Cut Quality: Slitter vs. Guillotine?

[PantherMac]

Had a discussion w/ the owner over the weekend about getting a slitter for BC's. It's been an issue here in back w/ the monkey's, as we do a lot of cards, and cutting them on the cutter takes a lot of time. Turns out the owner's under the impression that the guillotine cutter makes a cleaner, neater, better looking cut, than what you get off a slitter, so he doesn't want to switch (labor costs be damned).
What's the experienced folks in this forum think about that statement? True? Sometimes? Depending what model you get?
We have regular BC work, that's a fair part of our business, so it makes economic sense, to be sure. We also print conventional and digital cards (toner has a tendency to crack/flake, so we back-trim all our cuts). Everything from 80lb - 120lb, all kinds of finishes, too.
Thanks for the input.

- Mac

[Alex@Challenge]

if both machines are in optimal conditions (sharp knives/blades, fresh cut sticks, etc), they should be identical. The problem with the slitter method is with digitally-printed products, the registration moves around a lot, and can have the operator chasing the cut around. Easier to correct on a guillotine, but there are other things to keep in mind with a cutter (programmability/ease of programming).

[PantherMac]

Thanks Alex,

We generally cut the cards in single stacks as it is, and the programs are set on the cutter (so yeah, they basically stick a monkey in front of it and tell him to have at it).

Do you have any experience w/ the 'self sharpening' rotary knife style? Like I said, we have issue w/ the digital cards cracking a little on the cutter as it is (knife probably dull.. I know they change them on Mondays, but I think that's it).

Thanks for the feedback!

- Mac

[CTmang]

It's been an issue here in back w/ the monkey's, as we do a lot of cards, and cutting them on the cutter takes a lot of time. Turns out the owner's under the impression that the guillotine cutter makes a cleaner, neater, better looking cut, than what you get off a slitter, so he doesn't want to switch (labor costs be damned).

I would disagree with the statement made by the owner. We too do a lot of BC and have been using a slitter for 7 years. The speed at which we can finish them is probably 4 to 1 over our cutter. Alex is correct when he says if the machines are optimal, the cuts are identical. Most importantly, we never get any complaints from our customers about the cutting. They reorder quite often.

[PantherMac]

Thanks CTMang,

I appreciate the feedback. I'd like to make a case for (at the very least) testing a slitter out, as from what I've seen, we'll reap greater than 4:1 efficiency improvements over what the bindery's pumping out.
Thanks again.

- Mac

[Flexo Grunt]

I think you would get better results investing in some knowledgeable employees that you can respect and getting rid of the "monkeys".........

[PantherMac]

ROTFLMAO!!! Amen Grunt, you're preaching to the choir there....
I can't get the guy to spend money on a slitter, you think he's going to pay $15/hour for a cutter operator?
(and for the record, I use the term w/ endearment, I'm just a pixel-monkey...)

- Mac

[Alex@Challenge]

the advantage of a cutter is its flexibility - it can cut whatever you want besides just cards. If you want something just for BC's, slitters are a nice way to go, but the digital print moving on you will show up with nasty results on a slitter. You can try something like a BC-10 or BC-12 from MBM which reads OMR to vary the trim head-to-foot for smaller-runs.

The issues you speak of I believe may be due to the toner/wax not fully adhering to the sheet when printed (if the blade is sharp and a new cutting stick). Other than coating (which helps but does not eliminate) the sheet, you need to bring this issue up with your print-engine technician/company.

[Craig]

Just to throw this in the mix. The movement on many digital devices is correct. But on the more expensive high production devices you can expect +/- 0.5mm. I am looking at the slitter option as well with gutter capabilities. RB Sun has a table top for about $5000.00, maybe woth looking at.

[StuartJMurphy]

I am bias, being a manufacturer, but we sell most of our machinery for slitting based on a demand from customers for better than guillotine quality. Have a look at this video for business card slitting and collation, note the autolay for print drift correction to better than 0.1mm, the cassette system for delivery and the ability to be run successfully by any staff to very high quality. "Rollem JetStream + AutoLay + Cassette Collection - Business Cards.wmv" These systems can do bleeds between cards down to 0.8mm (try that on a guillotine!) and can give 5 x 5 business cards on a standard SRA3 digital sheet.
Yours, Stuart at www.rollem.com