So...you have purchased a planning system to handle the complex tasks associated with planning a production run for your packaging department. You have successfully integrated your Advertising, Circulation, and Distribution departments to create production plans that include up-to-the-minute information to create accurate production plans. These plans are printed and given to packaging supervisors for production. Machine operators receive the plans and manually type the information into the computers zone by zone until the entire plan is entered into the system. What happens when this information is typed incorrectly into the system? How much time does it take to manually program the inserters? Is the current control system capable of producing packages that accurately depict the production plan? How can I solve these problems?

The APSOLUT Workcell Control System.

A company's ability to outperform their competitors is called Competitive Advantage. It is determined by 1) the amount of value customer's place on the company's goods and services and 2) the company's cost of production. Quality is a key building block of competitive advantage. A planning system works to ensure that the production plans created adhere to the quality constraints of each department. The production plans are accurate and include the latest information available from each department. A system is only as good as it's weakest link. If the current control system cannot accept these production plans electronically, the risk of error is increased and the quality of the package is at stake.

The APSOLUT Workcell Control System provides the crucial link between production and planning. Each time humans pass information from one place to another, there is a chance that some of the information will be lost or written incorrectly. The APSOLUT System integrates seamlessly with planning systems to allow production plans to download directly to the machine controller. This prevents errors caused by human intervention. Plans are automatically downloaded just-in-time to the controller just before production is ready to produce the package. The APSOLUT System executes the production plan flawlessly to create accurate packages down to the carrier route level. Value is created for your advertising customer because their insert arrives at their customer's door in the target advertising zone.

The APSOLUT Workcell Control System also dramatically reduces the amount of time spent manually programming the control system. Hours are spent every week across every shift to program legacy control systems with the production plan information. Machine operators spend their time on tasks that do not reflect their core compentency - increasing the productivity of the Packaging Center by mechanically tuning the machine to acheive greater throughput. The APSOLUT System automatically downloads the production plans from the planning system, thus eliminating time spent manually programming the control system. Machine operators are relieved of trivial programming tasks and are allowed to focus on true operational concerns. The ability to automatically download the production plans increases the efficiency of the Packaging Center, which results in a lower cost of production.

Take your planning system to the next level by creating real value for your advertising customer and reducing your Packaging Center's cost of production with APSOLUT Integration, Automation, and Innovation.

Many newspapers have completed the retrofit of their existing inserter control systems with state-of-the-art information technology. Why?

There are several reasons.

First, the existing control systems utilize outdated technologies to perform basic insertion and machine control. These systems are solely concerned with the operation of the machine and disregard what happens to the package after it is delivered to the downstream equipment. These legacy control systems have reached their expected lifetimes.

Second, to allow automation to occur, all of the equipment required to package preprints for distribution must be combined to form an integrated Workcell. Each mechanical device (i.e. inserter, gripper conveyor, stackers, bundle conveyors, strappers, printers, palletizers and cart loaders perform their respective functions independently of the other equipment. This requires the machine operators to manually configure these devices prior to each production run. Production results must be manually recorded at the end of the production run. This requires that these skillfully-trained machine operators perform mundane tasks that prevent them from focusing on their core compentencies. This equipment must be integrated with a relational database that is capable of storing production plans and execution results. Once all of the equipment is threaded together, several manual tasks such as programming bundle sizes, turns, printer messages, and other bundle parameters can be automatically performed without operator intervention. The result allows operators to "get back to business" and focus on the smooth operation of the machinery.

Third, the existing systems cannot effectively handle the increased demand placed upon the packaging center to target smaller demographic areas. Automation must be applied to offset this demand. Automation features such as: automatically downloading/uploading jobs (work orders) Just In Time (JIT), automatically engaging/disengaging hoppers, continuously reordering packages during the production run, automatically beginning the next job without stopping the machine, executing jobs with zero pocket gap between jobs, automatically programming the stackers and printers, monitoring the strapper status for faults and low strap indications, feeding palletizers and cart loaders with required bundle parameters JIT for production.

Finally, once all of the equipment has been combined to form an integrated Workcell and packaging tasks have been automated by information technology, innovative packaging techniques can be applied to further increase the productivity of the packaging center and differentiate the newspaper from its competition.

