case study

Watkiss equipment supports police efficiency drive

In common with all public services, the police force is committed to optimising the efficient use of its resources. One of the areas in which this can be plainly seen at the Hertfordshire Constabulary is in its print and copy operation. An in-house cost centre, known as Printforce, based at the Constabulary’s Welwyn Garden City headquarters, is responsible for the print and supply of forms, booklets, brochures, NCR sets, training materials and other stationery to all stations that operate under the Hertfordshire force.

Printforce is staffed by experienced operators and also has its own professional graphic design unit. It has two AM single colour presses, one of which perfects, as well as an Hamada two colour press operating from a computer to plate system. For finishing it uses a Watkiss Vario collator that features automatic stitch, fold and trim facilities.

Watkiss collators are used by a number of other police forces too and support a wide range of applications for them. The 14 SlimVAC bin machine at Welwyn Garden City is utilised heavily. Its two primary uses are for collating and stitching pocketsize booklets that are used by the officers and for collating the various NCR sets used for recording information.

Reprographics manager and force forms co-ordinator Kevin Walter comments:

"We previously used a 14 bin Bourg collator so we had designed many booklets and jobs we produce with this in mind. When we came to look at other suppliers’ collators, they tended to offer eight, ten or twelve bins and so would not have been able to handle all of the pages in one tower. This is not a problem with the Watkiss Vario."

The Watkiss machine was chosen for other reasons too. Some of the booklets and brochures produced by Printforce need art paper covers. Hertfordshire’s Watkiss Vario uses suction feed which is much more accurate at picking up paper than the friction method used by the previous machine. In addition, it needs little adjustment when changing paper sizes and handles a range of stock from 40 to 240gsm.

Kevin Walter says:

"The quality of the finished booklets we produce now is much better than before. We never have problems with double sheets because the Vario alerts us on the rare occasions that the machine picks up incorrectly. The trimmer is excellent and the stacker knocks up well every time. Also, if there are any problems, the Vario’s sensors alert us straightaway."

A further advantage is the Vario’s small footprint. Kevin Walter again:

"We looked at a number of other manufacturers before we chose Watkiss. Most other collators have separate units for cutting, stitching and trimming that sit alongside each other. The Vario’s tower design results in significant space savings."

In summary, the Hertfordshire Constabulary’s Printforce unit is a forward looking department that is ensuring it takes advantage of the latest print and related technology to improve its efficiency. However, it has not finished its work and Kevin Walter is committed to building on his successful track record for the benefit of the Constabulary and the public who rely on it.