Graphic Whizard
Testimonials
PT 335SCC Multi:
Paper Strategies Incorporated of Broadway, New Jersey purchased the Graphic Whizard PT335SCC Multi Slitter – Cutter – Creaser from Charlie Bivona of Best Tech Graphic Equipment, New Jersey in February of 2016. Since then PSI has produced over 10,000,000 business cards. After growing their business card business to 5,000,000 cards per year, PSI added the optional conveyor outfeed to help support their increased volume. David Leary, Owner of PSI is pleased with the ease of use, reliability and longevity of his PT 335SCC Multi. PSI has not had the need to change their slitters yet and are averaging 2,000,000 cuts per cross cut blade change. That’s how you make money with Business Cards!
Tom Conner purchased a troubled Minuteman Press in Wall, NJ in 2018. “I could see it was doing well below its potential with little marketing being done and old equipment. One of the first pieces I purchased was a conventional cutter, then wide format and sublimation equipment. Having increased the business to nearly 150% in the first few months, even with the new cutter, I had a bottleneck in the cutting department.” Recounts Tom Conner, Owner of Minuteman Press in Wall.
“When I saw the Graphic Whizard PT 335SCC at the Minuteman Show I knew it was what I needed to open up production. October was our busiest month ever and we wouldn’t have gotten through it without the SCC.” “We named it Steve because it’s like having another employee. We just drop the work on Steve, push a button and walk away. Cutting, creasing and perforating, Steve gets it done.”
Recently I had the pleasure of visiting LCI Graphics of Sayreville, New Jersey. LCI Graphics is a three generation family run print shop that has been investing in automating finishing coming from their digital colour engines. Dan Seratelli, Vice President of LCI told me that his Graphic Whizard PT335SCC Multi has the flexibility and speed that they require to help their shop finish efficiently. Danielle Ross, Office Manager and Graphic Designer says she loves the “set it and forget it” aspect of the machine. Credit to Charles Bivona and Best Tech Graphic Equipment for bringing this smile generating automation to LCI’s finishing department – Chris Harrington, VP Sales Graphic Whizard
I’ve been a Graphic Whizard customer now for almost ten years and this is the third piece of equipment that I own from them – and it most likely won’t be the last. We had been looking off and on at different slitting solutions for about a year. What appealed to us the most about the Graphic Whizard PT335SCC was that it offered more features within the price range than the competition and with some of the competitors you needed to spend a lot more money to get the features (such as strike perfing). The ability to have an all-in-one solution has given us maximum flexibility to look at our production workflow and use the best solution for the job – whether it is business cards, covers, or even scoring a 25.5” tri-fold brochure. I think if you take a close look at the feature set of the Graphic Whizard and compare it to the other solutions you will see what I saw – no other solution offered the complete out-of-the-box solution (no add-ons like computers, additional perfing heads, carts, etc.) like they do. In addition, I can speak from experience when I say they stand behind their products and have no problem recommending them as a company as well.
Crease/Fold:
Peter Savvit of New York Digital decided to Double Down this year at Spiel and Associates annual spring open house. Peter replaced his 17 year old CreaseMaster Plus with the PT 335AKF. At the same time, Peter took ownership of the new PT 33LSC Laminator, Slitter, Cutter. Peter tells us he uses both machines every day enjoying the addition of folding while creasing on his PT 335AKF as well as automating his laminating and lamination finishing in a single pass with the PT 33LSC.
The PT335 AKF Tame your short run creasing tasks with the PT335 AKF Automatic Creaser/Knife Folder. Processes up to a maximum sheet size of 13″ x 35″ / 33.02 cm x 88.90 cm. The PT335 AKF features an efficient vacuum pile feeder, automated job set up with sheet length measuring, easy to replace front loading interchangeable crease/perf dies, and a 3 year parts/electronics warranty.
CreaseMaster:
Typically, a job such as the one pictured (11″x17″ 4 page program, quantity of 2500) would have either been letterpress scored, and then folded on our MBO, or would have been set up on the MBO with an 8 page unit and scored and folded inline. The quality of the rotary score is fine for 100# text, but we prefer a true score for cover weight. The quality of the Creasemaster is as good, or better, than letterpress, and we were able to crease and score that job in just over 1 hour, with a 3 sheet setup. Compared to a letterpress makeready, letterpress run time, folder makeready and folder running time, the Creasemaster and IKF have been a true profit center. And, the skill set required to run the two is minimal compared to the other options listed above, which require journeyman. Not the case with our Graphic Whizard equipment.
John Fleming sells another CreaseMaster Platinum to Cardwell Printing of Newport News, Virginia. The Platinum earned Consolidated Marketing’s Kick Butt machine of 2009 award. Also secured John’s spot on Graphic Whizard’s TOP 10 dealers for North America for 2009. Way to go John!
