In-House or Outsourced: Which Is Better for Your Industrial Screen Printing?

Look around you for a moment.

The lettering on your keyboard. The symbols on your car keys. The logo on a bottle, jar or electrical component. Many of these everyday details have been printed onto awkward, curved or hard-wearing surfaces.

That raises a practical question for your business: should you outsource your industrial screen printing to a specialist, or invest in your own screen print machine and bring production in-house?

There is no universal winner. It is a classic case of horses for courses. The right choice depends on your volume, product range, quality requirements, available space and appetite for managing the process yourself.

What are you really choosing between?

Outsourcing means paying a specialist supplier to manage the printing process for you. They provide the machinery, operators, tooling, inks, setup knowledge and production capacity. You provide the products, artwork and requirements.

Bringing printing in-house means taking responsibility for the complete operation. That includes buying equipment, creating screens or clichés, sourcing industrial inks, training staff, maintaining machinery and controlling quality.

Industrial screen printing uses a mesh screen and squeegee to force ink through a prepared stencil onto a substrate. The material being printed. It is highly effective for larger print areas and repeat production on plastic, glass and metal.

Pad printing works differently. A silicone pad transfers ink from an etched plate, known as a cliché, onto the product. Like the stamp pads you may have played with as a child, it picks up an image and deposits it elsewhere. The flexible pad makes it ideal for the tiniest, wonkiest, curviest of surfaces.

Understanding that difference matters. You may need industrial screen printing for bottles or panels, but pad printing machines for small components, caps or irregular promotional products.

What does in-house printing really cost?

The purchase price of a screen print machine is only the beginning.

Your total cost of ownership should include:

• Machinery: the press, drying equipment, exposure equipment and any automation.
• Tooling and jigs: fixtures that hold products securely and accurately during printing.
• Screens and pre-press: mesh, frames, emulsion, films and screen preparation.
• Inks and consumables: including pad printing ink where pad printing is involved, solvents, cleaning materials, tape and test substrates.
• Staff: operators, artwork preparation, colour matching, quality control and maintenance time.
• Floor space: room for the machine, product handling, drying, ink storage and finished goods.
• Utilities and extraction: depending on your inks, cleaning processes and workplace requirements.
• Maintenance: servicing, replacement parts, calibration and unexpected repairs.
• Waste and rework: misprints, setup pieces, rejected products and downtime.

These costs can be easy to underestimate. A machine may look productive on paper, but it only creates value when it is being used efficiently by trained people.

You also need to account for the learning curve. Screen preparation, registration, ink viscosity, curing and substrate handling all affect the final result. A small error in emulsion exposure or jig alignment can create a large batch of inconsistent products.

When does in-house screen printing make financial sense?

In-house printing becomes more attractive when you have high, predictable and repeatable volume.

Suppose you print the same bottle design every week. You have stable demand, a dedicated operator and sufficient space. Once your equipment is properly set up, the cost per unit may fall below the price charged by an external supplier.

The calculation is straightforward:

Break-even volume = annual fixed in-house costs ÷ saving per unit compared with outsourcing

Your annual fixed costs include equipment finance or depreciation, staff, maintenance and allocated floor space. Your per-unit saving is the difference between the supplier’s price and your variable in-house cost for ink, screens, labour and waste.

For example, if your annual fixed cost is £40,000 and you save £0.20 per item by printing internally, you would need to produce 200,000 items simply to cover those fixed costs.

That is why the same machine can be a sensible investment for one business and an expensive distraction for another.

In-house printing may be right for you if:

• You have consistent high-volume demand.
• Your designs are repeated regularly.
• You need fast access to prototypes or engineering changes.
• Confidentiality is important.
• You already have suitable production space and staff.
• You are prepared to manage maintenance, consumables and quality control.

A suitable machine can offer impressive output. For example, the ARBIS semi-automatic screen printer is designed for flat and round products, with output of approximately 500 to 1,000 pieces per hour depending on the application and operator loading.

When is outsourcing the safer option?

Outsourcing usually makes more sense when your work is low-volume, irregular or technically demanding.

You pay for the production you need without carrying a machine that sits idle between jobs. You also gain access to experienced operators who understand screen printing on plastic, glass screen printing and printing onto metal components.

Outsourcing is often the better option when:

• Your order volumes change from month to month.
• You produce many designs in small quantities.
• You need short runs or one-off promotional products.
• Your work involves fine detail or complex multi-colour registration.
• You do not have a trained print operator.
• You lack suitable floor space.
• You want to avoid maintenance and equipment downtime.
• You need specialist finishes or difficult substrates.

