All the advantages of FP inserters at a glance
When deciding on a new inserting system, the price is not the only relevant factor. You should also pay attention to operation, accessibility and quality. We have listed the most important advantages of our FPI inserters for you, in direct comparison with devices from the competition.
Advantage: Fast loading
Fast loading and unloading of the feeders significantly increases productivity. The full-size feeders are quick and easy to load: Simply fold down the side guide of the document feeder. The transport rollers are lifted automatically and the stack of documents can be inserted into the feeder. Loading can be completed in around 3 seconds.
Some competitors' document feeders are similar to the paper cassettes in copiers: the operator has to press down a spring-loaded metal plate while loading the stack of paper to ensure that the stack is positioned below the transport rollers. This requires both hands. The recommended position of the operator is facing the feeders.
One problem is that some inserters are usually positioned at the right-hand end of the table to make room for the (hanging) letter tray. The operator then has to awkwardly load with his left hand while pushing down the top edge of the stack. This causes problems, especially with larger stacks.
Advantage: Accessibility
All FP inserters offer the extremely user-friendly hinged tray design. This allows the operator to access the entire paper flow with a single lift. The operator can reach every area of the machine quickly and easily, e.g. to remove the material in the event of occasional stops.
However, good accessibility is more than just convenience. The efficient removal of paper jams minimizes machine downtime and therefore increases productivity. In addition, the well-designed paper flow helps to prevent tearing, crumpling or complete destruction of documents in the event of a paper jam. Documents processed with FP inserters are rarely damaged by paper jams and therefore rarely need to be reprinted.
Competitors' desktop inserters have a lot in common with copiers. Some have many narrow access areas where paper or envelopes can hide. For example, there are five different access areas, each with different steps to remove the material. Some even have 10 access areas! To make matters worse, many of these areas cannot be accessed without removing the feeders and/or buckle plates. Many competitor customers resort to tools such as needle-nose pliers to remove stuck paper in areas that are too tight for a human hand. To make matters worse, documents in paper jams are often destroyed and it takes time to recover them. Removing paper jams from competitive desktop inserters is often a laborious process.
Advantage: Collecting before folding
In the segment up to 40,000 letters/month, there is another important advantage over competitors. Many FPi machines are equipped with a collecting device. These models guide the sheets down a vertical path to the collating area, where they are stacked on top of each other. This allows the sheets to be folded together later, even when reading is used, instead of being folded separately. As a result, when the envelope is opened, the recipient receives a professionally processed item, all folded together in one set.
Beyond the appearance, there is another advantage to collating before folding. The frequency of errors when inserting the folded sheets into the envelope is significantly reduced. Why? Because the system only opens the envelope once to insert the documents. As a result, collating before folding increases the reliability and active operating time of the system, in addition to the professional appearance mentioned above.
Competitors do not offer consistent "collating before folding". If one sheet is fed from each of two feeders, they are collected and folded together. So far so good. But: If more than one sheet is fed from one of the two feeders, these additional sheets are folded and enveloped separately. The same applies to OMR reading, which is folded and enveloped individually. You could call this "collecting in an envelope".
With each folded sheet that is individually enveloped, less and less space remains in the envelope for any subsequent sheets. The less space, the higher the risk of errors. Not to mention the appearance of the item from the recipient's point of view. An often disorganized collection of sheets, some folded together, others not. It can be difficult for the recipient to recognize which page of the contents is page 1, page 2 or page 3.
Advantage: FlexFeed
The FPI FlexFeed feeders can accommodate both documents and inserts. Competitive systems have dedicated feeders that accept either documents or inserts, but not both. Customers who only (want to) buy an inserting system for a very limited number of applications should still pay attention to application flexibility. The vast majority of customers change the material used and/or program completely new jobs during the system's service life. Even if such changes are not expected at first, it is always better "to have something and perhaps not need it" than "not to have it even though you need it".
Advantage: Document security
FP inserters use industry-exclusive solutions to ensure the correct envelope content.
- secure'n Feed calculates the thickness of each document fed from all feeders (all models). The precise electromechanical technology determines the physical dimensions of each document fed.
- secure'n Feed calculates the thickness of each finished, folded document set before it is enveloped. The calculation is also carried out electromechanically here.
Documents whose calculated values are too thick or sets that are thicker or thinner than expected are reliably detected. This makes errors regarding the envelope content as unlikely as they can be with a desktop inserter.
Competitors' desktop inserters use light-based double-sheet control in the feeders. The incidence of light is measured for each document. This is an indirect method compared to electromechanical technology. Light-based double-sheet detection is considerably more prone to errors. Dust, dirt, ambient lighting, dark or thick paper can cause errors.
Customers processing confidential documents such as statements, invoices or checks should be aware of the security risks associated with the light-based process. In certain cases, companies that send documents to the wrong recipient could be penalized.
Advantage: Power Fold technology
With our folding technology, the paper is pressed between two rollers with a knife/sword. The knife is not sharp enough to cut the paper. It simply folds the paper at the desired point and presses it towards the rollers. As the paper passes through the rollers, it is pressed together and the fold is formed.
Knife/sword fold:
- Produces a crisp and perfect fold
- Efficient handling of a wide range of paper types
- Best suited for folding thick sets consisting of several documents
- Does not lose effectiveness on rollers covered with dust or ink
Competitors' desktop inserters work with the buckle plate folding principle. With this technology, the paper is fed at high speed until it reaches the end of a metal buckle plate. The paper then forms a "hump" which is gripped by rollers. The fold is formed as the paper passes through the rollers.
Pocket fold:
- Produces poor folding results with dirty rollers (dust, ink)
- Requires frequent roller cleaning
- Lower tolerance with regard to thickness/throughput. Number of pages to be folded together is therefore limited
