KAS Mailmaster 565HS

Wayne Nugent, managing director at Mailing Guy, tells Philip Chadwick that this envelope inserter has met the firm's increased production needs


Describe your company
Mailing Guy is a small company based in east London. We offer a comprehensive range of mailing services including  database management, digital and litho printing, personalisation, fulfilment, creative and web design.

Why did you make the purchase?
When I bought the company in 2008, I inherited a three-station enveloping machine, which operated at 3,000 items per hour, then I bought a six-station machine, but it too only operated at 3,000 items per hours. Consequently, we were finding it difficult to turn the jobs round in time. This meant working 12- to 13-hour shifts on a regular basis.

What does the machine do?
It inserts into envelope sizes up to C5 at speeds of more than 7,000 items per hour.

Why did you buy this particular machine?
I wanted an enveloper that could handle inserts from C6 to C5 on a wide range of stock, including gloss, silk and laminate and booklets with spine widths of up to 4mm thick. It had to be quick, simple and easy to set up, but compact as we are tight for space. Above all, it had to be more productive to give us the additional capacity we needed. The Mailmaster incorporates all the features we required. We specified the KAS Mailmaster 565HS PF1/6, which has an integral sheet feeder folder and five further stations, so we can process up to six inserts. It also has an output conveyor.

Did you look at any other machines?
Yes we did, but I had operated a KAS Mailmaster in a previous company and had been very pleased with it.

What features do you particularly like?
It has some very good features, but its versatility is probably the most important. It can handle everything we put on it.

How fast is it?
It operates at up to 7,000 sheets per hour, which is fantastic. Unlike the other two mailing machines we have, it doesn’t slow down when we use more insert stations.  

How much time and money has it saved?
In a nutshell – a lot.

What’s the quality like?
Quality is paramount at Mailing Guy. Whether the customer is a large corporate or an individual working from home,
our standard is first class. I wouldn’t send a job out that I wasn’t happy having my own name on. Everything is
checked and signed throughout the whole process and that includes enveloping.

Has it won you any new work?
Yes. We don’t have a sales force, relying instead on word-of-mouth for recommendation.

How was the installation and service?
It’s been very good. The machine is very reliable, but on the one occasion we called them out they were very quick to respond. We had a minor problem, but the engineer didn’t leave until he had checked over the whole machine and watched it insert another 20,000 sheets.

Under what circumstances would you buy another?
We bought this machine to grow with us. However, we are confident that the machine will pay for itself within the first year and if the business continues to grow at this rate, we will definitely need another. If all goes to plan we will have a second KAS Mailmaster within the next two years.
Conclusion
User’s verdict    
Speed 5/5
Quality 5/5
Reliability 5/5
Value for money  5/5

Supplier’s response     
Stephen Hampstead, managing director of KAS Paper Systems says: "We are very pleased that having successfully operated a Mailmaster in the past, Wayne Nugent came back to us when he needed a mailing machine to grow his business. The 565HS is already making a big difference to his company’s productivity and profitability in a short space of time. As he says, it is a very versatile enveloper to which we can retrofit more features to meet his changing demands."
Price £50,000
Contact KAS Paper Systems 01582 662211