Guillotine Paper Cutters

Guillotine Paper Cutters:
Maximize Your Return on Investment
Not all guillotine paper cutters on the market are equal when it comes to
return on investment
FIND OUT WHY
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Evaluating return on investment before buying a guillotine paper cutter is critical to
the success of your company
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A bad investment decision can haunt your operation for a long time
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The concept of Total Cost of Ownership is a long-term view that enhances the
sustainable development of the company
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High value-added support from your local dealer helps to maximize profits
Taking into account key decision-making criteria can ensure a shorter payback on
your investment
Guillotine Paper Cutters: Maximum Return on Investment
OVERVIEW
Cutting paper for the printing industry may seem a simple, routine
task, but it is actually the key step in the print production process.
Pre- or post-press cutting, if done incorrectly, can ruin the job, your
profit, and potentially the relationship with your customer.
Because paper accounts for a high percentage of the cost associated
with any particular job, this is the stage where the risk of waste is very
high. However, it is also the stage that offers the greatest
opportunities for optimization. Whether or not a guillotine can
reposition quickly, accurately, and cut efficiently, are some of the main
criteria to be taken into account before investing in a guillotine paper
cutter.
Other gains in productivity are achievable with auxiliary handling
equipment – stack lifters, joggers, and automatic unloaders. These
devices can increase daily production and reduce operator fatigue.
There are also operating cost criteria that, viewed over the long term,
favor one guillotine over another. Guillotines with technology that
incorporates lower energy consumption, for example, will provide a
better return on investment than older technology which may be less
expensive to purchase but consumes a larger amount of electricity and
has high-cost replacement parts.
Analysis of your current cutting technology using multiple criteria
based both on potential gains in productivity and on reduced operating
costs, is a way of assessing the relevance of your buying decision and
its eventual return on investment. Not all products are equal, even
though they may look the same at first glance.
As a result of their performance, low operating costs, and remarkable
reliability, Challenge guillotine paper cutters may give you a payback
on your investment of less than one year, while an investment in other
older technologies can not be justified if you want a rapid return of
your investment.
Guillotine Paper Cutters: Maximum Return on Investment
EVALUATING RETURN ON INVESTMENT - A KEY STEP
IN THE PROCESS OF DECIDING WHAT TO BUY
Making the decision to invest in a new guillotine paper cutter is one
that should not be made lightly. The stakes today are very high. The
ability to fulfill orders quickly, provide quality product, respect
deadlines while maintaining profitability is the key to competitiveness
and growth.
When looking at return on investment of any piece of equipment, all
relevant revenues and expenses over the life of the equipment
purchased should be considered in the evaluation.
Basing a decision solely on the initial purchase cost can lead to a
short-term view of the investment and may prove very misleading in
terms of the ROI.
Challenge recommends calculating ROI using the Total Cost of
Ownership (discussed later) and should be the key factor in your
choice of a guillotine paper cutter.
PRODUCING MORE TO FULFILL MORE ORDERS
When you buy a new guillotine paper cutter either as a replacement
for an older cutter or as your first piece of equipment, there is the
question of what size and other capabilities are needed in light of the
volume and type of business you are doing. You can choose to go with
a smaller, less automated, lower-cost guillotine paper cutter with the
risk of not being able to handle the peaks in demand you have, or you
can choose to purchase a larger, automated, higher-cost guillotine
with all the bells and whistles possible based on over-confidence in the
volume of business and type of work that you can get. In either case,
there is a high risk that you will have made the wrong investment.
The solution is to choose a guillotine from a manufacturer that offers a
selection of sizes and capabilities that allows you to handle your
current business requirements, and yet, provides you machines that
hold their resale values and additional models that provide a pathway
for future growth. Challenge’s broad range of guillotine sizes along
with multiple levels of sophistication in computer controls provides you
with many options to select just the right cutting solution for your
foreseeable business conditions. The investment in a Challenge
guillotine enables you to cope with current demand and to absorb
peaks in production when necessary.
