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Beginning with horse and buggy deliveries in the nineteenth century right up to the exploding technological advances of the present day, the Hummel organization has adapted to change, expanded to meet new challenges, and prospered through hard work and expertise. John Hummel represents the fourth generation of the Hummel family to be involved in the management of Hummel Printing and Mailing.
Palmarozzo Bindery, a family owned business since 1986, started a business relationship with Mr. Hummel that grew over the years. As the need and demand for faster turn-around and quality control of the finished product increased, it was mutually decided in 2004 that Palmarozzo Bindery would move into the Hummel Printing and Mailing facility.
While Hummel and Palmarozzo remain separate companies, they can now offer printing, bindery, and mailing services under one roof without the need of each company purchasing expensive equipment and trying to be the "expert" in all areas of the graphic arts industry.
"Certain finishing is best done in-house and other specialty finishing is best sent out to trade binderies," says Mr. Hummel, president of Hummel Printing and Mailing. "Here Palmarozzo not only does our work but they also do other trade work." He adds, "Do what you do well and do it the best. If you try to do everything, certain things will just be mediocre."
Both companies offer service with attention to detail in the areas of printing, bindery, and mailing. Jobs are reviewed from start to finish with each component taken into consideration and recommendations relayed back to the respective customers as needed. Many people seem to focus strictly on the design of a printed piece, but they must also look at the last phase of production, the finishing of the piece.
Finishing equipment plays a major role in creating what the customer sees, including the important first impression. The look of a piece can be significantly changed with personalization. Imagine the customer's first impression seeing his name and other pertinent information placed throughout the piece. Studies have shown that this type of piece can increase responses by more than 100 percent.
Are you more apt to open a piece of mail that has a stamp on it? This finishing process has improved response rates. Other finishing equipment that attaches wafer sealing, spot gluing play a major role as to whether or not a printed piece is read.
So when you design your next printing job, don't forget the last part of the process—the finishing equipment.
Ronald S. Berg is the controller and operations manager at Hummel Printing and Mailing, New Jersey.
author: By Ronald S. Berg