What should I invest in?

[Keith]

As some of you may know, I have an all digital shop printing a lot of postcards, rack cards, flyers, business cards, newsletters and specialty items like magnets, plastic cards, ID cards and adhesive vinyl. We also do a of mailing of post cards, brochures and newsletters. We run a Xerox 252 and are quite happy and use FusionPro desktop for the variable data. But we are weak in the post press area so my question is- what equipment should I invest in? We have three cutters- a manual Triumph, an electric Triumph with manual clamp and a hydraulic Challenge with a manual clamp. A Duplo DF-915 folder and a perf/score machine rounds out the finishing. We have no tabber. I want some more automation since post press is becoming a bottle neck. My question is, should I invest in one of those slitter/cutter/creaser/sandwich-makers or get a fully automatic cutter? This question isn't about the specific brand of machine I should get but rather which direction? For the price of the
slitter/cutter/creaser/sandwich-maker, I can get a brand new cutter, business card slitter and a small tabber. and still save some money. The slitter/cutter/creaser/sandwich-maker seem to be fragile and expensive to repair, I'd imagine. And slow. Unless you get the top of the line model, you can trim on a guillotine faster with the exception of business cards which is why I thought about that instead. But I feel silly looking at new cutters when I have three. Keep in mind. We are a two man shop. We run an "office machine" not a real digital press like the iGen (note sarcasm).

 

[michaelejahn]

I would think that you should focus on activities that increased the amount of orders coming into you shop.

Do you have a Web2Print Storefront ? How many touches do you need to get an order out the door ?

 

[Keith]

Thanks for the reply, michaelejahn! But prepress isn't what I'm worried about at this moment. It is an issue that I am working on but what I am trying to reduce is similar, how many times an order is touched, or more specifically, reduce labor and mistakes in post press.

 

[michaelejahn]

@ Keith,

I was not speaking about "prepress" - I was speaking about using templates on a storefront, so the files that come in a good to go, can be batch imposed automatically and sent to the RIP. That eliminates the 'need' for prepress. This also allows you to scale ( do many more jobs ) without adding more humans.

Michael Jahn's blog - [email protected]

( sorry for shameless plug )

 

[Keith]

@ Keith,

I was not speaking about "prepress" - I was speaking about using templates on a storefront, so the files that come in a good to go, can be batch imposed automatically and sent to the RIP. That eliminates the 'need' for prepress. This also allows you to scale ( do many more jobs ) without adding more humans.

Michael Jahn's blog - [email][email protected][/email]

( sorry for shameless plug )

Presswise? That's funny because I just got off the phone with a sales rep talking about Smartaddresser 5 and Mailspotter! lol!

 

[michaelejahn]

@ Keith - my work is done ! ( wink )

 

[Keith]

Any other suggestions for which direction I should invest- a slitter/cutter/creaser/sandwich-maker or a new fully automated cutter with a business card slitter? I'm not concerned about anything BEFORE the job is printed (@michealejahn) only AFTER the job is printed. My concern is that for the price of the multi-function machine, I can get several different machines and save money too.

 

[ondemandbindery]

Remember that in Manufacturing you are always chasing the Bottleneck Lol.... The Book wrote by Ronald Goldstein outlines the problem and I suggest everyone read it.

A 2 man operation and you have 3 knifes sounds skewed to begin with. One good little Polar (bought used as the market is flooded) will run over all 3 of those cutters so you are definitely thinking in the right direction. Sell the 2 least desirable machines and keep the best one for backup.

Be careful with the Snake Oil all in one machines. Scoring is always an issue with Digital and everyone has their own opinion on how to handle it. If your runs are short enough I am a fan of a Handfed C&P Letterpress and with a super quick makeready you are popping off good scoring qualities if you are talking very short runs. If you want to go Automated, the Morgana impressed me the few times I saw one run but have no experience hands on.

If you do a ton of Business Cards, maybe a Slitter is in order but a good knife can cut them up relatively quick. Tabletop Tabbers are nice also. If you have the right work you can reduce some Mail Cost and keep that process in house.

Just be careful about your thoughts of increasing equipment with 2 people unless you are ready to hire some more hands. You can only do so much with your own hands. I learned that the hard way owning a Bindery. The comments about properly prepared files for consistent workflow and less prepwork is spot on also. For me to give better input I need more Data to crunch and ultimately you see your business everyday and should know how to increase throughput and the bottom line at the same time.

JW