Gintzler Graphics:
Saving "Serious Dollars" With Martin Splicers
Posted: July 01, 2009
Franklin Nice, President of Gintzler Graphics, Inc. in Buffalo, New York, invested in his first Martin splicer several years ago for a newer Gallus press. "The benefits of process improvement became obvious very quickly," Nice observed. "Not only did we reduce substrate costs by about 3%, we enjoyed substantial savings in the post press editing process."
Nice continued, "Just one manual roll change on a print job means over a hundred feet of stock has to be edited out of the print run. That also means the loss of ink used to print that hundred feet of waste and extra post-press time required to edit that waste out of our final roll. It can all add up to serious dollars. With automatic splicers, we're able to recapture those dollars in the form of greater throughput and better margins."
Commenting on the performance of his Martin splicers, Nice said, "You can just about start them up and forget about them. They're simple to operate and easy to maintain."
Recently, Gintzler Graphics decided to purchase another Martin splicer for an older, narrow web Gallus press. Gintzler's challenge was that there wasn't room on the confined pressroom floor for a standard MBS. Martin's sales engineer recommended an MBS splicer configured for 31.5-inch (800 mm) diameter rolls and limited floor space applications. Martin installed the new splicer, and Gintzler began enjoying the benefits immediately. Nice concluded. "Adding a splicer substantially improved the productivity of our older Gallus press and it has effectively extended the useful service life."
Frank Nice has never agreed with the old thinking that automated roll change is only for the big shops and long runs. His long-term perspective on process improvement has delivered greater throughput while significantly reducing materials and labor waste. Gintzler Graphics has proven once again that automated roll change has a sweet-spot in the short to medium run printing world where process optimization is being elevated to an art form.