Merlin Printing Reduces Waste and Improves Productivity Using CONNECT

Results

Comparing production metrics and KPIs from the early stages of installation over time shows real operational improvements and increased productivity.

Changes in print and makeready (setup) time, each a percentage of total overall production time, directly impacted profitability. Merlin saw printing time increase from 68.7% to 72.1%, an increase of 3.4 points and an improvement of 4.9%. Makeready time improved by 12.9%, which means it is producing more good output and using less paper and labor time to produce similar jobs, respectively. In addition, it had a 39.7% reduction in waste prints. OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness), a measure of Merlin’s operational productivity, inched higher going from 60.7% to 62.9%. 

By increasing print time, Merlin produced more than 3.6 million additional good prints than they would have at the earlier average production rate. Assuming a value of $0.04 per print, more than 50 working weeks per year this is projected to be worth more than $330,000 additional annual revenue.

“We were impressed with the AUTOMATER technology. They not only promised but delivered fast and reliably. CONNECT is easy-to-use, and is providing more value than we expected. AUTOMATER really brings our legacy big iron into the new age of production tracking. With real-time visibility, we can focus on improving our [costs] and our clients’ costs,” says Steve Vid, president at Merlin Printing.