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Five Tools Print Shops Can Use to Improve Profitability
You can run a print shop with an off-set press or a digital printer, but you can’t run a profitable shop unless you bring in-house the tools that will help you take projects to completion. It’s one thing to print pages, but what if your customer wants you to bind them? You printed 5,000 sales letters, but now the customer wants to take them somewhere else for mailing? You’re losing out on some valuable revenue by not having a couple extra machines around your office. Add extra profitability to your shop by offering each of these services.
- UV Coaters. Adding a UV Coater will give you the capability to apply hi-gloss, satin or matte coating almost on any printed sheet. There are many configurations to the available coaters on the market. Sizes range from 18” to 30” with a modular design to allow for added components like automatic feeders. This is also an environmentally friendly way to apply a finish to your printing. There’s even one line of UV coating that is 99.9% VOC free – exceeding all environmental air quality regulations. Add that to your marketing and get some new green-minded customers.
- Binding Machinery. Whether it’s low volume presentation binding or high volume commercial applications, binding machinery is a low-cost, yet crucial component to a successful shop. Prepare a presentations or proposals, books or newsletters with the look and feel your customers desire by having available comb, coil, wire or perfect binding. If you bind it, they will come.
- Letter Folders. Add fulfillment services to your shop. Every office needs to send mailed statements, invoices and other marketing material. If it’s going out in a traditional envelope style, there’s a folder to automate the process. These machines fold thousands of sheets per hour. There are tabletop models for low volume or floor models for high volume, but they’re all easy to setup and operate.
- Document Mailing Equipment. While you’re folding some projects, you might as well run an inserter for others. Save time and money by speeding up your mail processing. Inserters and pressure sealers keep your jobs in a neat sequential order so they’re ready for outgoing mail bins. Some inserters can fold and stuff up to five different sheets and BRE’s at 4,000 sheets per hour. Plus, a pressure sealer adds a whole new product type to your offerings.
- Laminators. Laminating adds durability and professionalism to any printing project. Toner, ink jet and UV inks alone are not very durable, but by adding even a thin laminate coating you can prevent ink cracking and insures a long handling life to a piece. Lamination also adds to the look and feel of your work You can impress customers and upsell projects like printing for photos, charts, posters and signage.
Improve your profits by adding to your catalog of finishing services. Lloyds of Indiana has competitive prices and a variety of models in each of these categories.
Akiles BookletMac Semi-Automatic Booklet Maker
The most effective way to create pamphlets, reports, booklets and newsletters is on a machine like the Akiles BookletMac Semi-Automatic Booklet Maker. The BookletMac allows you to easily create professional quality booklet publications in your office or shop, eliminating the cost and hassle of a bindery service.
How is it Used?
Simply put, the Akiles BookletMac is fast and easy to use. You’ll have the option using common paper sizes to fold and staple, fold only, or staple only.
Don’t make the assumption that a mere Semi-Automatic booklet maker will slow you down. The Akiles BookletMac will crank out up to 800 booklets per hour, and with its heavy-duty staple heads each booklet can be up to 64 pages of 20# paper. In fact, a built-in LCD counter will track your progress on that big job and you won’t need any tools to quickly switch between booklet sizes. Everything about the Akiles BookletMac Booklet Maker is easy!
And How Much Does it Cost?
The Akiles BookletMac Semi-Automatic Booklet Maker costs $2,199 at Lloyd’s of Indiana and comes with a 1-year warranty.
Tamerica TW3100 3:1 Wire Binding Machine (TW3100)
Like its TW2100 brother, the Tamerica TW3100 3:1 Wire Binding Machine can manually punch, bind and close legal sized documents using twin loop wire, the difference being the TW3100 uses 3:1 pitch wire. And like the TW2100, it’s also one of the least expensive units in its class.
How is it Used?
The TW3100 is a manual machine that punches, binds and closes wire in an all-in-one unit. This efficient design not only saves you money and production time, but also work space.
The machine comes equipped with two handles, one for operating the 40-pin punching mechanism and the other to operate the wire closer. This two-handle design minimizes wear and tear on the punching mechanism and helps to keep the closer accurate.
Users will also enjoy the 20-sheet punching capacity, fully disengagable dies, and adjustable margin depth. Another great feature of this machine is its all-metal construction. It’s well made and it shows, making it perfect for long-term, everyday use.
And How Much Does it Cost?
The Tamerica TW3100 3:1 Wire Binding Machine costs $319 at Lloyd’s and comes with a 1-year warranty from the manufacturer. You can opt to purchase an extended warranty from Lloyd’s of Indiana for 15% of the purchase price for a 2-year warranty or 20% of the purchase price for 3 years.
Tamerica TW2100 2:1 Wire Binding Machine (TW2100)
The Tamerica TW2100 2:1 Wire Binding Machine can punch, bind and close legal sized twin loop wire. Those capabilities combined with its lower price point help to make it one of our most popular units.
How is it Used?
The TW2100 lets you manually punch, wire bind and close booklets with the same machine, saving you time and valuable work space. The dual-handle design not only protects the punching dies, but also allows you to place the unit right up against the wall, another great space saver.
Users will also enjoy the 20-sheet punching capacity, fully disengagable dies, and adjustable margin depth. Another great feature of this machine is its all-metal construction. It’s well made and it shows, making it perfect for long-term, everyday use.
And How Much Does it Cost?
The Tamerica TW2100 2:1 Wire Binding Machine costs $319 at Lloyd’s and comes with a 1-year warranty from the manufacturer. You can opt to purchase an extended warranty from Lloyd’s of Indiana for 15% of the purchase price for a 2-year warranty or 20% of the purchase price for 3 years.
Tamerica TCC242 DURA BIND Comb Binding Machine (TCC242)
The Tamerica 242 DURA BIND Comb Binding Machine has an exceptionally strong manual punch and the capacity to bind up to 250 2” thick books per hour. It’s also one of the best manual, legal-sized puncher and comb binders out there.
How is it Used?
This combo puncher and comb binder is all about making the most out of manual power. Yes, you’ll need to put some muscle into it, but the machine does most of the work for you. Its heavy-duty punching mechanism can punch up to 5,000 sheets an hour (15-20 sheets at a time).
Simply set the depth-of-punch margin control, insert your document (up to legal sized) and punch. When you’re ready, insert the plastic comb, open it using the lever and feed your document on to the comb.
Because it’s an all-manual machine, the Tamerica TCC242 DURA BIND Comb Binding Machine is best suited to low-to-medium volume users doing shorter or mid-sized binding runs. That said, it’s sturdy, well-built (all-metal construction) and built to last, so it’s a still a good, cost-effective choice.
And How Much Does it Cost?
The Tamerica TCC242 DURA BIND Comb Binding Machine costs $259 at Lloyd’s and comes with a 1-year warranty from the manufacturer. You can opt to purchase an extended warranty from Lloyd’s of Indiana for 15% of the purchase price for a 2-year warranty or 20% of the purchase price for 3 years.