MERCURY PRINT PRODUCTIONS -- A Digital Thrust

One area where the digital and offset worlds can collide is in the bindery. All of Mercury Print's work is funneled into the same department, but certain pieces of equipment are more or less dedicated to handling the short-run digital jobs or higher volumes for offset work.

Some operations, such as cutting, are done on the same piece of equipment. "The turnaround demands of a digital job coming into the finishing area can impact offset work already in production," Place concedes. "We do have to juggle work a bit, and we have to adjust our schedules frequently. We have a PSI (now Printcafe) computer management system installed throughout the plant to help coordinate our operations."