KENNESAW, Ga. – June 8, 2004 – Longtime Heidelberg customer OmniPrint, Inc., of Lanham, Md., recently installed the first Speedbander 603 Automatic Bander with Stahlfolder TD 78-4 Topline Buckle Folder in the U.S. The installation was a case of déjà vu for OmniPrint, which specializes in newsletters and direct mail for a wide range of customers nationally. Prior to the new installation, the $17 million full-service printer already operated three Stahlfolders and an older-model Speedbander to accommodate “typically substantial” runs from 100,000 pieces into the millions. Commenting on his company’s long-to-very-long-run direct mail work, OmniPrint President Michael Nagan said, “This is the kind of business that digital can’t handle as efficiently as lithography yet.” At the same time, he said, “The competition for relatively straightforward jobs that can be run to their best economic advantage in large volumes is aggressive,” due primarily to the lower price per thousand and finer margins. Nagan also explained that the company’s origins as a newsletter printer have focused the corporate culture on rapid response and rapid turnaround. Consequently, it is important for OmniPrint to offer its customers the economies of speed and scale afforded by the Speedbander 603. Despite breathtaking advances in postpress technology, Nagan observed, “Presses still outrun the bindery.” This is the reason that postpress automation is critical to maintaining a competitive edge. In an environment where productivity is paramount, machine performance must not be impaired by complex manual activities, including the time-consuming removal of products from the machine. The fully automated Speedbander 603, Nagan said, can be operated at top speed with only a single operator to fold and offload product, compared with three or four people manually. For the company’s direct mail and other long-run work, the Speedbander/Folder combo is an effective sales tool, offering the high-speed solution needed to reduce time and labor costs, as well as boost finishing throughput. The high-speed system is designed to count, press, jog and band folded signatures and bound products at the rate of 1,800 bundles per hour (2,400 for the Speedbander 604). Automatic pack delivery accepts folded sheets and stitched products, stacks them into packs, sleeve-wraps the packs and delivers them at an ergonomic working height. Innovative sleeve wrapping is accomplished via ultrasonic fusion units that melt and seal plastic sleeve-wrapping material. Because the ultrasonic heads do not heat up, they exhibit virtually no soiling, giving the Speedbander a clear advantage as to speed and reliability. With the Speedbander at the end of the process chain, saddle-stitchers and folders can run at full capacity. Additional features of the Speedbander 603 include: • Maximum three-up production (9-1/4x9-1/4”) • Integrated quality control for removal of misaligned sheets • Straightforward connection to folder or saddlestitcher • Simple operation and short makeready • Swivel-mounted touch screen display • Straightforward changeover of sleeve wrapping reels • Ability to handle a wide range of formats and weights/grades of paper The TD-78 Topline folder is equipped with digital intelligence to ensure an increase in productivity by reducing makeready times and providing maximum reliability. Features include: • Sensor-controlled sheet monitoring from the feeder to the delivery system • Zero makeready buckle plates • Pallet, pile or continuous feeder options • Festa roller settings • Three-hole polyurethane suction wheel • Built-in sheet counter and sheet monitor • Helical gear-driven • Jogging button for setup mode • Self-learning sheet sensor for suction and sheet gap • Pull-out shaft on all sections • 9,000 inch per minute top speed • Gatefold plates When a paper jam occurs, the control system on the TD-78 interrupts paper flow at the feeder. All folding stations downstream of the jam keep running until the good folded sheets have reached delivery, at which point the entire machine comes to a standstill. This approach minimizes product that is discarded as waste. OmniPrint keeps productivity high, Nagan said, by using the TD-78 / Speedbander combination primarily for parallel-folded work (for example, two-page flyers) which takes maximum advantage of the bander’s efficiency, although the machine is more than capable of handling the complex folds that are sometimes called for on large jobs. The company currently runs the Speedbander and Folder in combination about 70 percent of the time across two of its three shifts, and expects to keep it busy, Nagan said.