eDoc Relies on Standard Horizon StitchLiner to Get It Done

eDOC Communications is more than just a commercial print supplier. "We're a print and communications company," according to Glenn Grendzinski, vice president of operations. The Mount Prospect, IL-based organization offers an array of services including CD and DVD replication, language translation, e-media and e-marketing support, and—its bread-and-butter—print.

When the company opened its doors in 1999, 100 percent of its print engines were digital technologies. By 2005, however, run lengths dictated an investment in offset equipment. Today, approximately 70 percent of its print revenues are derived from offset, and 30 percent from digitally printed products.

With the offset presses, two Kodak NexPress 2100s (one five-color; one four-color), and a stable of Océ black-and-white sheetfed printers, Grendzinski estimates that eDOC can produce more than 30 million black-and-white impressions, and upwards of 3 million color impressions per month.

Jobs "run the gamut"—from high volume to short runs, from static offset and digital to complex variable-data print.

To manage the volume and diversity of the workload, eDOC Communications' leaders had to smartly complement its print workhorses with equally robust finishing technologies. The company also wished to shave as much as $30,000 a month from its operating budget, spent on outsourcing binding and finishing.

Among its investments was a Standard Horizon StitchLiner 5500, for producing true saddle-stitched booklets at speeds of up to 11,000 two-up booklets per hour. At eDOC, the solution supports both offset and digital operations.

It wasn't just growing volumes that inspired the Standard Horizon StitchLiner investment; customers were looking for new capabilities, as well.

"For example, we'd started to produce thicker books, with 100-page bodies. And we needed a solution. We went and did our due diligence, and evaluated our potential partners. There was no doubt that we knew the StitchLiner was more than capable of producing the work we do today, plus allow us room for growth," Grendzinski recalls.

"And I can tell you," he confided, "the effects have been staggering. We believe we set a North American record by producing more than a million books with that machine, in about five months. ... Now, we're sitting somewhere in the vicinity of 1.6 million booklets through it. It allowed us to increase business without having to run two shifts, because of this piece of equipment. It just eats up the work," he marvels.

Grendzinski also values the solution's "simple user interface," its workhorse reliability, and its ability to streamline the workflow, shaving days off production schedules.

"We do a lot of small booklets. Before, we had to run those as one-ups, fold and collate them, stitch them, and come back and three-knife trim them on our guillotine cutter. Projects were taking up to a week," Grendzinski recalled. "Now, we can take those projects, impose them two-up and allow the StitchLiner to take it from there. We're talking about going from five days worth of production to a single day, or even a half-day!"

Since the installation, eDOC hasn't sent a single job out for finishing touches, and Grendzinski estimates a 10-month ROI on the Standard Horizon StitchLiner 5500. He credits his Standard dealer, Accurate Printing Repair & Sales, with an outstanding job at installing the system, training its operators, and offering ongoing support.

"A lot of people ask me, 'Why do customers come to you? Is it because you're a high-quality shop, or are you just giving the best prices?' And the reality of it is that other printers can do what we do—put ink or toner on paper, and potentially beat us on price. They come to us because they know that in the 11th hour, eDOC is going to get it done. That's our specialty."