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