Best Practices: Tackling Tabbing, Adding Addressing at Valdosta

Like many of his fellow in-plant managers, when Drew Burgering discovered potential work was being sent off-site, he found a way for his department to tackle it instead.

Burgering, manager of Printing and Copying Services at Valdosta State University, learned that Campus Mail, a separate unit at the Valdosta, GA, school, was directing many customers to have their jobs tabbed and addressed off campus. Sensing an opportunity, he used some of the in-plant’s surplus funds to acquire a new tabbing machine and an addresser for the in-plant, so that work could remain on campus.

“Anywhere that you can identify work that is going off campus that you already have the capabilities for, or can afford the machinery to meet those capabilities on campus, I think that’s a plus,” Burgering says.

The in-plant added a Hasler HT25 to handle its tabbing needs and a Hasler HJ940 for addressing.

Burgering says that addressing in particular has helped bring in additional revenue. He explains that Campus Mail does have addressing capabilities as well, but does not charge for this service; Printing and Copying Services, however, does charge.

When Burgering was initially thinking about requesting this mailing equipment, he was concerned about stepping on Campus Mail’s toes; however, he was relieved to learn that the mail department was pleased to let the in-plant handle the work.

“It’s more revenue into my stream than it would be if I was letting it go to Campus Mail,” Burgering says.

Because Campus Mail already had Satori bulk mail software, which was acquired on a site license, Printing and Copying Services did not have to purchase its own copy of the software.

While the addresser has been the more active of the two machines, Burgering says he has been pleased with the tabber as well. He says he purchased a model that can provide three tabs—the standard two on top, plus a leading tab. This can all be done in one pass, he says.

So far, the equipment has allowed the in-plant to provide printing, tabbing and addressing on a variety of jobs, including a newsletter for Valdosta’s own Peach State Summer Theatre, a 7,200 piece mailing and a notification that was sent out to alumni about the football team’s homecoming game. The in-plant printed, folded and tabbed that 50,000-piece mailing.

Though these new capabilities would typically fall under the jurisdiction of a mailing operation, Burgering says Campus Mail has been happy to share the load. And as long as work is being done on campus, he says that’s a win for everyone.

“You have to be careful because you don’t want to create enemies,” he says. “But at the same time, you try to keep as much on campus as you can. I think that’s the best approach for any in-plant.”