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| Mail Center Management Tips |
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November 2007
Greetings!
Print/Mail Consultants occasionally distributes thoughts and ideas about topics of interest to professionals in the document production and distribution business. This month, we present the first of a two-part article about how envelopes can affect productivity. HOW ENVELOPES ARE RELATED TO PRODUCTIVITY
Are you looking for a way to improve productivity in your
inserting operation?OK, that's a dumb question - who wouldn't want improved productivity? It allows you to meet SLA's better, gives you more time for quality control, frees up capacity for accepting more work, and might even lower your labor costs. There are lots of ways to accomplish higher productivity. Often we think first about faster inserting machines, automated set-up, automated balancing or camera-based quality-control. These are all viable solutions but they also require significant capital investment. I encourage you to also examine the envelopes you run. This is an area that is often overlooked as a productivity enhancing tactic. But fixing problems with materials often results in improvements that exceed the performance bumps that you can expect from the investments in new hardware. With little or no expense. When you do decide to invest in higher speed inserting equipment, the demands put upon the envelopes are even greater. Not all envelopes are designed for the stresses of a high speed environment. In fact, some managers have experienced initial disappointment in their new equipment because the output is actually LESS than their old machine - at least until they work out the material problems and their operators become more efficient setting up and running the machine. Operations managers have a tendency to blame the equipment first for the downtime that takes a big chunk out of the finished-pieces-per-hour statistics. But in fact there are many factors that can have an effect on those numbers. The machinery itself is one factor, but often the impact of the envelopes running on them is not given much thought. There are a number of things that can happen to envelopes that will cause the inserter to stop or jam. If this occurs too often during a shift, the productivity of your department can decline. Here are some things to consider: Inline material and inserts jam as they are fed into the envelope - This can be caused a number of different factors such as: Insufficient clearance - Check your inserter manufacturer's specifications for the minimum clearance. This is measured from the edge of the widest piece of material to the edge of the envelope. The material should be centered when taking this measurement. For most inserters, less than 1/8" clearance is going to cause problems. The more clearance (without experiencing material shift that causes address info to not be visible through the window), the better. Material catching on envelope seams or glassine - Diagonal seams usually work better than vertical seams. But if the seam glue is inaccurately applied then the front and back of the envelope can become glued together or the seams can buckle, stopping the material before it is fully inside the envelope. Glassine must be sealed all the way around so that the plastic doesn't lift up and prevent the material from entering the envelope smoothly. Not enough thickness capacity - Again, check the specifications to make sure you are not exceeding the inserter's maximum package thickness rating. But also make sure the envelope can expand far enough to accommodate all the material that the equipment is attempting to shove into the envelope. Problems sometimes pop up with envelopes that are just fine most of the time, but a special run may have one extra page that is just enough to make the thickness exceed the capacity of the envelope. Flap won't open - Flaps that are too long or too short will keep the mechanism from being able to properly pull it open with suction cups or other methods. Flaps with diagonal sides that are too steep or too gentle will cause parts such as guides that are supposed to slide under the flap to miss the mark. Flap won't close properly. In addition to the conditions discussed above, a non-closing flap can be the result of: Material too tall for the envelope - You may need to adjust the folds, or reduce the size of the inserts. If this isn't possible, a taller envelope may be necessary. Make sure you are still within the aspect ratio of height to width specified by the USPS for machineable mail. Inadequate glue - If the glue on the flap isn't applied consistently the flaps will pop open causing envelopes to jam at the meter, the exit conveyor, or in the mail trays. Next month's newsletter will discuss the financial impacts of poorly-running envelopes and list a few more ideas about how you can make sure your envelopes are helping your productivity, not hurting it. Until then, if you have additional suggestions on the subject or some stories you'd like to share with your fellow document professionals, please send us an email. Sincerely,  Mike Porter
Print/Mail Consultants
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