Nov 15, 2005
Avoid the Speed Trap
Sustained uptime and not fast changeovers
is the key to superior inserting performance
By George Linkletter
Victory in NASCAR races is usually determined by the top sustained speed of a race car and not the speed of the pit crew.
It is the same in print/mail finishing. In fact, in any race of significant length -- several hundred miles for NASCAR, or a full day’s production in the case of print/mail finishing -- the number and duration of stops is (or should be) relatively low compared to the total time of the production effort.
Achieving the best sustained high-speed performance for the duration of the race is the key to success. And sustained high-speed performance hinges on: (1) the reliability of the equipment, which can eliminate the need for unscheduled stoppages; and (2) recovery time, or how quickly the equipment recovers from a stoppage and regains its top production speed.
If you agree that the best measure of performance is the lowest possible cost-per-mailpiece over an entire shift, then the goal to strive for should be sustained uptime or uninterrupted high-speed production. The three key measures? The number of unscheduled stoppages, the amount of time needed to regain top production speed, and the number of marred mailpieces that must be regenerated.
When considering new equipment, look for the existence of software designed to reduce error rates and spoils, which can greatly aid your ability to produce totally accurate mailpieces every time. And always be sure to inquire about the Three Rs: Recovery, Reconciliation and Regeneration.
Why Recovery?
Automated set-up adjustments are clearly beneficial and can reduce the amount of time needed to accomplish set-ups. But like the tip of an iceberg, that is only a small part of the productivity story. The hidden danger is recovery time. How long does it take the equipment to recover from a stoppage and resume its top operating speed? That is the key question to ask.
Some inserting systems are fast, and require little set-up time. That’s good. But they may be painfully slow to recover fully from a stoppage. Some can require a huge amount of tweaking and adjusting as the speed is slowly increased. In fact, it can easily take several minutes for these systems to regain their top speed. And that means far more lost or lowered production every time a stoppage occurs.
Why Reconciliation?
Another very real and often overlooked factor limiting bottom line performance is reconciliation. Production is lost whenever mailpieces are damaged and an operator must stop processing to manually reconcile the job record of what was expected to be produced with what actually was produced.
If the system operates flawlessly, there are no errors to reconcile and production remains high. Similarly, if an error occurs, but reconciliation is automated and flawless, then production can continue without interruption.
Why Regeneration?
Production can also be lost due to the need to regenerate flawed mailpieces. If an operator must stop processing to manually fix or regenerate a flawed mailpiece -- or perhaps several flawed mailpieces in succession -- overall production will degrade. The drop will be dramatic if the flaws are frequent.
An automated regeneration solution will outsort flawed or suspected-flawed mailpieces -- and assure their prompt, accurate and automated reprinting and processing -- so the remainder of the job can be processed at high speed and without interruption. And that helps keep production high.
A fast inserting system with fast set-ups is only a part of the formula for high productivity in print/mail finishing.
The real key is to minimize or avoid unplanned stoppages altogether; to achieve the fastest possible recovery time from both planned and unplanned stoppages; to assure the highest possible level of accurate mailpieces; and to eliminate via automation any handling of flawed mailpieces and the time-consuming and unproductive task of reconciling and regenerating flawed mailpieces.
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Comments? Contact georgeol@ntplx.net.