Pushing The Envelope

Seeing big money in their mailing operations, these in-plants have invested aggressively in new equipment.

By Mike Llewellyn

State of Oregon

Publishing and Distribution Program

Salem, Ore.

Manager: Kay Erickson

In-plant Employees: 132

Mailing Employees: 25

Mailing equipment upgrades in past three years: Pitney Bowes Series 8 inserter, Secap V300 dual-head ink-jet system

For Program Manager Kay Erickson, the purchase of a Pitney Bowes Series 8 inserter and a Secap V300 dual-head ink-jet system translated to an increase in cost savings and an expansion of the in-plant's business.

"The Pitney inserter allows the option of cut sheet or continuous. It has given us backup and additional capacity," says Erickson. "We have added and moved more customers to cut sheet, and we have also been able to standardize our check stock."

She says the Secap ink-jet system, at 600 dpi, has given the shop better quality and increased speed. With a bulk ink attachment, the device is self-cleaning, and the in-plant's employees can use colored and fast-drying inks, and can print on glossy paper, as well.

In the next year, Erickson says the in-plant expects to add another cut-sheet inserter and an advanced scanning solution.

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Southern Illinois University

SIU Printing/Duplicating

Carbondale, Ill.

Superintendent: Carole Wexstten

In-plant Employees: 20

Mailing Employees: 1, plus students

Mailing equipment upgrades in past three years: Bryce Ink Jet printer, HP LaserJet 8150, HP LaserJet 5000

The Mail Center at SIU Printing/Duplicating is a mail preparation hub for automated mailings, and it is responsible for the major mailings leaving the campus.

To stay up to date, the in-plant purchased a Bryce ink-jet printer in May of 2001, and in its second year of operation the device had already generated well over $27,000 for the in-plant.

"Efficiency and speed are the two biggest advantages," says Superintendent Carole Wexstten.

The in-plant also purchased an HP LaserJet 8150 that month to print personalized bursar statements.

"That is a money maker for our mail center," Wexstten says.

Still, Wexstten reports that the in-plant will likely switch this process to a digital copier in the near future.

Finally, the in-plant acquired an HP LaserJet 5000 in August of 2001. Wexstten says it is used as a general printer to produce individualized mailing pieces.

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University of North Texas

Printing/Copy Center/Mail Services

Denton, Texas

Director: Jimmy Friend

In-plant Employees: 45 full-time, 20 students

Mailing Employees: 7 full-time, 5 students

Mailing equipment upgrades in past three years: Buskro 600, Iamsco Quick Dryer

The mailing operation at the University of North Texas has been gaining steam for nearly a decade.

"We started with a Bryce 12 K, and an off-line ProTabber some nine years ago," says Director Jimmy Friend. "We replaced the Bryce and purchased the Buskro 400 six years ago and added an inline Buskro tabber five years ago."

Over the past three years the Buskro 400 was upgraded to a 600 model.

Friend says upgrading to a Buskro 600 enabled the in-plant to use the company's Compose software. The software package, he says, improves the ease of operation for the whole system.

As part of the upgrade, Friend says the in-plant also moved up to using HP print heads, which he contends are a marked improvement over the original heads.

"[We have] much more up time with these heads versus the original heads. Also, they allow us to print different colors," he explains.

Even though the ink for the HP heads is more expensive, the in-plant's gains in productivity have offset that cost, says Friend.

The in-plant also added an Iamsco Quick Dryer, which Friend says allows his operation to address gloss-coated stocks.

"We immediately saw the return on investment through improved production on the Buskro using the HP print heads," says Friend. "And the Iamsco Dryer was a service and process improvement that allowed us to keep all addressing in-house."

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Phoenix Life Insurance

Corporate Fulfillment

Hartford, Conn.

Manager: Tony

DeLoretto

In-plant Employees: 30

Mailing Employees: 16

Mailing equipment upgrades in past three years: Pitney Bowes DM 1000

"Pitney Bowes came out with a better deal for us and it saved us money," says Corporate Fulfillment Manager Tony DeLoretto, explaining the mailing operation's recent acquisition of a Pitney Bowes DM 1000.

The device automatically feeds, seals, imprints postage, and stacks mail at speeds up to 260 pieces a minute.

"We make it a point to keep up with new technology," says DeLoretto.

That new technology includes an advanced mail processing capability that eliminates the need to manually sort mail by size, weight, thickness or even envelope flap configuration.

"It's a little faster," he says. "That's what makes the difference."

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BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon Office Services

Portland, Ore.

Manager: Kay Wallace

In-plant Employees: 27

Mailing Employees: 27

Mailing equipment upgrades in past three years: Böwe Bell & Howell 3000 sorter, Böwe Bell & Howell 3500 sorter.

Running three shifts five days a week and sending out 1.5 million pieces of mail every month made it clear to Office Services Manager Kay Wallace that the time had come to upgrade the facility's old Bell & Howell and Pitney Bowes equipment.

Those upgrades came in the form of a Böwe Bell & Howell 3000 inserter with a single-deck accumulator and three meters, and a Böwe Bell & Howell 3500 inserter with a dual-deck accumulator and three meters.

"We're changing over to handle the new design of the mail pieces," says Wallace, explaining that the older equipment could not work with the new security technology in place.

"We used to periodically have mismatching in our mailings," she says, referring to rare instances when a mail piece would mistakenly arrive at an incorrect address.

"So we wanted to provide a continuation number on each piece," she continues, "so that if there's a break in that sequence, the machine stops."

Those continuation numbers ensure that every piece in a mailing is accounted for at all times.

As the operation continues to update its equipment, Wallace says it's likely another inserter will be added over the next few months.

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Brigham Young University Mail Services

Provo, Utah

Manager: Sterling Calabio

In-plant Employees: 62 full-time, 180 students

Mailing Employees: 14 full-time, 45 students

Mailing equipment upgrades in past three years: Two Ascom Hasler InteliTouch mailing machines, VideoJet Cheshire TLS System Tabber, Pitney Bowes U580 mail machine

The formidable mail services operation at Brigham Young University recently acquired a pair of Ascom Hasler InteliTouch mailing machines. Mail Services Manager Sterling Calabio says the units feature a stand-alone CPU with a touch-screen display. Fitted with large ink and water reservoirs and a 70-pound scale, these units were picked up for their compatibility with the shop's Ascom Hasler 335s.

For the production mail section, Calabio says the in-plant had to upgrade its tabbing system.

"We purchased the VideoJet Cheshire TLS System Tabber to operate in-line with our VideoJet 4000 high-speed addressing machine," says Calabio. "The tabber provided a savings on work that was being outsourced and cut down on the turnaround time."

The in-plant also purchased a Pitney Bowes U580 mail machine to replace its "old favorite," a Pitney Bowes 6100 machine.

"We are in the process of negotiating the purchase of an intelligent inserter with high-production capabilities," says Calabio. Additionally, the in-plant is checking out several proposals on tracking equipment for delivery and pickup service on campus.

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Addressing/Imaging Equipment Contacts

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Inserting/Sorting Equipment Contacts