The Fayetteville Public School District, in Fayetteville, Arkansas, serves nearly 11,000 students a year at 16 learning locations. It’s recognized across the state as a leader in academic excellence and teaching innovation.

We recently spoke with Christine Wilken, who has been with the district for 26 years and in 2020 was asked to run their centralized print shop. She told us how the Formax Cut-True 16M has helped with her daily workflow.

The Challenge: Cutting Accuracy and Safety

Producing finished print products for so many locations is no small feat, especially as a one-person operation. Projects include business cards, key sign-out cards, flash cards for teachers, booklets, mailings and more. To complement their wide format printer, production color printer, inserter, and mail machine, they had an outdated tabletop Guillotine cutter.

Christine said when using her old cutter, it was difficult to get an accurate cut, so she’d have to print out an extra page to test the alignment before proceeding with each project. It also had a design that wasn’t as safe as it could be for the user.

The Solution: Cut-True 16M Guillotine Cutter

A colleague suggested the district look into a new cutter, and recommended Formax cutters specifically. They chose the Cut-True 16M, which has a hardened-steel Guillotine blade, a sturdy stand, LED cutting line, and a variety of safety features.

Christine said her favorite feature is the LED line, which shows exactly where the blade will cut, so no more printing extra pages to test for alignment. She also said she appreciates the front plexi safety shield which prevents the blade from moving until her hands are safely out of the way.

She told us the Cut-True 16M is more precise and allows her to complete projects in less time, and would absolutely recommend it to others looking for a safe, accurate cutter.

A New Dimension Graphic Design, located in Cartersville, GA, is a full-service design and print company offering direct mail marketing and mailing service. We recently spoke with co-owner Mike Elder, to see how the Formax 7104 Series Inserter has made a difference in their production process.

The Challenge: Hand Inserting Not a Viable Option

Based in Cartersville – locally known as “Museum City” – their biggest clients are four museums who don’t have the in-house staff to produce and mail their own marketing and outreach pieces.

Mike told us they’re the only printer in town that offers the whole process: design, printing, addressing, and mailing. Having a dependable, robust inserter is essential to providing fast turnaround for their customers.

After 15 years, their previous inserter simply stopped working and no longer qualified for support or parts. Faced with the prospect of completing inserting jobs by hand, they turned to their trusted local equipment dealer who suggested Formax equipment.

Mike said their primary considerations were price, local support, and finding a system they could grow into. “We wanted a machine that for the next 10 years can allow us to grow our volume, instead of just a stop-gap solution,” he said.

The Solution: 7104 Series Modular Inserter

The 7104 Series was the ideal choice, for both flexibility and capacity. It features a modular design which can expand to 8 modules and up to 17 feed stations, perfect for handling increased volume over time.

With a speed of up to 4,500 pieces/hour, and a duty cycle of up to 180,000 pieces/month, it makes quick work of any inserting job. Mike’s team can easily process and mail newsletters, postcards, membership renewal letters, and community outreach pieces for the museums, as well as all of their other clients.

Mike said, in contrast to their previous inserter which was in a noisy production area, the 7104 Series is quiet, and the compact, linear design fits perfectly in their copy room.

He told us it has streamlined their process because mailings can now be completed by a single staff member, instead of an entire team.

We recently spoke with the team at an in-plant print shop for a national non-profit organization. Formax helped them to literally downsize their equipment for increased efficiency.

Some of the print shop’s equipment was larger than they needed, including an offset press, and a non-Formax 8-station inserting system. They turned to their local Formax Dealer to help streamline their processes.

6308 Series Inserter offers smaller footprint

The first change was the 6308 Series Inserter, which has a smaller footprint and better fits their current mail volume. The print shop manager said it’s just right for their mailings which range from 3-4 page pension fund notices, to conference registration letters and member outreach.

She said they appreciate the 6308’s plug-and-play design which is easy for operators to use, including staff from other departments, with very little instruction.

 

ColorMax8 Digital Printer replaces large, complicated offset press

After the successful placement of the 6308 Inserter, they asked their Formax Dealer for a better envelope printing solution. Their previous process used a large Heidelberg press, which required plates to be created, along with messy ink setup, a very time-consuming process.

