Print Shop and Press Movers in Jeddah
A print shop presents three awkward problems at once: machines that are extremely heavy with their mass concentrated into a small footprint, paper stock in quantities nobody expects, and inks and solvents that must not tip over. We move presses by starting from a weight audit and matching the lifting gear to the real figures rather than to the number of people available, with a written price after a free survey.
The weight audit comes first
The first question we ask at a print shop survey is not how many items there are. It is which are the heaviest. An offset press or a large guillotine can weigh several tonnes, and that is not a job for a crew of any size — it is a job for a forklift or a crane.
Weight in a print shop is also concentrated. A machine that looks compact can weigh many times what its size suggests, because its body is cast iron designed to resist vibration while running. Estimating weight by eye is the single most common cause of injury in this kind of move.
So we ask for the data plate on each machine, or its catalogue, because that carries the net weight as a figure. With those numbers we decide the gear, the vehicle and the crew size before the day rather than on it.
- Photograph the data plate on each machine and send it with your survey request.
- Mark what is floor-fixed and what is on castors.
- Tell us the door widths and heights at both the old and the new unit.
Presses, guillotines and binding equipment
A large machine is not moved until its moving parts are secured. Cylinders, heads and arms are locked with their transit locks where they exist, or tied so they cannot move during the journey. A free-moving part is what damages a machine internally — the road itself rarely does.
A large guillotine deserves particular care: the blade is heavy and extremely sharp, and it must be secured fully closed and covered before anything moves. The blade is only removed by a specialist technician, because resetting its angle and depth is precision work that determines the quality of every cut afterwards.
Inks, solvents and cleaning fluids travel entirely separately, sealed, upright, in crates with a leak-proof base. One ink container tipping over inside a truck can ruin the entire paper load travelling with it.
Presses
Moving parts locked with transit locks before anything is lifted.
Guillotines
Blade secured closed and covered; removal only by a specialist.
Inks
Carried separately, upright and sealed in leak-proof crates.
Paper
Moved on wrapped pallets, loaded low to balance the vehicle.
Paper: the weight nobody accounts for
A single ream is manageable; the stock of a mid-sized print shop runs to tonnes. And paper has two problems: its weight, and its sensitivity to humidity. Paper that gets damp ripples and becomes unusable for accurate printing, and it never recovers.
We move paper on pallets wrapped in stretch film rather than ream by ream, and load it low to balance the vehicle. Paper does not travel on a rainy day or in an open truck, however short the distance.
We also recommend running the paper stock down before the move. Use what you can in the preceding weeks and delay new orders until after the relocation; that alone can cut the load and the invoice noticeably.
- Run down paper stock in the weeks before and postpone new orders.
- Move paper on wrapped pallets rather than by hand.
- Never move paper in an open truck or on a wet day.
Three-phase power and site readiness
Many presses run on three-phase power at a specified capacity, which means a print shop cannot relocate to just any unit — only to one with the right electrical provision. That needs confirming before the new lease is signed, not after.
Disconnection and reconnection are done by a competent electrician, and that includes checking the direction of rotation after reconnection. A machine wired with the phases in the wrong order can run backwards, which will destroy it within minutes.
We coordinate with the site electrician within the moving schedule so they are present at installation rather than several days later. An installed machine that is not connected produces nothing, and a stopped press loses money every day.
What a print shop relocation costs
Pricing follows volume, weight, floors and whether lifting equipment is needed. The table below is the published reference.
| Move size | Estimated price (SAR) | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Pickup / single items | 80 – 250 | One or two pieces inside Jeddah, loading and unloading |
| Studio or single room | 350 – 600 | Dismantling, packing, loading, transport, reassembly |
| Two-bedroom flat | 500 – 900 | Full crew with a closed truck |
| Three-bedroom flat | 800 – 1,400 | Larger crew and extended packing |
| Four to five bedrooms | 1,200 – 1,900 | Sometimes two days depending on floors |
| Small villa | 1,500 – 2,500 | More than one truck and an extended crew |
| Large villa | 2,500 – 4,000 | Scheduled over two days with full packing |
Prices are estimates and are fixed after a free survey. The agreed figure is written down before work starts and does not change afterwards.
