Direct Mail & Direct Response Company Slashes Cycle Time
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 | | Features/Benefits Provided: - Print Roll Buffer Automated Storage & Retrieval System (AS/RS)
- Mail Tray Buffer Mini Load AS/RS
- Full Pallet Buffer Unit Load AS/RS
- Sorting Transfer Vehicle (STV)
|
Pushing the “Blue” envelope.
Every year, a leading direct mail and direct response company sends over 500 million envelopes containing more than 19 billion coupons. Faced with rising variable costs and looming capacity restraints, the company could see a rapidly approaching day when the growth would overtake production capacity.
In 2003, an internal team began its search for the equipment and technology that would best meet their needs. Following years of planning and construction, the new facility will be fully operational in 2008.
The 470,000 sq. ft. plant is built around several core manufacturing processes: digital transfer printing technology, printing coupon signatures instead of individual coupons, and wrapping the envelopes around the coupons rather than inserting them. The material handling objective is to automate the material flow between each of these processes and the buffer storage areas.
“Ultimately our business started to grow in such a way that the more we grew, the more inefficient we became”, says Vice President of Manufacturing. “Every time we added volume, we added people to offset the volume”.
Coupons are printed and folded into the signatures, which are then wound onto rolls. The rolls move from an AS/RS buffer storage system to collation, combined with coupons, wrapped in the blue envelopes and packaged into mail trays. Mail trays are sent to high density storage until they are ready to be palletized. Accumulated mail trays are palletized and carried by STV to be aggregated for shipment.
The new facility doubles maximum printing capacity from 20 billion to 54 billion coupons annually. Plus, the redesigned production processes slash manufacturing cycle time from coupon printing to being ready for shipment from 4 days to 4 hours.
is a Proud Member of the AS/RS Product Section of Material Handling Industry of America
5202 Douglas Corrigan Way
Salt Lake City, UT 84116
Toll Free: 800-253-1003 | Phone: 801-359-9900 | Fax: 801-359-9911
info@DaifukuAmerica.com
www.DaifukuAmerica.com
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