During the last few years, the world of online content has become more prevalent, impacting businesses and consumers alike. There has been a war brewing between electronic digital content and traditional physical book printing for a long time. While many may think that digital is winning, this could not be further from the truth, especially for Phoenix based D&L Press Inc. “2018 was our best ever in our 58 years of operation and 2019 is progressing to be even better,” declared Mike Pinch, President of D&L Press Inc. The company started in 1961 as a traditional offset printer, but over the years it has evolved by incorporating new technologies and entering different markets.
Originally the goal of D&L Press Inc. was to serve mission organizations, churches and local businesses. These markets are still key today, but D&L Press Inc. has expanded and evolved with the addition of Author2Market.com, a unique on-demand book printing solution. To accomplish this D&L Press Inc. has partnered with Snowfall Press. As Mike explained, “Snowfall Press is the technology side of our book manufacturing process. It offers an all-in-one, integrated online process for book production and shipping.”
The markets D&L Press Inc. serves have changed and grown too. Books for attorneys, along with supporting marketing materials, have become a major focus for their Océ VarioPrint 6250 digital press. D&L Press Inc. continues to serve religious communities, but its niche now also includes foreign language materials for churches and ministries. In addition, the printer produces the entire Bible or portions of it in various languages. “Eleven years ago, D&L Press Inc. was the first US printer to produce on-demand, book-of-one, complete Bibles in a foreign language for a competitive price,” stated Mr. Pinch. Also, D&L Press Inc. produces home school materials for many publishers as well as prints books for other markets and for authors who self-publish.
Initially, when D&L Press Inc. started producing the entire Bible, they were printing a 6” x 9” page size, 60-millimeter thick book. They identified the appropriate binders and folders and went back to Océ, their printer manufacturer, who said they could use a 60 gsm paper. D&L Press Inc. discovered it could be printed more efficiently if they operated a roll feeder with the 60 gsm paper. As a result, 11 years ago, the company purchased its first Tecnau SheetFeeder VP 6000. With this roll feeder, D&L Press Inc. can use a 19.2” sheet of paper to accommodate this size book and optimize printing. Initially, it fed into the Océ VarioPrint 6250 printer. “In fact, our Tecnau SheetFeeder VP 6000 actually wore out our initial printer with 350 million impressions. Now it is connected to our newly purchased Océ VarioPrint 6270 Titan printer,” reported Mr. Pinch.
Recently, the original Tecnau SheetFeeder VP 6000 went down. To keep operations running, D&L Press Inc. brought in 10 to 11 large skids of sheet paper. “My team had to load drawers, use pallet jacks to move the skids around the production floor, and roll carts of paper between cutters. Even though the Tecnau SheetFeeder was only down for a short time, the logistics without it nearly killed us,” said Pinch.
With the Tecnau SheetFeeder VP 6000, the rolls can be easily moved around and loaded by one person. No heavy lifting or pallet jack is required. “Once loaded, a single roll can run up to eight hours,” stated Mike. The versatile Tecnau SheetFeeder can run every form size the printer can handle as well as paper weights down to 60 gsm (or even down to 39 gsm for certain qualified papers). In addition, it can easily switch between letter and tabloid or between A4 and A3, without the need to change the roll. With its ability to cut even odd sizes, printers realize unprecedented savings with the SheetFeeder.
To accommodate the company’s recent growth, Mr. Pinch recently purchased a second SheetFeeder VP 6000. With 11 years of positive experiences, Mike only considered a Tecnau solution. “For me, there is no competitor in the marketplace. Not only does Tecnau make a great product, but when it does go down their technical team really thinks outside the box to find the most economical solution to get it up and running again. Our recent repair was only a third of the cost we originally expected,” noted Mike. “The partnership and synergy between Canon and Tecnau have been a huge benefit for us,” added Pinch.
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