CM Plus+ When we decided to get a digital press we were concerned about what we were going to do in bindery for finishing. So we started looking for a creaser to finish our digital work. Graphic Wizard was the one that we purchased based on the quality and reliability that their machines offer. We have had our Creasemaster now for 2 years and would be lost without it. It not only does the creasing for all of our digital work but for our offset work as well. It is the one machine that we use everyday in our bindery. Since we use it so much, we are now thinking about purchasing another machine to use in our copy center. Great job on a machine that is easy to set-up and operator friendly enough that we can use it in our quick print center where I have less skilled labor.
Laminating:
Peter Savvit of New York Digital decided to Double Down this year at Spiel and Associates annual spring open house. Peter replaced his 17 year old CreaseMaster Plus with the PT 335AKF. At the same time, Peter took ownership of the new PT 33LSC Laminator, Slitter, Cutter. Peter tells us he uses both machines every day enjoying the addition of folding while creasing on his PT 335AKF as well as automating his laminating and lamination finishing in a single pass with the PT 33LSC.
The PT335 AKF Tame your short run creasing tasks with the PT335 AKF Automatic Creaser/Knife Folder. Processes up to a maximum sheet size of 13″ x 35″ / 33.02 cm x 88.90 cm. The PT335 AKF features an efficient vacuum pile feeder, automated job set up with sheet length measuring, easy to replace front loading interchangeable crease/perf dies, and a 3 year parts/electronics warranty.
UV Coaters:
Accurate Printing Repair and Sales has recently upgraded Alphagraphics Sycamore’s UV Coater to the new XDC-530. Rick Kralka, Owner of Alphagraphics Sycamore says “Overall, I am pleased with the operation and settings. The roller scraper adjustment is a big plus, it saves a lot of waste and the fluid transport on top of the roller allows for a more consistent application of fluids, I can feed the materials in and get a uniform coverage across all the pieces”. Rick mostly UV coats pieces coming from his Xerox.
In February 2010 Best Tech Graphic Equipment installed their 2nd of 3 XDC-480M’s at MGF Consortium in New Jersey in a very short time. MGF Consortium of Edison New Jersey upgraded to the XDC-480M from the GW Micro this winter as their production needs grew. MGF specializes in mailing, fulfillment and full color printing. They are also proud owners of the GW CreaseMaster Plus and CreaseMaster Platinum.
Compu-Mail of Niagara Falls New York has recently purchased and installed the new Graphic Whizard VividCoater XDC-660M from Comgraph Sales and Service Inc. Mark Krull, production manager at Compu-Mail states “UV Coating enhances our work by bringing out the color and adding density. We were sending UV coating out to get done, now we can provide it in house as well as now offer it to new clients. The XDC series provided excellent value that met the on demand short run market we are in”. Seen left to right, Brian Schiemant, President Comgraph Sales & Service, Cassandra Zimmerman, Bindery Operator Compu-Mail and Mark Krull, Production Manager Compu-Mail.
In November of 2009 at Graphics Canada in Toronto Halcraft Printers made the decision to go big in the area of UV Coating, being one of the first to offer UV coating to the commercial print market east of Quebec. Brian and Wayne Arkelian (owners of Halcraft Printing) introduced UV coating to their clients in the summer of 2009 with the entry level Graphic Whizard Micro UV coater. The intentions were to upgrade within 6 months to a year. They did just that. With the 29.5” x 25” sheet size of the XDC-750A, Halcraft has the ability to run sheets directly from their Heidelberg SM-74 5 color, or digital sizes from their Xerox 5000. Bill Todd of Graphic Supplies and Equipment did a great job working with Halcraft to determine their needs and help them choose the machine that would be the best fit to continue to grow their UV coating business.
Northern Machine Works of Philadelphia has recently installed a Graphic Whizard XDC-750A at Waveline Direct in Mechanicsburg PA. Josh visited On Demand in April to research UV coaters, with Brian’s hard work Waveline Direct chose Northern Machine Works and Graphic Whizard to partner with for their venture into the UV Coating market. After researching and comparing to other UV Coaters and Manufacturers Josh felt confident that the Graphic Whizard XDC series features and quality was the best fit for Waveline Direct.
Spiel Associates of Long Island City has recently installed another NEW XDC-530 Micro in New York City. Printicon of Manhattan chose the XDC-530 to protect and enhance their high-end work from their HP Indigo Press as well as their offset work. The XDC-530 Micro is the perfect fit for tight spaces without compromising features or abilities with it’s 20.75” wide coating width and many features usually only found on larger more expensive UV Coaters.
XDC-530 Micro – The XDC-530 Micro coater has been a great addition to our digital print field. It’s an easy upsell, and given the low cost of operation, and cleanup, it’s very easy to run. We use ours about every other day. I was impressed with the results on various materials we have run, from scored book covers, to full coverage dark business cards. The coating evens out the colors, and virtually eliminates streaks left by digital printing. I’m very glad we made this step, as it will enhance our customers image on all their projects, and give us an invaluable upper hand on our competitors.
