Boost your business with a CO2 laser engraving machine
How CO2 laser engraving can add value to products & provide unique gifting solutions
By Amy Harris
Today, companies are looking for new ways to grow their products and profits. They want to do this without spending a lot of money. The best way to get more customers in your shop is to improve the value of your service.
Ways to increase value with laser engraving
Laser engraving has revolutionized personalization and product enhancement, offering a precise and permanent way to add value to a wide range of items. Whether you’re a business looking to boost your brand or an individual seeking unique gifts, laser engraving provides a versatile solution. Here are some key ways to increase value with laser technology.
1. Personalization & customization
- Unique gifts: Transform ordinary items like jewelry, mugs, or wooden keepsakes into cherished gifts by adding names, dates, or special messages.
- Corporate branding: Engrave logos, slogans, or employee names on promotional products, awards, or office supplies to enhance brand recognition and create a professional image.
- Custom designs: Offer customers the ability to create their own designs or artwork for engraving, providing a truly bespoke product.
2. Enhancing product aesthetics & functionality
- Improved aesthetics: Laser engraving can transform plain products into visually appealing items with decorative patterns, textures, or personalized touches.
- Increased perceived value: Adding a unique and permanent engraving can significantly increase the perceived value of a product, allowing for higher pricing and improved profit margins.
- Functional enhancements: Laser engraving can be used to add functional elements such as serial numbers, barcodes, or measurement scales to products, improving traceability and usability.
3. Industrial & business applications
- Product identification: Engrave serial numbers or barcodes for inventory control and product tracking.
- Signage and displays: Create professional and eye-catching signage, nameplates, and displays for businesses or events.
- Industrial marking: Laser engraving can be used for the precise marking of parts and components in various industries.
Images courtesy of DPI Laboratory
The versatility & accessibility of CO2 laser machines
Affordable desktop laser engraving machines have been around since 1988. Traditionally, laser machines have been used in the awards and engraving market, but over time an increasing number of industries have been discovering the value that a laser system can add to their shops. From furniture makers to plastic fabricators to tool manufacturers, the versatility of a laser system allows companies in numerous fields a low-cost alternative to the large, expensive mechanical engravers of the past.
The appeal of desktop laser engravers lies not only in their versatility but also in their accessibility. Traditionally, achieving similar results required large, expensive mechanical engravers, often representing a substantial investment for smaller businesses. These older machines often required specialized training and dedicated space. In contrast, today’s desktop laser systems offer a low-cost alternative, allowing companies in numerous fields, from small workshops to large manufacturing facilities, to bring engraving capabilities in-house. This eliminates the need for outsourcing, reducing lead times and providing greater control over the production process. The compact footprint of these machines also makes them ideal for smaller workspaces, further broadening their appeal and accessibility across various industries. This shift has democratized access to precision engraving, empowering businesses of all sizes to enhance their products and services with engraving and cutting machines.
A wide range of materials
One of the reasons that laser machines have become so popular is their ability to work with a very wide variety of materials. CO2 laser machines are used to engrave and cut acrylic, wood, plastic, glass, rubber, leather, fabric, matte board, stainless steel, and melamine, but that is just the start.
Expand your product line
A laser system can add the ability to create signage from marble, stone, wood, plastic, acrylic, glass, ceramics, and fabrics. You can also increase your product line with architectural signage, picture frames, awards, plaques, trophy plates, corporate promotions, decorative tiles, point-of-purchase displays, advertising specialties, and much more. When you combine the list of materials you can work with, and add in all the possible projects that you can complete with those materials, the possibilities are endless!
Stunning graphic images
Another factor contributing to the popularity of CO2 lasers is their ability to produce stunning graphic images. From clipart to scanned images, a laser can use virtually any artwork to create custom graphic designs that look great on the materials listed above. The learning curve for laser engraving in the sign market is amazingly short. The laser works like a printer — what you set up on your computer screen is what you are going to engrave on your product. The longest portion of the learning curve is learning graphic software, such as CorelDRAW or many of the other Windows-based graphics packages. Once you know that, you can quickly master the laser system. Many Epilog customers that are already operating graphics software start producing revenue within hours of receiving their laser.
High profit margins
Personalization of products is definitely a profitable addition to your business. Laser-engraved products are perceived as high-value products and can be priced accordingly. Since the perceived value is high, but the cost of production is relatively low, the profit margins on lasered products are typically high. Because of this, people just getting started in the laser business have questions about pricing, but there are a couple of easy ways to establish pricing. One of the most popular is to determine how long the job will take and then decide how much they want to charge for machine time. An example of this is as follows: Your customer wants 50 pieces of 8' X 10' wooden door signs, and each sign is going to take you 30 minutes to engrave. This means that you have 25 hours of engraving to do. Many people know what their machine time is worth. In other words, they know that they want to charge $60 per hour of engraving plus materials. For this job, you have 25 hours of engraving multiplied by $60 per hour, and that means that you want to quote $1,500 plus materials for this job. In the corporate market, this is very reasonable.
Determining your pricing
The tough part of this equation is how you know you want $60 per hour for machine time. You can consider these factors in determining what to charge per hour.
- How much are you paying your employee to do the engraving?
- How much rent does it cost to keep the machine in your building?
- How much does your overhead, like utilities, cost?
- How much profit do you need to make?
You can come close to a realistic number by considering these factors. The number will vary a lot from region to region. Some engraving companies located in high-value markets of the country will charge between $200 and $250 per hour, but on average, engravers charge between $50 and $100 per hour.
Return on investment
The return on investment depends on how much you are running the laser. Epilog has one customer who paid for their system with the first job they ran! That is rare, of course, but the possibility is definitely there, especially with the internet making it possible to expand nationally, even offering just a few specialized products. The most important factor that will affect how quickly you can earn back the money you spend on the laser is the speed of engraving. A laser that can run at 120" per second (with excellent engraving quality) will allow you to run twice as many jobs as one running at only 60" per second. But remember to compare the quality and speed!
Grow your business with a CO2 laser
The sign industry is one of the quickest-growing markets for acquiring laser technology. In a downturn in the economy, it is important that you continue to increase the value of the products you are able to offer to your clients. Expanding your capabilities with a laser has never been more affordable, nor have you been able to reach so many potential customers. Take the next step in growing your business — explore the endless possibilities a CO2 laser system can bring to your product line and profitability.
Amy Harris is a marketing communications specialist at Epilog Laser with more than 18 years of experience. She writes about laser engraving applications, industry trends, and the creative ways businesses and makers use laser technology to bring their ideas to life..
