Two SLS3000 inserters from Muller Martini Mailroom Systems bring profit-building benefits to The Columbian

Located in Vancouver, Washington, The Columbian Publishing Company produces a daily newspaper with a circulation of 44,399 and a Sunday edition that reaches 50,835 readers.  The company recently installed two Muller Martini SLS3000 inserting lines and the machines are providing key benefits that are translating to higher profit potential.

“We chose the Muller SLS3000 inserters due to their capability to insert large packages and improve throughput times for our large Sunday and weekday products,” says Jeff Stalcup, Production Director at The Columbian.  “We produce complete packages to circulation and the ability to insert and deliver large packages to the stacker were major factors in our decision making. Muller technology has enabled us to condense our production window and improve our customer service.”

Included as part of the SLS3000 production lines at The Columbian Publishing Company is Muller Martini’s WinLincs packaging line control system software, which controls the inserting process to optimize productivity.  WinLincs enables the operator to define various functions and also provides comprehensive zoning capability as well as the ability to create production and management reports.  One of the SLS3000 machines is configured with Muller’s AddressLinc software for inkjet labeling with a Kodak (Scitex) labeler.  AddressLinc coordinates zone-based package insertion with address labeling of each individual package and also coordinates stacker separations according to Postal delivery groups.

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.