Finishing & Screen Printing
Colter & Peterson swiftly delivers new Prism paper cutter for Teleflora
Tuesday 17. May 2016 - As a fast-paced service organization, Teleflora www.teleflora.com banks its success on fast response times and modern technology to deliver beautiful, florist-arranged bouquets to consumers. Fast response time with cutting edge products and service also keeps Colter & Peterson as North Americas largest independent distributor and the industrys foremost authority for paper cutters and paper handling equipment.
By the last week of March and only a few weeks ahead of the industrys busiest day of the year – Mothers Day – David Graham was in need of upgrading the finishing department of Telefloras in-plant operation in Oklahoma City. A few calls and some online research led to a conversation with C&Ps Bruce Peterson, who had the right machine for Telefloras operation. When the Dscoop digital printing conference in San Antonio concluded on April 16, a Prism P80 30″ paper cutter with a Microcut automated back gauge system was shipped north up Interstate 35.
“We used a Procut paper cutter for 18 years and needed a more accurate piece of equipment,” said Graham, the Director of Occupancy and Safety who heads the printing services division. “I did some research and the advisers we worked with recommended the Prism. I liked what I saw and Im amazed at its size. I knew it had a small footprint, and thats a good thing since our shop has 8-foot ceilings. The installer did a fabulous job, trained our people and made it a very smooth transition for us.”
Teleflora has been connecting customers with the nations best florists for more than 81 years and has over 11,000 member florists throughout the U.S. and Canada. Graham manages a four person operation that handles much of the printing and finishing work for the companys office staff, the sales support team in the field, and many customized marketing materials for their member florists.
“At any given moment we are doing jobs for all three groups. You name it and we have printed it,” explained Graham. His 3,000 square-foot operation is mostly digital, with Konica Minolta color and black and white presses handling the bulk of the work. But he still puts several A.B.Dick Ryobi 1- and 2-color duplicators to work on a regular basis for booklet printing.
“We probably cut a fraction of what larger companies do, but weve been using the Prism every day since it was installed the last week of April,” continued Graham. “We cut a lot of business cards and publications. The directory is printed four times a year and we do other publications. All of them get trimmed down to 11″ x 17″. The average is 15,000 per run and we mail it to all Teleflora members. When you take into account the brochures, letterhead, newsletters, folders, certificates, training materials, new member kits and everything else, plus the different sizes involved, it was absolutely the right time to upgrade to the Prism.”
Colter & Peterson was exhibiting at Dscoop for the first time and had the Prism work in tandem with HP Indigos Direct-to-Finish finishing automation for digital operations. The Prism was demonstrated with a Microcut PLUS WS program, which improves productivity by as much as 50% or more since it instantly recalls pre-set cutting sequences. By automatically placing the back gauge blade into position, the Prism delivers highly accurate cuts within 1/64th of an inch.
The automation factor was an attractive feature to Graham with his small staff. Everyone is trained to operate the Prism, but with the computerized program his pre- and post-press operator and press operator are able to do other tasks at the same time.
“We are really happy so far and havent experienced any issues with the cutter,” offered Graham. “In the past we always used local people to service our equipment, but that concern was immediately assuaged when we had a question. Colter & Peterson quickly responded with step-by-step directions and things have worked out well.”