Advanced technology from Muller Martini Mailroom Systems enables the newspaper to increase capacity, reduce labor and enhance profits 

“We chose the Muller Martini SLS3000 inserting system because its net throughputs were significantly higher than any other inserters we saw at other installations running similar products,” states Randy Sannes, Mailroom Supervisor at Longmont Times-Call, a daily newspaper in Longmont, Colorado.  “With the continued growth of pre-printed inserts we needed more capacity. Speed was the main factor in our decision for new mailroom equipment.” 

The decision to choose the SLS3000 was also prompted by the equipment’s ability to boost net productivity and save costs. “The ability to reduce labor and efficiency was another reason we chose the SLS3000. The feed height is significantly lower than any other inserter and the SLS was the only machine we saw that utilized hopper loaders to their full potential. We will reduce our staffing by 20 to 30 percent when compared to other inserters, based on these two factors,” continues Mr. Sannes.

Longmont Times-Call, published by Lehman Communications Corporation, has a daily circulation of 24,500 and employs 215 people.  Lehman Communications also publishes several other newspapers including Loveland Reporter-Herald and Colorado Hometown Newspapers (which includes: Lafayette News; Louisville Times; Erie Review; and Superior Observer).  In addition, the company publishes the Canon City Daily Record at another print site as well as a variety of commercial print jobs.

Longmont Times-Call has been a Muller Martini customer for over 20 years.  The newspaper’s past success with Muller technology and Muller’s support resources were additional factors in choosing the SLS3000 inserting system.  The SLS3000 joins an SLS2000 already on the floor.  “As a company, Muller has always been very responsive to any concerns we’ve had over the years,” states Mr. Sannes. “We feel that the training we received on the SLS2000 was very thorough. This enabled us to attain high net speeds on the first day of production.”

The robust and versatile Muller Martini SLS3000 inserting system features a modular design and can be configured with 1 or 2 deliveries for speeds up to 32,000 or 64,000 cycles per hour.  Linear inserting design provides flexible processing of many different types of inserts.  More than 50 feeders can be installed to feed inserts. The SLS3000 uses servodrive technology.  Feeders can be switched on and off easily during production and synchronized with the pockets. The feeders allow scaleable settings, are simple to operate and can be adjusted while the machine is running.  Due to unique pocket design and high feeder reliability, light products with only a few pages can be produced as easily as bulky weekend editions with up to 1,200 tabloid pages.  The SLS3000 can be loaded directly from the newspaper press or automatically from FlexiRoll buffer stations and it can also be operated off-line with streamfeeders. Muller Martini’s programmable mis-feed and double-feed detection system monitors the insertion process. The integrated Missed Insert Repair System (MIRS) automatically recognizes missed inserts and repairs them in a second pass, assuring quality while reducing manual intervention and waste.