Guillotine Paper Cutters: Maximum Return on Investment
HOW TO ASSESS RETURN ON INVESTMENT FROM
THE VIEWPOINT OF PRODUCTIVITY
The ability of a piece of equipment to produce a large volume of cut
pieces should be examined very carefully, not only from the point of
view of the maximum clamp capacity, but also backgauge positioning
and cutting speeds. It is the combination of these factors that
determine the guillotine’s true productivity. There is no point in
having a guillotine that provides a large clamp opening yet positions
the backgauge slowly. Although it is common practice to base an
evaluation solely on one criterion (clamp opening or knife cycles per
minute), the true measure of cutting productivity is the amount of
product that can be cut per hour of continued operation.
Challenge believes that higher productivity requires reliable
technology, readily available and reasonably priced replacement parts
and consumables, and effective technical support to ensure maximum
production.
CUTTING QUALITY - A DECISIVE FACTOR IN RETURN
ON INVESTMENT
Achieving finished cut pieces that consistently conform to the
requirements of the job is of paramount importance. It directly affects
post-press binding and folding operations. If the cuts are done
incorrectly or inaccurately, all the work done previously will be wasted
and scrapped. For instance, the work that was put into printing cannot
be undone or the paper salvaged to be used again. Therefore,
consistent and reliable cut quality must be one of the factors that
dictate your choice in equipment. Beware that many lower cost
machines will not provide the quality your customers demand.
Challenge guillotines are engineered and built to provide cut quality
that is accurate and repeatable.
Guillotine Paper Cutters: Maximum Return on Investment
INCREASING CUTTING PRODUCTION
In today’s economic climate, efficiency is paramount, yet there are still
people clinging to their antiquated guillotines. It is common for shop
owners to report a boost in production of 50% or more when they
replace their non-programmable guillotine with a new Challenge
programmable guillotine, not to mention an increase in consistent cut
quality.
Further production increases can be realized through material-handling
equipment.
A stack lift machine allows the cutter operator to position the material
to be cut at the optimal height which promotes more productive
cutting. This also reduces operator fatigue and injury, saving the
company money with workers compensation savings and reduced lost
time.
The addition of a paper jogger to a high-volume cutting environment
can effectively increase production through the cutting department by
a significant amount. The operator does not waste time loading the
cutter one small lift at a time. Instead, the operator can place a
preset amount into the jogger, depress the foot switch, and the
machine will automatically jog all the sheets properly, and then
remove any trapped air in the stack. The operator is presented with a
full stack that can then be moved effortlessly into the cutter. While
the operator is cutting this stack, the next stack is being prepared in
the jogger.
An automatic unloading machine can automate the task of stacking
finished cut pieces on a skid, allowing the cutter operator to continue
cutting unabated.
Challenge believes that one well thought-out cutting system has the
potential to replace several suboptimal cutters now in operation.
Guillotine Paper Cutters: Maximum Return on Investment
TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP - A KEY INDICATOR
FOR MAKING THE RIGHT INVESTMENT DECISION
The calculation of return on investment can be refined by carrying out
a dynamic analysis of all revenues and costs over the projected life of
the machine. The cost of ownership on guillotine paper cutters from
many other manufacturers may increase significantly through the
years; the cutters become unreliable, inaccuracies grow, maintenance
and repair costs skyrocket, and the machines fail to hold their resale
value.
It is therefore particularly important to take all the following costs into
account when developing your return on investment:
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Initial investment cost
Transportation, installation, and training services
Recurrent services (maintenance, support, etc.)
The cost of quality failures (poor cut quality)
Operating costs (consumables, power consumption, repair and
spare parts)
Future resale value
Your investment decision should not simply be a matter of initial
purchase cost. A poor-quality machine or one that is not suited for
your production tasks will generate significant supplementary costs
over the life of the machine. Instead of just looking at initial purchase
costs, estimate and compare your projected total cost of ownership.
“Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of
nothing”- Oscar Wilde
VALUE-ADDED SUPPORT FROM YOUR LOCAL
CHALLENGE AUTHORIZED DEALER
Challenge has been serving the graphic arts industry since 1870.
During those years, we have learned that a skilled network of dealer
sales and service is the best method of having expertise readily
available in the field for purchasers of our equipment.
Challenge dealers have been carefully selected on the basis of their
skills regarding knowledge of our industry and products, customer
relations, integrity, and technical service expertise.
Challenge authorized dealers routinely attend factory-training
seminars, ensuring your new Challenge guillotine paper cutter
performs as-new for years to come. This level of local support will
reduce any potential downtime to the absolute minimum.