The solution was the ColorMax8 Digital Inkjet Printer, with its smaller footprint and easy touchscreen setup.

The new system allows them to print envelopes for satellite offices and their in-house accounting department, between 7,500 and 10,000 envelopes.

 

One more for good measure

Based on their great experiences with these two machines, the non profit’s accounting department decided to purchase a Formax pressure sealer. They use their FD 2006 with Output Conveyor to process a few thousand pressure seal pieces a month.

The in-plant manager said she’d definitely recommend Formax equipment because it’s right in the sweet spot of what they need based on volume, size, affordability, and user-friendly features.

Non-profit loads up on multiple machines to automate their mailing process to save time, money and resources!

The Story
During an on-site visit to the customer’s location, the salesperson used a keen eye and experience to look around, ask questions, and uncover multiple customer needs.

The Success
The sales rep closed a perfect one-two combo of mailing technologies on a lease run through the MINT leasing program. This is a single invoice that includes the lease of two machines along with the rental of the postage meter device bundled in!

An all around great order at a very nice lease price made this customer very happy with automating the full mailing process!

This makes the dealer valuable to the customer in so many ways that any competition trying to knock on that door will have no opportunity to take the customer away!

The Takeaway
Folder/Inserters and Postage Equipment are more common combination deals than you think. If you see lots of mail running through a customer’s postage machine…that’s a great opportunity to ask about their folder/inserter.

Surprisingly, there are many customers out there who hand-fold & stuff, or they have only a folding machine and still hand-stuff each envelope. This translates to hours of time and effort that could be better spent on other projects.

Take a moment to educate your customers that affordable inserting machines are available and can go right on a lease with the MINT postage machine you can now offer them!

Disciple Press, located in Alabama, produces on-demand printed products for funeral homes, churches, and consumers. This includes funeral programs, memorial cards, thank you cards, and more.

We spoke with Aaron Carr, CEO of Disciple Press, to see how the Formax Atlas C350 has helped solve challenges of digital printing and streamlined their print finishing process.

The Challenge: Toner Cracking

As an all-digital print operation, their biggest challenge was toner cracking on the folded edge. To minimize this, they used a separate creasing machine prior to folding, which was inefficient and time-consuming.

In their unique print marketplace, short turnaround time is critical to offer same day printing and shipping. They needed an efficient solution to produce their on-demand products.

The Solution: Atlas C350 Creaser/Folder

Using the Formax Atlas C350, they’re now able to eliminate the added step of creasing on a separate machine. The C350 processes pieces in a single pass, creasing and folding sheets up to 400gsm. It utilizes a heavy duty, lifetime guaranteed creasing matrix which virtually eliminates cracking on the creased or folded edge.

Since purchasing the Atlas C350, they’ve increased output, processing about 50-60 short run, on-demand jobs per day.

Carr said the touchscreen control panel makes it easy to train multiple operators to use the machine. They simply enter the sheet length, weight, and fold type, and the Atlas C350 automatically calculates the crease locations and sets them accordingly. Users can choose from pre-programmed common creases, or they can create and save an unlimited number of custom jobs.

Another useful feature for short-run projects is the two-in-one outfeed configuration. This consists of a fully-automatic belt stacker for folded sheets, and a separate catch tray. With both outfeed options available at all times, users can easily switch between crease and fold jobs, right from the control panel, with no need to reconfigure the machine.

Carr said the Atlas C350 is well designed, easy to operate, efficient, and ideal for their unique printing marketplace.

New prospect with old Pitney equipment and a deli meat slicer for opening envelopes turns into a multi-machine account in no time!

The Story
Salesperson makes a site visit to an Electric Co-Op office to consult with the new prospect on printing equipment. The rep does not have a current relationship with the customer, and the customer has been a long-time client with competitive Ricoh equipment.

The Success
During the on-site visit, the attentive salesperson stayed alert to other technology solutions in the office. By doing so, the rep noticed an older Pitney Bowes mailing machine and a prehistoric-looking letter opening product that he thought at first was an antique deli meat-slicer!

