It's natural for entrepreneurs to look for savings in times of economic uncertainty. However, it turns out that what seems cheap isn't always so. Home-made signage is a good example.

Low mood 

The Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), a gauge of sentiment in the manufacturing sector, fell to 43.5 points in July. This is down from 45.1 points in June and below the 50-point level considered neutral. Orders fell last month at the fastest rate in eight months. 

In this situation, it's natural to strive to minimize operating costs. However, to achieve real savings in the long term, it's worth considering not only the purchase price but also how often a given product will need to be replaced and, ultimately, repurchased. A striking example of how counterintuitive it can be to determine which solution is actually cheaper is the case of homemade floor windows compared to high-quality commercially produced windows.

12,000 PLN savings on floor windows

Based on Tagatic customers' experiences with homemade A4 laminates and tests of our high-quality floor signs, which perform the same function, we compared the cost-effectiveness of both solutions. Ignoring the labor costs of production, preparation, and application, the price of a single laminate is approximately 8 PLN net. Since homemade laminates last for 2-3 weeks under normal warehouse conditions, the annual cost of a single sign is approximately 160 PLN.

• let's assume that the laminate needs to be replaced every 2.5 weeks;
• it must therefore be replaced more than 20 times a year;
• the annual cost of maintaining a single road marking point using home-made methods is therefore 8 times 20 = PLN 160.

For comparison, the cost of ordering a high-quality Tagatic floor window costs less than 20 PLN (the current price per unit in our online store is 14 PLN net). Customer tests in a comparable environment – ​​on the floor of a warehouse with heavy pedestrian traffic – have shown that Tagatic floor windows last undamaged for 8 to 10 months. Therefore, assuming two products are used per year, the total cost of effectively and safely maintaining a single horizontal marking point using Tagatic windows is less than 36 PLN gross per year, four times less than using home-made methods. Even rough calculations allow us to conclude that for a facility with one hundred points marked with laminates or windows, the annual savings from using this seemingly more expensive solution reach 12,000 PLN.

• the annual cost of home-made preparation, gluing and maintenance by replacing 100 laminates is 160 times 100 = 16 thousand PLN – and this is without taking into account the required working time or the risk associated with using sharp tools to cut the tape;
• the annual cost of 2 floor windows needed to mark one point is approximately PLN 40, i.e. PLN 4,000 for 100 marking points.

On a five-year scale – if we take into account the 8-month durability of floor windows – the discrepancies increase to PLN 682 per window (104 laminate changes at PLN 8 every 2.5 weeks for 260 weeks compared to 7.5 window changes at PLN 20 every 8 months for 60 months), i.e. PLN 68.2 thousand with one hundred marking points.

What determines the durability of horizontal markings?

Based on experience gained through many years of cooperation with Tagatic clients, we know that the durability of floor windows and other horizontal markings in warehouses and production plants is influenced by, among others:

• traffic intensity and specificity – whether a given route is used only by pedestrians (longer durability) or also by forklifts (shorter durability);
• forklift driving culture (scraping the floor and markings with forks, boxes and pallets significantly reduces the life of the markings);
• use of washers and scrubbers (the more often the floor is cleaned and the more chemicals are used, the lower the durability of the markings);
• the specific nature of the plant's operation (for example, at a client's plant, where iron filings were present in the environment, the forklift wheels acted like friction discs on the marking, shortening their service life);
• quality of the floor on which the markings are placed:
  • Degreasing and cleaning the floor surface before gluing the markings allows the adhesive to bond permanently to the floor;
  • any unevenness in the floor contributes to mechanical damage to the stickers;
• gluing surface (solid stickers, where the entire bottom is covered with glue, last longer than floor stickers, where only the A4 outline is covered with glue);
• the location of the stickers (for example, if the markings are placed in the middle of the axis of the communication route - where the movements are made by the steering wheels of forklifts, the markings will last much shorter than those placed only 10-15 cm to the side).

Cheap to buy – expensive to use

Due to the multi-factorial influences on the durability of road markings, it's difficult to precisely determine how long a sticker will last at a given point without testing. However, in most cases, durability is undoubtedly worth considering. While you might not always save as much as 120 PLN per year per marking point, you'll certainly avoid the hassle of reapplying the markings every few days or weeks.

Especially in these times of ever-increasing cost-efficiency, we recommend more durable signage that offers long-term benefits. Our and our clients' experience with signage shows that what's inexpensive in terms of purchase price is often expensive in the long run. It's worth keeping this in mind when planning your health and safety and visual management budget for the next fiscal year.