Creaser Boosts Productivity in Ohio

The Print and Postal Services team stand with the new Duplo DC-616 PRO. From left to right, Brice Tarbox, Tony Wenzinger, Sue Briggs, Colene Lewis and Cindy Scherger.

Since arriving at the University of Findlay 10 years ago, Tony Wenzinger, director of Print and Postal Services, has seen the in-plant slowly increase productivity with the addition of new machines. But in 2015 alone, he says, off-campus work jumped 42 percent, a gain he attributes, in part, to the installation of a Duplo DC-616 PRO slitter/cutter/creaser.

“Because of speed, quality and pricing, that business has grown tremendously,” he says. “As long as you can read a ruler, you can run this machine.”

Before the Duplo was added in September, the Findlay, Ohio-based in-plant was using an Ideal 4850-95 guillotine cutter, but the speed and ease of use of the Duplo has brought the shop efficiency savings of 50 percent, or better.

The in-plant is now able to create a more consistent cut and crease, Wenzinger says, and has the ability to perforate, all at one time. Not only have speed, quality and efficiency increased, but the types and quantities of jobs have grown rapidly. Wenzinger explains that the shop is now able to produce event tickets, something it was mostly outsourcing before, or hand-scoring and perforating by hand, one piece at a time.

“It’s fine if you’re doing one, or even up to 50 tickets,” he says, “but we’re doing hundreds of tickets now. I produce 250 tickets—print, trim and perforation—in 20 minutes. In the past that would take a couple hours to get everything through.”

Wenzinger adds that the shop recently created perforated letters for a Phone-a-thon with a tear-off form on the bottom of the letterhead to fill out and return—something the in-plant would not have been able to handle previously.

Print and Postal Services has always churned out a lot of business cards for students, departments, faculty and staff, but with turnaround times for eight to 10 orders (at 200 cards apiece) averaging about a week using the previous guillotine cutter, it was an arduous process. Now, the shop is producing the same amount in about half a day.

“These are jobs that I used to dread because the time that it took was so monotonous,” Wenzinger admits. “Now, when I see a business card, I turn on the machine and walk away.”

Justifying the Equipment

It was an easy justification for Wenzinger when proposing the Duplo to management. He simply explained the amount of labor, time and money that would be eliminated. Management requires a 36-month ROI or better and Wenzinger expects that the ROI will be around one year.

Customers have also noticed the upswing in speed and quality. Wenzinger says that with the slitter wheels and knife cutting one piece at a time, you get a clean, concise and constant cut every time. This is a big improvement from the traditional guillotine cutter that would leave a clamp impression and sometimes feather the cut. The speed is one of the most noticeable advantages of the new machine.

Wenzinger explains that recently, he received a large order from a customer and quoted seven to 10 days to complete the 1,500-piece job, not knowing exactly how long it would take on the new machine. The in-plant was able to turn the job around the in 24 hours.

Print and Postal Services also runs a Konica Minolta bizhub PRESS C1060, which it acquired in October for its color work, and two black-and-white Canon imageRUNNERs—an 8105 and an 8205. The shop produces a variety of materials for campus and off-campus customers, including class syllabi, envelopes and instruction manuals. It prints one job for the university’s hazardous materials group, which teaches and provides materials across the country under government contract for on-site hazmat training.

Print and Postal Services also just ordered a nine-color, 44˝ Epson P8000 to meet the needs of wide-format printing on campus. But to date, it’s the Duplo that has really increased productivity in the shop.

“It’s a good quality finish all the way around,” Wenzinger praises.