Dismantling and reassembly items for office furniture and racking:
| Item | Estimated price (SAR) |
|---|---|
| Bedroom dismantling and reassembly | 150 – 300 |
| Sliding or IKEA wardrobe | 100 – 250 |
| Aluminium kitchen | 200 – 400 |
| Whole-flat package | 400 – 900 |
The package covers dismantling and reassembly only; transport is priced separately using the table above.
The full list is on our Jeddah moving prices page.
How the day runs in a print shop
Survey and weight audit
We read the data plates and identify what needs a crane or a forklift.
Reducing stock
Paper and inks are run down as far as possible before the date to cut the load.
Isolating power
A competent electrician disconnects the machines and records the phase order.
Securing moving parts
Cylinders, heads and blades are locked before anything is lifted.
Liquids
Inks and solvents are loaded separately, upright, in leak-proof crates.
Heavy machines
Lifted with the right gear and positioned centrally in the vehicle to balance the load.
Install and test
Positioned, reconnected, rotation direction checked, then a test run.
What keeps a press shut down longest
Downtime in print shops is usually one of three things: electrical provision that is not ready, a floor that cannot carry the machine, or waiting for the supplier technician to recommission.
The floor is a serious point that is often overlooked. A heavy machine needs a concrete slab of adequate thickness and loading capacity, and some upper floors in commercial buildings are simply not designed for it. Check that with an engineer before choosing the unit.
And the supplier technician should be booked a fortnight before the move rather than after it. Most presses need recalibration and realignment following any relocation, and waiting a week for the technician means a week of complete shutdown.
- Have an engineer confirm the floor loading of the new unit before signing.
- Confirm three-phase provision at the required capacity.
- Book the supplier technician for recommissioning a fortnight ahead.
Plates, artwork files and work in progress
A print shop has a distinctive archive: plates, films, design files and approved customer proofs. These are not ordinary paperwork — reproducing a lost plate costs time and money and can delay a customer order.
Plates are stored in flat numbered crates labelled by customer and job number, and never stacked under a weight that will distort them. Work in progress that has not been delivered is separated into its own crates marked with the customer name and the agreed delivery date.
We recommend that approved proofs and sensitive files travel in the print shop own vehicle, the same advice we give offices on our office furniture moving page.
Phasing the move to keep production running
A print shop does not have to stop completely. Most have a main production line and secondary ones, so the secondary equipment can move first while the main line keeps running, and the main line moves in a short window once the new unit is ready to receive it.
That also means managing the order book: urgent jobs are completed before the shutdown window, new ones are deferred until after installation, and customers are told the schedule a fortnight ahead. A customer who knows in advance will wait; a customer taken by surprise finds another supplier.
We write the phase plan with you at the survey and stick to it, because changing the order halfway through a move involving heavy machinery is not a simple matter.
- Move secondary lines first and keep the main line running as long as possible.
- Clear urgent jobs before the shutdown window and defer new ones.
- Tell customers the relocation schedule a fortnight ahead.
Mistakes we see in press relocations
- Estimating weight by eye. Read the data plate; cast iron is far heavier than it looks.
- Moving a machine with parts unsecured. They are locked or tied before anything moves.
- Mixing inks with paper. One tipped container can ruin the whole load.
- Moving paper in an open truck. Humidity ruins it permanently.
- Reconnecting without checking rotation. Reverse rotation destroys a machine in minutes.
And the biggest strategic error: choosing a new unit before verifying its electrical provision and floor loading. Those two factors decide the whole project before a single machine moves.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, with lifting gear selected after reading the data plate on each machine and establishing its real weight.
We move them with the blade secured closed, but blade removal and resetting is done by a specialist technician.
Entirely separately from paper and machines, upright and sealed in crates with a leak-proof base.
From SAR 1,200, rising with the number of heavy machines and whether a crane is required.
Yes, to disconnect, reconnect and verify the direction of rotation afterwards. We coordinate with them in the schedule.
On wrapped pallets in a closed truck, and by avoiding wet days entirely.
Yes. We move secondary lines first and keep the main production line running until the final stage.
Yes, in a dry closed warehouse, with exposed metal surfaces oiled, from SAR 250 a month.
They travel in flat numbered crates labelled by customer, and are best carried in your own vehicle.
Yes, and for print shops we strongly prefer an in-person survey because the weights need to be checked directly.
Book a free survey today
Send photos on WhatsApp and get a written, itemised quote before you commit — the survey costs nothing.