Cesar Zuluga works on the new 31.5″ Prism paper cutter at Adams Direct & Media Services

Business has blossomed for Adams Direct & Media Services (East Hanover, NJ), and their direct mail side is attracting larger clients. That growth has triggered various equipment upgrades, including the purchase of a 30″ Prism® paper cutter from Colter & Peterson (Paterson, NJ) in 2012 and recently, a 31.5″ Prism from the same source.

“They handle all our paper work such as brochures, letters and postcards,” says Jesse James, president of Adams Direct. “We are a 100% digital operation with nine presses and no sheet size larger than 14″x 26″. Depending on the size of the run, we typically process anywhere from 500 to 100,000 pieces of mail.” The Prisms, he says, are working 10 hours a day now, “but in a couple of months they’ll be needed for two shifts, six days a week.”

James notes that his Prism cutters are already getting a workout every week, and he’s been impressed with the many benefits they have to offer.

“So far they have met all our expectations,” he says. “The Prisms are very reliable, easy to operate, and our operators like them. They change out the blades on a regular basis, and it doesn’t take long to do.” Both are outfitted with the Microcut® computer control system.

The Prism cutters also have wokflow automation features that increase productivity. Connected to the plant’s JDF network, the cutters can store up to 100 preset cuts. “This is a big thing for us,” says James. “Our first cutter could store only 10 presets. Where you notice the difference is in multiple jobs with multiple cuts. It saves us a tremendous amount of time.”

Nearly everything that Adams Direct produces is customized variable data printing, 95% of which is mailed. The shop also uses an on-site postal office to optimize postage savings for its clients.

James, who began working at Adams Direct in 1986, has guided the company for the last 20 years. Owned by Lillian and Allan Adams, it serves insurance, healthcare and pharmaceutical clients in the Pennsylvania-New York-New Jersey area, with some national accounts as well. Adams Direct also offers cross media marketing and fulfillment and kitting services.

Time is a hard thing for any shop to replace. It’s another reason why James chose Colter & Peterson, North America’s largest independent paper cutter distributor.

“Our business is very time sensitive and we can’t afford to be down in any department.” he says. It’s a tough industry and very competitive, so being late on a deadline because of equipment downtime is not an option. The fact that Colter &  Peterson is only 30 minutes from us was a huge factor. From a service point of view, they are very responsive and have always had our best interests in mind.”