Perfect Binders:
Patton Printing Supplies of Gaithersburg, Maryland has recently installed their 3rd GW-460A Perfect Binder in 6 months. Keith Miller owns 6 Minuteman Press locations in the state of Maryland. Miller, like all printers today, invests a great deal of time and consideration when making capital equipment purchases that will increase productivity in his shops. Easy to use equipment for quick integration is essential. Quality equipment with competitive pricing supported by references of other users that he trusts in the industry, confirmed for Keith that GW and Patton Printing Supplies were the partners to help him get started with his venture into short run book publishing. Miller MMP has also been using a GW-6000 numbering machine for years.
FinishMaster Series:
Graphic Whizard has been a great company to partner with. They have the experience and the technology to help me increase my bindery offerings. In 2008, I purchased/leased a GW 8000. From working with their preferred distributor to get the machine installed to getting the training we need to run the equipment, we have found Graphic Whizard and their partners to be easy to deal with and really care about our business and providing the right solution to meet our needs. In addition, since we have installed the GW 8000, we have seen an increase in perfing and scoring which has shown us the investment will continue to pay for itself.
Spiel Associates of Long Island City recently installed a new GW-12000 at Siloam Printing Corp in Flushing New York. Siloam has been a loyal Graphic Whizard customer for over 10 years with their GW-6000. Their new 12000 will give them twice the productivity as well the added ability to perform strike perforating. Siloam also purchased the entry level CreaseMaster MCP hand operated creasing perforating machine to assist them with their digital finishing coming from their new Canon color digital device.
Multiple Machines:
Carter Printing Company of Richmond Virginia has recently installed 2 new pieces of Graphic Whizard equipment. Purchased through John Fleming of Consolidated Marketing who quickly identified Carter Graphics finishing needs. Russ Carter attended On-Demand 2010 in Philadelphia in April and chose Graphic Whizard’s VividCoater XDC-750A to be the best fit for his business. Russ Carter (owner) will add UV coating to their wide range of offerings for their digital and offset finishing. Carter Printing is a full service commercial printer offering print service from their Canon 7000 Digital Color Press up to their 6 color 56” Mitsubishi offset press. Carter also purchased the CreaseMaster Plus for his short run digital and offset creasing/perfing needs.
In December 2009 The Print Group of South Hackensack New Jersey took delivery of their New Graphic Whizard CreaseMaster Plus and XDC- 480M UV coater. The Print Groups new package from GW and Best Tech Graphic Equipment will both enhance and protect their work from their HP Indigo Digital Press increasing their quality and product offering to their clients and open doors to new Clients.
David and Lois Penner of Print Studio One in Steinbach Manitoba have recently purchased a Graphic Whizard CreaseMaster Plus with Impact perf and Graphic Whizard XDC-480M UV coater from Quantum/Cortech Quality Presentation Products Inc. Print Studio One received their equipment just in time to take advantage of the 2009 Christmas Card season giving them the ability to provide professionally creased and UV coated greeting cards.
Spiel Associates of Long Island City has recently installed the NEW XDC-530 Micro UV Coater with CreaseMaster Plus and Transport at Patane Press in New York City. Michael Spiel worked hard to earn Patane’s business at their open house, then at the On Demand Show. Todd and John Patane did their research to ensure they were purchasing the right solution for their business. Running Konica 6501 and offset work through their system they can hand-feed for short runs or vacuum feed with their creaser for higher productivity and automation with longer runs.
In January of 2010 Data Mail Inc. of Evansville Indiana took possession of their new Graphic Whizard XDC-660A UV coater and Graphic Whizard CreaseMaster Plus. Sold and installed by Reliable Litho Supplies of Louisville Kentucky. Adam Miller, General Manager states “With the recent purchase of a CreaseMaster and VividCoater from Graphic Whizard, Data Mail has added capabilities that will help differentiate our company from the competition. I have been very pleased with the sales support, technical support, and the quality of product. I believe that Graphic Whizard is an innovative, and progressive company which strives to be an industry leader and makes every effort to insure total customer satisfaction. These qualities line up with Data Mail’s mission which makes Graphic Whizard a good fit for our company.
In August of 2010 Best Graphics Inc. of Menomonee Falls Wisconsin installed their first VividCoater XDC-660A UV Coater along with a full featured CreaseMaster Plus with strike perf and impact perf at HC Miller in Green Bay Wisconsin. HC Miller provides organizational products such as index tabs, binders and filing solutions to healthcare, government, dental and legal markets through 350 dealers and distributors. HC Miller uses a 5 color Heidelberg and Xerox Igen 4 for the majority of their printing. Jeff Collier, Director of Operations for HC Miller was able to better his lead time to his customer by 3 days with keeping his UV Coating In House. Best Graphics was able to provide HC Miller with a bundle through Graphic Whizard that helped them have complete control of their work and increase productivity.