Bindery Upgrades Boost Quality, Productivity at Azusa

Bindery equipment is often a secondary thought for printers. Sometimes they put up with inferior equipment for years, even though it's clearly slowing down their productivity.

That was the case at Azusa Pacific University Duplicating Services, which had long relied on the inline booklet maker on its Xerox 700.

"It would take two minutes to produce one book, and it would only be trimmed on the right side," laments Denise Cundari, duplicating key production operator. She would then have to use an old MBM Triumph cutter to trim the top and bottom.

"Our customers were frustrated at the turnaround time," adds Donna Rutherford, senior manager of Duplicating Services at the private Christian university, located near Los Angeles.

Then there was the shop's old Rollem manual setup creaser/perforator.

"It took us hours to set it up, and it was never accurate," says Cundari.

"Our labor costs were just through the roof," comments Rutherford. "I would have to have employees either stay [late] or work weekends to finish [jobs] because of the finishing process."

Clearly, something needed to be done. But like most in-plants, Duplicating Services was crammed into a small space, with no room for new equipment, and was not exactly rolling in money for upgrades. Beginning last summer, though, a chain of events, combined with some vendor deal making, enabled the small in-plant to bring in a host of advanced bookletmaking, creasing and cutting equipment, along with a new digital color printer, for a relatively minor increase in its lease payments.

Evoking Change

It all started when Rutherford, after doing some research on the high volume of T-shirt printing being done by student groups, decided there were savings to be generated by adding screen printing equipment and getting into the garment business. To do this, she opened a new storefront operation (branded "Evoke, a print studio") and moved the in-plant's self-service graphics lab there, which included its HP and Roland wide-format equipment and a six-color Riley Hopkins screen press, along with a new M&R Diamondback XL screen press from Ryonet. The new graphics studio and print shop has been flourishing, providing T-shirts, posters, banners, canvas prints, mounting and much more.

"We're capturing that revenue and keeping the money on campus," Rutherford enthuses.

To upgrade its cutting capabilities, the in-plant added a pair of 19˝ Duplo 490/P hydraulic cutters in August. One of them was installed at Evoke.

After the departure of the graphics center from its space adjoining the in-plant, Duplicating Services got approval to remodel the shop. That's when Rutherford started looking into replacing the Rollem creaser with a more modern scoring/slitting device. She and Cundari researched Therm-O-Type and Morgana equipment, but Cundari felt that neither offered the flexibility of the Duplo DC-645, which she says allows a greater variety of sizes and positions.

At the same time, the in-plant started to think about upgrading its Xerox 700 to get better quality results. Cundari and Rutherford had their eye on the Xerox Color 1000 in particular. That's when things started to come together.

Understanding the in-plant's bindery needs, Xerox put together a package, in partnership with Duplo, that included the Color 1000 and several pieces of bindery equipment:

• A Duplo DFS-3500 full-bleed booklet making system, which connects the DC-445 creaser and the DBM-350 bookletmaker, and includes the DSS-350 square spine module.

• A Duplo DC-645 slitter/cutter/creaser.

Rutherford says the new lease deal for all the equipment did not increase lease payments significantly over what she was paying for just the 700. This made the expense an easy sell to university officials, especially considering the reduced overtime pay the in-plant would have to shell out thanks to the faster equipment.

"What used to take us hours and hours to do, we're getting the work done within two to three minutes. It's amazing," remarks Cundari.

Easy Installation

The installation in December went smoothly, though the small shop was pretty crowded with Xerox and Duplo technicians, Rutherford remembers.

"We must have had at least 20 techs in here at one time," she says.

Since the in-plant employs between four and six student workers, the new equipment had to be easy for them to learn. Rutherford says they have not had any problems learning and operating the equipment.

"We truly believe in utilizing students for employment," she says. "It gives them skill sets that they're able to take and apply out in the real world." Most work is student run, she adds, except for exams and other confidential work.

Since installing the equipment, life at the in-plant has been much easier.

"It's so nice to be able to slit, cut and score all in the same path," says Cundari. And because jobs come off the 645 looking exactly as they are supposed to look, "we've cut down on a lot of our waste."

The Duplo DFS 3500 booklet making system has similarly brought big benefits.

"The quality of the products from our machines is professional looking," notes Rutherford. "The creasing units eliminate cracking, therefore the finished piece is getting raving reviews."

The Color 1000 has brought noticeable quality improvements to the shop, as well.

"Our customers are noticing the difference in the quality, and I think that's the key for us because that's going to continue to bring them back to us," says Rutherford.

She notes that a hospitality services magazine for students that had been printed off campus is now being printed by the in-plant, thanks to the Color 1000. Likewise, the printing of the student-produced Collide magazine has been brought in-house.

Rutherford and Cundari are both excited about the arsenal of new binding and printing equipment and how it has reduced labor costs, increased productivity and enhanced quality.

"We're able to produce a quality piece that's professional looking," Rutherford notes. This has improved the in-plant's reputation and is helping to ensure its future success.IPG