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MMD > Archives > April 2002 > 2002.04.27 > 08Prev  Next


Cut Music Rolls With Laser Beam & Economics
By Ed Chaban

Robbie forgets the set-up time between runs and the speed of production
in his cost analysis.  Just ask Mrs. Malone at Play-Rite about changing
dies when switching from Ampico to Duo-Art or roll scales with
different numbers of holes per inch.

I doubt Janet Tonnesen would leave the house during a production run.
The machine may run unattended, but it nonetheless requires a human to
start it and do the work afterward.  Does a worker in a factory cease
to be paid while a machine is running?  Hardly!

No, Robbie, a faster and more versatile roll cutting apparatus would
certainly drive down costs.

Actually, I never implied that it would cut down the amount of human
labor required.  My argument was one of speed and volume per run.  If a
manufacturer can cut more titles per hour, he can think about producing
smaller batches (possibly one copy!) of a roll economically.  Just try
to get a recutter with a mechanical perforator to cut you 1 copy of a
roll at the $8 to $15 price range we commonly see.  Good Luck!  Their
ancient technology will not allow them to address this "custom" roll
market.  A faster perforator and a digital library of titles will
certainly make low volumes of rolls at a reasonable price a reality.

It is my understanding that the Tonnesens are not accepting more
business.  Clearly they need a faster perforator.  Die-cutting paper
will suffer the same fate impact printers did.  Have you seen many dot
matrix printers lately?  The only place we do are in places where they
do multi-part forms (invoices etc.)  If you are only doing one copy and
want it quickly, lasers dominate.  Even inkjets can't keep up with
them.

Ed Chaban


(Message sent Sat 27 Apr 2002, 15:34:20 GMT, from time zone GMT-0700.)

Key Words in Subject:  Beam, Cut, Economics, Laser, Music, Rolls

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