Export Week

By Onalenna Manamela, MD

A quick floor note on export-week runs where repeat colour and labelled cartons matter before dispatch.

Export jobs raise the stakes for colour notes, printer settings and cartridge records because the print may be checked far from the original machine. Export Week is our note for preparing large-format output and machine information so the job travels with fewer surprises.

Export consignments need tighter records than a local pickup job. For Export Week we note the print condition, carton marking method, and the machine details that must travel with the load from Gauteng, KZN, or the Western Cape.

Dispatch details logged on press

• Carton labels checked against job codes
• Reference photo of approved colour kept with batch
• RIP preset, profile name, and media noted
• FastJET, Stormjet, or Skywalker cartridge record captured

Read the profile note alongside the cartridge record before the load is wrapped. One shows how the colour was held on the chosen media, and the other records what sat in the machine during the run. That combination matters when the buyer checks output away from your print room.

How Export Week fits a production week for export work

Export Week is about repeat colour and clean dispatch preparation on longer production runs. Keep cartons labelled properly and watch consistency across the batch before work leaves the floor.

Start with substrate, finishing method, and destination. A vinyl export job headed through Durban can behave differently from a fabric run packed inland, especially when humidity, dust, and storage time change how prints leave the shop. We use notes that help operators in Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town, and smaller production sites keep repeat colour visible across the batch.

Keep the first approved swatch and the first carton photo together. Those two records often settle later questions about whether labels matched the printed set and whether the run drifted after a pause. On longer jobs, pin the note near the printer or file it with the dispatch paperwork.

Export conditions on South African jobs

Shipping windows through OR Tambo or Durban make small mistakes expensive. We record enough detail for jobs leaving busy hubs, industrial sites in Crown Mines or Sunnyrock, and mixed retail-print operations where packing happens fast. If a FastJET, Stormjet or Skywalker line is mid-production, separate the export batch note from ordinary daily output so nothing is mixed at dispatch.

Coastal moisture can change how material sits before wrapping. Inland dust can show up on static-prone media and affect how clean the approved sample looks under inspection. Load-shedding also matters because restart points and reprints must be marked clearly on longer export runs.

Operated by Astros Marketing (Pty) Ltd from 2 Makro Place, Sunnyrock 1401.