November 2006 New England Printer & Publisher: Bay State Envelope continues aggressive capital investment campaign

Bay State Envelope continues aggressive capital investment campaign
Mansfield, Mass. firm adds new envelope press, platesetter, Prinergy workflow & web front end
Bay State Envelope, an envelope manufacturer and printing company in Mansfield, Mass., has made several equipment installations and workflow upgrades to improve operational efficiency, reduce turn-around time on work for customers, and provide an increased level of customer service and satisfaction.

“Every business owner knows they can’t sit still in this competitive marketplace,” said Bay State Envelope President Russell Frizzell. “We’re a growing and dynamic company, and these capital investments represent our commitment to overall improvement.”

Halm Super Jet Plus envelope press
Bay State’s new Halm Super Jet Plus envelope printer can handle sizes ranging from 3¼ by five inches up to 15¼ by 18 inches. The maximum print area is 15 by 18 inches. At its top speeds, the new press can print up to 25,000 envelopes per hour.

“The Halm Super Jet gives us the ability to tackle more complex printing on larger envelopes,” Frizzell said. “We needed the ability to process these jobs, and the Halm Super jet does that for us.”

Operations Manager Eric Skogseth said the new press has a much quicker makeready time, the color units run independently of one another, and the press offers a wider than normal printing area.

The Halm Super Jet is the company’s ninth envelope press in operation.

Magnus 400 Quantum platesetter
The installation of the Magnus 400 Quantum platesetter from Kodak represents a major shift for the envelope manufacturer. The Magnus completes Bay State’s upgrade to a fully electronic workflow.

“The Magnus gives us impeccable high speed imaging, which is growing in importance in the envelope world,” Frizzell said. “Creative and marketing professionals are focusing more and more on a greater return for their clients — as when direct mail campaigns are used — and they’re using every trick in the book to grab the attention of consumers. They’ve learned that the envelope is a great starting point to capture that consumer’s focus. As a result, we need to produce top-notch imaging and printing on our envelopes. We were there before, but Magnus platesetter can perform exceptional imaging speeds of up to 21 plates per hour. It offers screening up to 250 lines per inch, and offers Staccato 25 micron screening technology.

“We’ve seen a dramatic improvement in our imaging capability,” Frizzell said. “We’re already reaping a return on our Kodak investment.”

Prinergy Evo Software
Just as important as the Magnus platesetter is the Prinergy Evo software, which was created by Creo, now a part of Kodak. Among the many features to Kodak’s popular workflow software suite is the automated Preps digital imposition software, end-to-end processing of native PDF files, exact screening and trapping capability, and much more.

“As the industry changes and becomes more advanced and automated, we have to change with it,” Frizzell said, “but that doesn’t mean we change our focus or our commitment to clients. We’re here to serve our clients to the best of our ability and give them quality products and service at a fair price. These upgrades allow us to continue to do that.”

Printable Technologies front end
The Printable online ordering system allows customers to create and order printed material online using templates. Customers enter via a customized storefront, add variable information and actually proof their jobs online saving days in the proofing process. Printable delivers real-time integrated business communications applications, online ordering and e-commerce, versioned and variable documents job submission, and file transfer.

About Bay State Envelope
Bay State Envelope supplies envelopes and related printed material to the New England business community while maintaining the highest level of customer service. The company is dedicated to exceeding customer expectations and delivering the best quality and value we can. In addition to expertise in the manufacturing and printing of envelopes, Bay State Envelope also provides letterhead, stationery, folders, forms, post cards and many other printed products. The Mansfield, Mass. company stocks millions of envelopes in hundreds of different sizes and styles and can imprint up to four colors in five to seven business days.

Owned & Published by Printing Industries of New England