I would never attempt. But I see your point that if you have a 54 you can do whatever you want or just use 30" paper and keep it small.

If you're going to go through with it, I'd suggest hiring someone from the print industry to run the show for you. An experienced shop foreman/supervisor from a small or medium sized company can generally do just about anything in a sign shop. From running equipment, to fixing it, to pre-press, sometimes even design work, they will make your life so much easier it's not even funny.

You're basically jumping into an entirely different industry with zero experience and knowledge, and it's going to be a ROUGH start. Not saying you can't do it, but it might help ease the transition and save you some money in the long run. I guess I should say it'll save you money relatively, since this whole endeavor is going to end up costing you money.