Speedmaster XL 106-8-P. 100 4/4 short run signatures in an 8-hour shift – one machine that is as productive as three.
“The Speedmaster XL 106 surpasses our expectations every day,” reports Doug McWilliams, Vice President Operations at Herff Jones. “One year after its installation we’re more efficient than ever before and expect to top this in the coming year. For us, the XL 106 is as productive as three printing presses. With its outstanding level of automation, it enables us to produce 100 4/4 short run signatures in an 8-hour shift.”
With more than 100 years of experience, Herff Jones is the leading producer of yearbooks from nursery school to university and supplies its customers with adaptable products designed to meet their individual requirements. But this is not all that the company has in its range. It is a one-stop shop that offers everything else needed for graduation, for example clothes, jewelry and other suitable accessories such as frames for the certificates. In three factories, Herff Jones produces four million yearbooks annually, with an average of 525 copies per run. In addition to the Speedmaster XL 106, a Stahlfolder KH 82 and a POLAR pile turner have been installed to assist with the high net output of the printing press. A Heidelberg training program helped equip the operators to quickly exploit the potential of the Speedmaster XL 106 to the full.
“Recently, the timeframe for producing yearbooks has become tighter and tighter. We receive the first pages in November. Everything really gets going when the final content is ready, from February to May. The yearbooks are delivered by the end of June, depending on the region,” explains Doug McWilliams. “This was in the back of our minds when we decided to increase our throughput and minimize our makeready times. Our XL 106 achieves this and – the longer our printers work with the machine – we can see that further increases in productivity are still possible. Furthermore, we now only have 1/3 of the paper waste that we used to have,” says Doug McWilliams, explaining the merits of the machine. “We’ve now got the perfect setup to enable us to economically produce even more customized solutions to meet customers’ needs and to also be able to offer a wider range of unique applications.”
