The Fast Action of Digital

Action Mailers is an Aston, PA-based print-and-mail supplier with a history steeped in direct mail and family. Three generations of the Dobbin family has presided over the business since 1972. And though the family’s ownership carries on in tradition, the business of direct mail inside has been in a constant state of change.

“One of the things we’re noticing, because of digital technologies, is that our turnaround times are being compressed,” according to Bob Kolva, Action Mailer’s director of information technology. “As our customers try to deal with the ‘NOW! Age of Information,’ direct mail has been challenged to keep up and stay current. So we get shorter lead times, and that puts us in a position of producing the same amount of work, but within a shorter timeframe.

“Our customers need to be able to make edits to their projects right up until the time we say to them, ‘We have to print, or we’ll miss the mail date.’ And we’ve been afforded the opportunity to do that for them, to be flexible, and that’s allowed us to negotiate more projects from those customers,” Kolva explains.

Action Mailer’s business flourished, especially after it made some key digital investments, including finishing solutions, with the help of Standard Finishing Systems (Booth 831) and local dealer Northern Machine Works.

“Twelve years ago, 400,000 pieces of mail was a week’s worth of work. We would panic if we couldn’t get it started by lunchtime on Monday,” Kolva recalls. “Now, we can do that in a single overnight. The speed-to-market has definitely changed, and that’s been a result of the digital culture.”

In addition to four legacy laser printers, Action Mailers now has two high-speed inkjet presses in place: a Ricoh InfoPrint 5000 MP, installed two years ago; and a Ricoh InfoPrint 5000GP, a color engine that was installed in January 2015. Both of those engines have been configured with Standard Hunkeler’s Roll-to-Roll technologies—the UW6 Unwinder, and the RW6 Rewinder. It’s these complements that help keep the presses running at their maximum potential, and with the growing volume of work, pressroom efficiency is essential.

The integration between the pre- and post-press Hunkeler solutions and the Ricoh presses is seamless, according to Kolva, who says the presses run ‘round the clock, at the highest speeds possible, with lightweight and heavy stocks—27lb. offset to 110lb. cover—without any hitches or glitches.

Near-line, the company placed two Roll-to-Fold lines comprising a Standard Horizon AF-566 Digital, in-line with a Standard Hunkeler UW6 Unwinder, FM6 Folder/Merger, and a CS6-II Rotary Double Cutter. The systems produce complex variable-data direct mail pieces in a single pass using the printed rolls coming off the Ricoh presses. Kolva says the configuration allows for a virtually endless combination of folds required in direct mail work. Based on the productivity of the two current lines, “We’re now looking to add a third,” Kolva reveals.

“Our digital equipment output is much higher than we initially anticipated—both in the volume of work we’re asked to do, and the production speeds we reach while doing that work. And one of the reasons why we invested in this equipment is so that we can produce higher volumes and higher quality,” he adds.

The executive team at Action Mailers isn’t resting on the laurels of those investments, however. “We’re now taking a look at all of the other technologies that Standard Finishing Systems offers, and trying to make some decisions based on where we see our business going and growing from here,” Kolva says. “One of the things I tell visitors when they come for a tour and see the equipment is: There’s a reason why top printer manufacturers show Standard Hunkeler and Standard Horizon equipment with their presses. And that reason is 100-percent reliability.”