Metzgers Printing + Mailing -- Knowledge Is Power
From Demo to Launch
Metzgers’ recently acquired iGen4 handles a 141⁄4x221⁄2? sheet size and is equipped with an in-line Duplo stitcher/bookletmaker. The Metzgers saw great value in the dedicated stitcher line after watching a Xerox iGen4 demonstration with the same configuration.
With the plan to launch a photo books Website, www.fotoBound.com, sometime this summer, the idea of a dedicated stitcher line took hold. “Everyone else is producing hard-bound photo books,” Tom Metzger notes. “I thought, what if we promoted photo books, photo brochures and corporate brochures that are all saddlestitched? We knew that we wanted the in-line stitcher to automate the process and have minimal touches.
“We were a bit nervous about it, because that was a big investment, and we really didn’t have the business,” he admits. “But, we’ve already found several customers that want variable eight- and 12-pagers, and we’ve only had the machine running for three months.”
The Duplo stitcher was selected for its ability to round off the spine, giving the finished product a lay-flat look, which is definitely a value-add, Tom Metzger notes.
The fotoBound photo memory products vehicle stands to benefit more than the Metzgers’ coffers. A portion of all profits from the Website will be donated to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital and to the Alzheimer’s Association. As such, the theme for fotoBound is “keeping memories alive.”
Other recent acquisitions include a six-color, 40? Mitsubishi Diamond 3000S sheetfed press with coater (2006); a card slitter and UV coater from Duplo USA; a second Saber cutting system from Colter & Peterson; and a second Buskro ink-jetting system. Other upgrades were made to the phone system, servers and network for the existing facility.
Metzgers also completed a 30,000-square-foot addition during 2008. The new building houses digital printing, fulfillment, mailing services, and warehouses customer literature and products. Manning the fulfillment department is the Metzgers MomSquad, a group of about 30 local women who answer the call on an as-needed basis.