Within the one visit the rep took away a variety of machine opportunities and closed them all…Mint postage equipment, Formax letter opener, and also dropped in Sharp and Epson equipment to round out the big sale!

The Takeaway
It pays to pay attention! A simple walk-through of a prospect’s office looking for other technology products and a few leading questions can go a long way for those extra machine sales. Which always equals more money in your pocket!!

Be sure to notice any type of equipment in the office you’re visiting and ask questions like:
• What does that machine do?
• What do you do with the sheets/envelopes I’m seeing on the desk?
• Where is your postage meter in this office?

Great work by the rep on this deal to snag a net-new customer, multiple machines in one account, and planting his company’s flag in their office for any future technology equipment needs!

ColorMax8 Helps School District Get the Message Out to Students and Families

When schools need to share information with students, parents and faculty, digital communications are convenient, but not always ideal. That’s where good old fashioned mail comes into play, with paper and envelopes.

For Cecil County Public Schools in Elkton, Maryland, that’s definitely the case, as they print and mail upwards of 25,000 envelopes a year.

We recently spoke with Manuel Evangelista in the Print & Distribution Center, who told us how the ColorMax8 helps tackle their envelope printing jobs, to serve their 29 schools and 32 locations.

Print Volume is Key

Manuel told us that prior to the ColorMax8, they used a few different machines, including a digital duplicator, and a stand-alone printer. The duplicator had features they liked, but it was becoming obsolete, while the stand-alone printer just couldn’t handle the volume of envelopes they needed to produce.

He said the ColorMax8 produces 1,000 envelopes in the same amount of time that the previous machine could produce only 100. With their mail volume, this makes a big difference.

ColorMax8: More Than Just an Address Printer

With the ColorMax8 on the job, Cecil County Public Schools can expand beyond simply printing addresses on envelopes.

Using the 7″ color touchscreen and image preview, operators can easily print full-color letterhead, invitations, invoices, postage and more.

The wide, flat paper path allows for printing on stuffed envelopes, 10×13 flats, padded envelopes, and even those with metal clasps.

At left, you can see two applications printed for Cecil County Schools. Plain manila envelopes (top) are transformed into reusable interoffice envelopes. The adjustable print head accommodates envelopes with clasps such as these.

Plain white 6×9 envelopes (bottom) are printed with text and blanks for student fundraising envelopes.

User-friendly features, and its low cost per piece make the ColorMax8 a full-color, full-bleed communication tool, that’s ideal for schools, offices, banks and beyond.

Non-profit moves on from their old PB to a production-level Mint 410

The Story
A Mint Dealer providing 10+ years of valuable on-site service support for a variety of machines at a church organization got the call for a postage machine upgrade.

The Success
In short order, the Mint Dealer priced a comparable Mint production mailing system vs. the customer’s old Pitney Bowes Connect 3000. Additionally, using the Mint Leasing Program, the Dealer was also able to bundle in the meter rental and close out a $30,000 mailing system sale!

The Takeaway
Always keep in contact with and support your current/previous customers, simply with periodic visits, calls or emails. Without this Mint Dealer’s continued communications and local support on other paper handling products, this big mailing machine opportunity could have easily gone right back into the hands of Pitney Bowes!

Thanks to great local service support, Credit Union upgrades their Inserter

The Story
A local credit union had a Formax 6204 Series folder/inserter coming to the end of its 60-month lease.

The Success
Thanks to a strong customer support relationship by the local Mint Dealer during those 5 years, a quick and easy lease rollover from a 6204 to the newer 6210 Series Inserter was the result.

The Takeaway
With a very similar outcome as the Mint 410 success story, good things come to Dealers who continue to support and communicate with their customers, long after the ink on the PO is dry. In sales, the business relationship never ends and it certainly holds true in service support!

What a great job by this Dealer in many aspects, from the consistent service support through the lease term, to the sales team jumping right in and turning over that lease into a brand new $20,000 folder/inserter. Remember to keep using creative ways to stay in contact with customers throughout the weeks, months and years of that business relationship.