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Volume 5, Issue 2 It's
A Wrap
Tip-ons, outserts, cover wraps—they all help generate interest in your magazine and its advertisers. Unfortunately, they can also often mean delays in your schedule. To offer clients the fastest possible turnaround times and remain on the cutting edge of magazine production, United Litho has invested in a new piece of equipment—the Buhrs 4000 System—to make these “specialty” jobs easier and faster than ever. The Buhrs 4000 is a film wrapping system—essentially, a polywrap machine—that allows United Litho to collate and bag magazines and marketing materials in a clear, protective plastic. “Polywrap is generally requested because customers want to protect their magazines in the mail stream,” says ULI’s Assistant Operations Manager Tom Naquin. “They don’t want them to get scuffed or damaged. Or, they have outserts—two or three separate pieces that they want to mail together.” Although United Litho offered polywrap services before, the Buhrs 4000 makes the whole process faster, safer and more automated. Naquin explains that much of the set-up is done on computer, where the operator enters in product dimensions and settings. In addition, the system has built-in quality assurance measures. “If a pocket runs out of the product, the machine alerts the crew,” Naquin says. “On the old machine, you had to rely on the operator to notice if a pocket became empty because the machine did not have an automatic shutoff.” Now, such uncertainty is a thing of the past. Although the machine has a lightning-fast top speed of 18,000 copies per hour, with United Litho’s shorter runs, the biggest time savings are in what the Buhrs system can do in one pass. For instance, tipping capabilities that used to add days to the schedule may now be done in-line, depending on the specifications, cutting time dramatically. The machine also gives ULI in-line inkjetting capabilities for labels or carrier sheets. In addition, the state-of-the-art equipment allows United Litho to automate some of the most popular outserts and latest marketing gimmicks. “CDs are the big thing right now,” says Naquin. “Of course, the challenge is not to crack the disc as you feed it through the pocket.” But the Buhrs 4000 handles these and many other marketing add-ons with ease. “What this is allowing United Litho to do is offer more to the customer,” Naquin explains. “This system can handle a wide variety of products. It’s so new, we’re still testing to see everything it can do.” As a result, United Litho still requires that customers send a sample of an outsert or tip-on in advance to make sure it will work. It also offers a list of specifications for cover wraps and other common items that can be faxed to you if you’re designing a piece for inclusion with your magazine’s mailing. And there are benefits to the machine’s operators as well. The system is low-maintenance and ergonomically designed to reduce body stress on those working on it. “It’s very operator-friendly,” says Naquin. All of which adds up to fewer breakdowns and delays—and that makes everyone happy. Calling
New Recruits for Magazine Production Boot Camp In addition, the Boot Camp agenda touches on PDFs, QuarkXPress and Photoshop, and even includes an introduction to Proteus, the powerful publication-planning software available through ULI. The “drill instructors” are ULI production experts themselves—and they’re even in uniform! No fears, however. The instruction is quite friendly and personalized. In fact, the class size is limited to 12 trainees. “The session is really tailored for the individual,” says Elizabeth Agnew, executive assistant to the president at ULI. “The interaction is good; the networking is good; people learn from one another. It’s a wonderful opportunity for communication.” The Fall 2002 Boot Camp will be the third session of its kind, and the reviews from former recruits—a mix of existing and potential ULI customers—have been overwhelmingly favorable. “I can quite honestly say that [the seminar] is one of the best—if not the best—seminars I have attended,” says Andrew Steele, marketing services manager at CEEM, Inc. “I found the content and instructors very engaging, the changes of pace and activity refreshing, and the overall organization and welcome fantastic.” Steele, who produces a corporate direct mail catalog two to four times a year, says he had reasonable publication production knowledge prior to the Boot Camp session, but that he hadn’t been “formally trained.” He believes that this seminar best suits those who are fairly new to magazine publishing. In fact, according to Agnew, because Boot Camp combines seminars from across the spectrum of ULI’s training curriculum, “it really benefits someone with basic knowledge” and exposes them to production fundamentals such as color reproduction and how to formulate an imposition for a web press. As with all of ULI’s service offerings, this symposium continues to evolve to better respond to customers’ needs. The spring Boot Camp introduced a new module on streamlining editorial and production workflows; for the fall session, instructors are already tweaking the Quark and Photoshop modules to feature tips and tricks that will help turn novices into “power users.” Base camp over the three days is the training center at United Litho, located in Ashburn, Va. A nominal registration fee of $100 covers the use of computer equipment. Lunch is also provided all three days. In addition, recruits take tours through ULI’s facility. “The tours totally cemented what I learned in the classroom,” Steele says. “It really was one of the most absorbing training classes I’ve been to.” The next ULI Magazine Production Boot Camp will take place on Tuesday, October 22, through Thursday, October 24, 2002. Registration is $100 per person. Register now because space is limited. For more information, or to register, call Elizabeth Agnew at 800.368.6100. An Extraordinary Service Experience: All About Beer As a consumer magazine in a niche market, All About Beer has its work cut out for it. “We have a full-time staff of three and a half,” says Editor Julie Johnson Bradford. “But we need to look bigger than that. We’re on the newsstand.” United Litho has played a big part in helping the six-times-a-year publication compete and succeed. Yet it’s a match that almost didn’t happen. “Sharon Butler [at ULI] had been actively courting All About Beer,” says Bradford. “But I had been reluctant to make a change. Then we had some problems with our former print vendor. I called Sharon and she said ‘Okay, I’m sending a team next week.’ I was stunned! I’d never had a printer come to me. That first issue, which could have been a real headache, went so smoothly and looked remarkably better than anything we had done before.” Bradford credits United Litho with understanding its clients. “By specializing in magazines in the 10,000 to 100,000 circulation range, they seem to have gone to great lengths to understand companies that produce magazines that size. They know we’re not Sports Illustrated or Glamour. They work with us, hold our hand when we need it, and help us.” That help includes everything from making suggestions for hardware purchases to advising the staff of All About Beer on technical issues to helping the staff unwind. “Sharon found some Hawaiian shirts with beer labels on them and she sent those and some paper leis to us for a staff birthday party,” Bradford says laughing. But the impact that gesture made is serious: “To have that kind of personal contact; to know you’re on that service providers’ mind—it really means a lot,” she says. Although the magazine’s offices are in North Carolina, between Proteus, e-mail and Fed Ex, Bradford has had no difficulties working from a distance. “I love Proteus,” she says. “It has liberated me from the pencil and eraser.” Occasional visits from United Litho trainers help the staff to take full advantage of all that ULI offers. It’s no wonder Bradford has come to see United Litho as an extension of her staff. “All of us need good outside resources,” she says. “I rely on the folks at United Litho. I’m confident [they] help this magazine to be the best it can be.”
Copyright 1997 - 2008, United Litho, Inc. All rights reserved. |
