George H. Dean Co. Printing -- Financial And Beyond

"The FDV dryer widens the range of stocks we can run and eliminates marking through the folder and bundler," Terlecki reports. "The dryer keeps quality up to our rigid standards, and saves time and materials."

Due to the dryer's shortwave length, infrared energy passes through air rather than being absorbed by it. As a result, very little energy is lost to the environment and the energy penetrates deeply into the web. Since the energy is absorbed by the web, it dries (at web temperatures below 212 degrees F.) and cures the ink—without heating the press or the surrounding air.

IR drying is a non-heatset application or media, and the inks used are the standard conventional type. This means there are no exhaust or heat shielding requirements.

George H. Dean believes in using today's technology along with long-standing company values to provide a package of services designed to make the customer's job easier. It believes it is able to anticipate and guide customers around potential problems before they happen because of the strong understanding of the markets it serves. To that end, George H. Dean recently added a full in-house mailing and fulfillment department, including roll-to-fold, laser personalization, ink-jet addressing and inserting capabilities.

"The goal," reveals Robert Johnson, vice president of mailing and fulfillment, "is to create an unbeatable combination of products and services. Our model of 'from press to address' provides our customers with a one-stop solution to make purchasing easier to control while providing immediate savings of both time and money. Our initial capacity for inserting is more than 500,000 pieces per day."

Equipment Upgrades

Within the past two years, George H. Dean has made a variety of purchases, including Creo Brisque RIPs; a Creo Trendsetter Spectrum; a Heidelberg V30 web press; a 54˝ Sabre 137 paper cutter with Knorr automatic stacker/jogger and unloader, all from Colter & Peterson; 12 Bell & Howell inserters; two Videojet PrintPro ES digital imaging systems; a Cheshire tabber for stamp affixing and wafer sealing; three Bowe 310 cutters and unwinds for roll-to-fold folding; and a Bowe 341 interstacker. Roll-to-roll laser printers and a digital press with variable data capability are on the company's wish list.