Paterson, NJ – If you read a major market daily newspaper or get direct mail, chances are good that you have seen doodad’s work.  The premier provider of advertising inserts to shared mail marketers, newspapers and advertising agencies says business is flourishing with national accounts stretching from coast-to-coast.  Key relationships are helping them produce dynamic, colorful work to reinforce the call-to-action messages.

Originally established in New York as a business forms printer in 1969, the company moved to Florida in the early 1980s and began printing business reply cards.  A decade later, doodad evolved into the emerging market of advertising inserts.  Today, two facilities - one in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and a second plant connected to corporate headquarters 12 miles from Atlanta in Austell, Georgia – get the job done 24 hours a day, five or six times a week.  

About the same time doodad’s business fortunes turned with shared mail, the company began an association with Colter & Peterson by purchasing a Prism® paper cutter.  The nearly 20-year arrangement has strengthened since 2009; four of the five 45-inch paper cutters are new, heavy duty Saber® X15 units, with two in Lancaster and two in Austell.

“If it runs through a web press, we’re using the Colter & Peterson machines to cut it, and about 80% of our work is flat sheets off the web presses,” said Tim Mack, the Plant Manager in Lancaster who started at the company 10 years ago as a Production Manager.

Mack says that working primarily through print agencies, the full color insert programs attract lots of visibility via the major market newspapers and direct mail providers.  

“The inserts and high bulk cards run from 3-1/2” x 8-1/2” to 10” x 11-1/2”, and we cut 45 lbs. weight base up to 10 point card stock.  We also do retail work and print millions of menus annually for chain and mom and pop restaurants.”

In 2009, the Lancaster operation bought a reconditioned 45-inch cutter from C&P.  That same year, Austell installed their two new Saber cutters and Mack purchased two more for Lancaster in June, 2011.  Both bindery departments work two, 12-hour shifts with four cutting crews who took advantage of the initial training offered by C&P.  Mack said some expected issues were quickly remedied and the cutters are doing the job.

“I bought the last pair for several reasons.  Colter & Peterson had the best price and for the technology, we were one of the first to utilize the automatic knife setting,” Mack said.  The Saber 45-inch cutters are incredibly accurate to within 1/64^th of an inch since they include the Microcut computer control system.  The cutting sequences are stored so the back gauge automatically positions itself for each individual cut.

“I really love the Microcut system.  It is user friendly and the people in California are extremely helpful.  Whenever I have a question, they are very responsive and usually can talk me through any scenario.  The last reason was for service.  C&P has a local technical support person who is absolutely fantastic to work with.  Joe Proudfoot has helped us with programming the Saber machines, and we have become more self-sufficient because of his knowledge.”