by Milt Vine
As anyone who's read a few of my columns knows, I'm a big believer in
keeping up with the latest in technology, digital and otherwise. But two recent jobs
completed here at Seattle Bindery have reminded me how important it is to make the most of
what you already have available. And, often, making the most of a capability boils down to
good, old-fashioned ingenuity.
Our letterpress department at Seattle Bindery handles a varied list of jobs, of course,
everything from presentation folders to bottleneckers. And we attempt daily to lengthen
that list with a range of equipment that holds up well to comparison, if I say so myself.
But what we make use of mostly is the smarts of skilled technicians, who make that
equipment do more than might be expected. Our technicians, as they prove daily, are a
clever bunch.
Little Dots. A job came in recently for earring holders, small cards with two
little holes -- maybe sixteenths of an inch wide -- for the earring studs to fit through.
And the client requested that the holes be removed completely. Simple enough, right? But
as anyone knows who's done a similar job, it can be a messy one. Also time-consuming.
Our first consideration was the complete removal of those dots. A spring punch die would
cut, but also leave the paper inside the holes. They would then need to be removed later
by hand, and that's inefficient. So a self-cleaning punch was required. But that brought
up the issue of where all those little dots would fall once punched clean. (Isn't bindery
a glamorous business?)
So we knew that our Heidelberg cylinder presses weren't the best option. They would do the
job, and well, but we'd have all those punched dots in the press. Not fun. Either of our
Heidelberg windmill presses would work beautifully as well, we knew, but there was still
the issue of needing to vacuum up all those troublesome dots by hand afterward, as they
would fall on the floor instead of the press. And, like ours, most windmills accept a
sheet size of 10 by 15 inches. For this job, that size would have required a lengthy run.
So, our production manager for letterpress work, Tom Alvis, decided to use our Lyon platen
press for the job. It accepts a maximum sheet size of 20 by 26 and, like our Kluge platen
press, doesn't require gripper and guidance margins because it was built specifically for
letterpress work instead of being converted from printing work. The Lyon, Tom figured,
would cut the number of necessary runs in half, if not more.
But that still left the mess of the little dots to be vacuumed up afterward, not a popular
job. Or an efficient one for well-trained and highly-skilled staff to do.
Good ol' human ingenuity to the rescue. Tom and his crew fashioned a pocket out of paper
-- more clever than I make it sound -- and fit this trap on the Lyon to catch all excess
as it was produced. The client was thrilled with the product when the crew was done, and
even happier with the efficiency gained through the use of the Lyon.
Ten Hours. Another recent job that proved the importance of "smarts" was
the foilstamping of covers for a small book. This job required that we block up fourteen
foil dies, quite a few as anyone in the business knows.
Now, the typical response to this requirement would be to run the job two up or four up.
But we didn't want to spend thirty-five hours in run time, which is what it would have
required two up on a windmill press. So, Tom and the gang turned again to the Lyon. That
20 x 26 sheet size would allow for us to run a lot of image area. And we'd be able to put
our Lyon's electric foil pull to work which would increase efficiency.
All set, right? Well, Tom also decided to run the job fourteen up. I was thrilled with the
crew's willingness to try it. They spent, literally, ten hours on makeready, longer than
most similar-sized jobs, for certain, and much longer than makeready would have
taken had we run the job two up or four up. But because of the crew's makeready ingenuity,
the run time was only ten hours as well. When compared to the thirty-five hours the job
might have taken on press, those ten hours in makeready proved worth it.
Real Winners. So, again, the job was run more efficiently -- saving both time and
expenses -- because someone had an idea to use equipment in a way beyond the norm. That's
the best way to expand capabilities that I can think of.
And the real winner is the client. Speed and savings are always appreciated. And I guess I
win, too, of course. I get to sit back and brag about the smart and clever people working
all around me.
Milt Vine is president of Seattle Bindery, a postpress house
specializing in custom tabs and presentation folders; folding and stitching; foil
stamping, embossing and diecutting; plastic spiral, Wire-O® and perfect binding. You can
reach Milt at 206/682-2558. For more information about Seattle Bindery, check out their
web site at www.seattlebindery.com. ©1999, Seattle Bindery.