Overall, many of the leading newspapers have realized that there is tremendous potential locked away in the packaging center. They have positioned themselves for success.

Unlock the potential of your packaging center today and begin generating more profits by creating value through APSOLUT Integration, Automation, and Innovation.

Newspaper revenue generated from advertising is down. Why? Because advertisers need the ability to deliver targeted advertisements to reach specific areas of their market and newspapers currently do not offer this capability. Newspapers can increase market share by modernizing their mailrooms to allow targeting of smaller demographic areas.

To reach their target markets, advertisers currently turn to direct mail marketing services, such as ADVO, to deliver their message to consumers. There is tremendous potential for newspapers to gain market share by offering advertisers the ability to target markets at the carrier route level. The newspaper already owns the circulation and distribution by carrier routes. Newspapers must leverage these existing resources to gain market share.

Until now, newspapers were limited to zone-level insertion of preprinted advertisements on their inserting machines. Some newspapers have been able to insert at the zip and zip cluster level simply because advertising demand was at a low enough level to allow this to occur. These limitations are a direct result of legacy inserter controls.

Targeting smaller areas means that the number of production runs will also increase. Currently, inserter machines utilize inserter controls that are based upon legacy computer systems to control the insertion process. These systems are becoming obsolete and replacement parts are often hard to find. The inserter controls desperately need to be modernized to prevent losses in production.

The anticipation of carrier route zoning has pressured operations to review their ability to effectively support this increase in demand. The mailroom must be able to handle more zone changes efficiently. New, innovative inserter controls are needed to satisfy demand. There are many components required to bundle packages for distribution. Each component is currently independent of the other and the resulting system is complex and cumbersome. These devices must be integrated into an "umbrella system" to enable automation to increase your productivity.

Realize more aggressive zoning strategies today and turn your Packaging Center into a successful profit center with APSOLUT Integration, Automation, and Innovation.

Integration is the key to success...

Many Packaging Centers have overlooked the fact that integration is the most important factor of mailroom modernization. Process improvement teams are formed to lead the modernization effort. Everyone tends to focus on the machines and NOT Integration. The fact is, most inserters, new or existing, are very similar in functionality. Most inserters have comparable rates of speed and offer insertion with only slight differences in functionality.

Team members also tend to focus on equipment vendors and NOT Integration. The fact is, machine vendors are good at building machines out of metal. Mechanical fabrication is their core competency. So, naturally, it is easier for them to sell a piece of equipment and leave it to the user to figure out how to integrate it with the remaining equipment. Sophisticated software is required to allow equipment from different vendors to talk with one another. Many times, software development is considered a cost center to the equipment vendors. Cost centers are constantly under pressure to quickly develop software programs to go to market with. The result is a system that requires a lot of attention and does not work properly at all times (if ever).

Additional non-integrated hardware will not increase your capabilities or your productivity. The inserters will continue to run at the same speeds they always have, production will still require the same amount of people to produce a package, and the same amount of time will be required to perform manual tasks.

A focus on Integration will allow faster changeovers between jobs, reduce waste, reduce the number of errors introduced by manual processing, and enable you to run a greater number of micro zones to target smaller demographic areas.

Successful Integration requires a strong commitment to success and a depth of experience in process integration and machine automation.

Automated Publishing Solutions, Inc. provides a coordinated, collective approach to transforming legacy mailrooms into state-of-the-art Packaging Centers.

Our approach involves three key components:

• APSOLUT Integration^™

• APSOLUT Automation^™

• APSOLUT Innovation^™

All newspapers are looking for ways to decrease costs and increase profits. A tough economy can severely limit the amount of advertising revenue as companies trim back on advertising expenditures. More creative methods must be employed to maintain high profit levels. A focus on increased efficiency throughout the production facility will lower your cost structure, create value, and result in higher profits.

Costs can be reduced in the Packaging Center by automating the packaging process. Automation allows complex tasks to be processed quickly, results in increased process throughput and reduces the amount of costly human errors within the production facility. Several manual processes are replaced with information technology to automatically perform the required tasks and enable innovation to provide significant process improvements throughout the entire facility.

This level of automation will soon be a critical differentiator and a requirement for efficient newspaper operations. Increase process throughput and the efficiency of your Packaging Center today with APSOLUT Automation.