This is particularly relevant to screen printing bottles. A bottle may appear simple, but its diameter, taper, seam, surface treatment and material can all affect registration and ink adhesion. A specialist already has the experience, fixtures and testing methods to manage those variables.

The same applies to silk screen printing plastic. Different plastics require different ink systems and preparation. Choosing the wrong industrial inks can result in poor adhesion, scratching, fading or failed testing.

Which option gives you better quality control?

In-house printing gives you direct control. You can inspect products immediately, make adjustments and respond quickly when an engineer changes a component or artwork file.

That control is valuable. But it is not automatic.

You still need documented settings, approved samples, colour references and consistent operator training. Without those controls, in-house production can become variable rather than reliable.

Outsourcing gives you access to a team whose daily work is printing. A good supplier will understand screen tension, emulsion thickness, ink coverage, curing and registration. They can also advise whether screen printing or pad printing is more appropriate for your product.

The key is communication. Provide accurate drawings, substrate information, artwork, colour references and performance requirements. Ask how the supplier will approve first-offs and manage repeat batches.

Quality is not simply about owning better equipment. It is about having a controlled, repeatable process.

What about speed and flexibility?

In-house production can be faster for urgent samples, small batches and last-minute changes. There is no external transport and no need to wait for a supplier’s production slot.

However, an in-house machine does not guarantee immediate output. If your operator is absent, the press needs attention or a consumable is unavailable, production may stop completely.

Outsourcing can be extremely efficient for larger scheduled runs. A specialist may already have the correct jig, ink and screen setup for your product. They can also absorb peaks in demand without you having to buy another machine or employ additional staff.

This is where the decision becomes more nuanced. Speed depends on the whole workflow, not just the press cycle.

Should you consider pad printing instead?

If your products are small, irregular or highly detailed, pad printing may be a better fit than screen printing.

Pad printing can transfer crisp artwork onto curved and awkward objects such as switches, bottle caps, key fobs and promotional items. It is also useful when the print area is small but the product shape is challenging.

For more advanced production, the Comec Italia XE-TECH 16-20 pad printing machine provides computer-controlled operation, multiple pads and clichés, hermetic ink cups, programmable cleaning and stored programmes.

Again, it is horses for courses. Screen printing is excellent for larger areas, bold coverage and vibrant colour. Pad printing is often better for small, detailed images on three-dimensional products. Sometimes the best answer is not choosing one process over the other, but using both.

Is a hybrid model the best answer?

For many businesses, yes.

You might outsource complex multi-colour work, unusual substrates and seasonal peaks, while bringing a steady, repeatable product line in-house.

This approach gives you:

• Lower investment risk.
• Internal capacity for urgent work.
• Access to specialist support when needed.
• A practical way to train staff and understand your real costs.
• Flexibility during demand fluctuations.

It also lets you gather production data before committing to a larger machinery purchase. You can measure actual volumes, setup times, waste, labour and supplier pricing rather than relying on optimistic forecasts.

What should you ask before deciding?

Use this checklist:

1. How many units will you print each month and each year?
2. How many different designs and substrates are involved?
3. Which products are repeat runners, and which are occasional?
4. Will demand remain stable for at least several years?
5. What are the real costs of machinery, tooling, jigs, inks, staff, space and maintenance?
6. Do you have an experienced operator, or will you need training?
7. How much downtime could you tolerate?
8. How important are confidentiality and rapid design changes?
9. Do your products need screen printing, pad printing or both?
10. Have you compared a fully itemised outsourced quotation with a realistic in-house cost model?

At Inks & More, we have more than 30 years of hands-on experience in screen and pad printing. We provide screen printing services for plastic, glass and metal products, alongside pad printing services for detailed work on challenging shapes.

If you decide to invest, we are also official UK distributors for Comec Italia and GPE Ardenghi, with access to machinery, inks and supplies to support your operation.

What is the best choice for your business?

Choose in-house printing when your volume is high, repeatable and sufficient to keep the equipment busy. Choose outsourcing when your demand is irregular, your work is complex or you want to avoid the responsibility of running a print department.

And remember: it does not have to be a permanent either-or decision.

A hybrid model may give you the best of both worlds: the control and speed of internal production, with the specialist knowledge and capacity of an experienced supplier.

If you are weighing up a screen print machine, pad printing machines or professional printing services, contact Inks & More for expert advice. We will help you compare the practical options for your products, volumes and future plans, without the hard sell.