Chris Rogers
Res-341
January 9, 2012
Louis Laffin
Reducing Waste in the Printing Industry
The process of reducing wasted paper in the printing industry is and always will be a complicated process; printing companies all over the world have gone to great lengths in their attempts to reduce their wasted materials. The attached survey will supply suitable questions to increase awareness for the need for waste reduction in the printing industry as well as supplying ideas and steps to take during the attempts made to reduce wasted materials. The printing industry is commonly known to produce wasted materials during the process of making products. One of the most common wasted materials during printing production is the paper supplies. Printing companies all over the world create wasted paper during the printing production process because of the make-ready process, spoilage, printing excess product, and the quality control process. The process of make-ready is the initial stage of a print production when the printers are attempting to setup and create the needed product. During this process many printers will use scrap paper for the initial prints to correct any ink or color changes. In some cases the use of scrap paper cannot be used because of the size or type of paper needed for the products being produced does not match any of the available scrap paper. Spoilage is the paper that gets torn or damaged during production and handling. The amount of paper that becomes spoiled usually cannot be controlled. The process of printing excess product is a common practice because of the chances for spoilage. Printers produce the excess product to maintain the needed amount of product because of the reductions from possible spoilage. The quality control process is when a printer notices a mistake or error on the printed product during production. These errors occur when a printing plate becomes dirty or damaged during production.
References: Suttle-Straus. (2012). Green Initiatives. Retrieved from http://www.suttle-straus.com/news/green-initiatives University of Phoenix. (2007). Week Three Supplement. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, RES-341— Research and Evaluation 1 course website.