Polished Protection

Laminators do more than just add luster to your documents.

Learn how you can make your products last longer.

LOOKING AT a flawless four-color printed piece can be an aesthetically pleasing experience. The color registration is perfect, the logo stands out and the layout is immaculate.

Even after a few days have passed the piece is fine, colors still shining bright. But after a few weeks, after lying in the sun or under other bright elements, it starts to lose its luster.

Laminating your documents could solve that insidious problem. It protects your documents, making them last longer—and making them shine.

Nels Pedersen, unit manager of Document Reproduction Services at Hewitt Associates, believes in the power of preservation.

The Lincolnshire, Ill.-based in-plant has seven laminators including a Ledco 42˝. A fairly new purchase, the wide-format laminator has fulfilled customers' needs and added value to the operation, Pedersen says.

"Investment in wide-format printing is pretty [expensive] and customers want to protect their investment by laminating," says Pedersen. "Also, on documents like banners there's always a risk of the ends being crinkled up, and the laminator keeps it looking nice."

Whether the paper you're using is a regular or premium grade, laminating adds the durability and sturdiness to make it last and, if needed, to allow it to get used over and over again. Pedersen believes that virtually anything can be laminated, although, he tries to stay away from large run lengths.

"Running [the Ledco] is fairly labor-intensive and manual. The operator has to feed each piece individually, and that could impact our ability to meet a critical time line for other jobs," he explains.

Desktop laminators, he says, are relatively easy to use. "It's just a matter of turning it on and pushing a button; it's pretty straight-forward."

The Ledco, however, is a slightly different story.

"It's big and requires some know-how on the heating coils and the speed feeds, and the wide variety of laminating options on the machine itself," he explains.

John Gilmore, president of Autobond, agrees that laminating printed work enhances good printing and adds salability to a product.

At the upcoming IPEX 98 conference and trade show, Autobond plans to premiere its newest addition to the already emerging line of aqueous-based in-line laminators. Gilmore says the benefits of an aqueous-based laminator far outweigh the higher price tag.

"Say you're shipping a book to Florida and, with the humidity, water gets in the back of page two and allows the cover to curl. That's one of the problems with a thermal-only machine. Once it's gone from the binder and hits the air it's basically up to [nature's] elements." An aqueous-based laminator seals in the moisture, preventing pages and covers from curling.

He says that's why Autobond makes machines that are dual purpose with both thermal and aqueous-based capabilities. He says it gives the machine versatility, offering operators a choice, depending on the application.

But how easy is it to operate?

"Thermal laminators are very easy," Gilmore discloses. "Aqueous-based is about 20 percent more difficult but you can teach someone to operate it in about three days."

Connect and Query:

John Gilmore

autobondlaminating@msn.com

Nels Pedersen

nspeders@hewitt.com