Paper folding machines are commonly used by
all types of organizations. You might find a paper folder in a
corporate mail room, a government office, a school, a church or a print
shop. All of these organizations process large numbers of documents and
can greatly benefit from the assistance of a folding machine.
However, each of these types of organizations has a special set of
needs that need to be considered when choosing a machine. This article
is designed to provide a list of five things that Churches need to ask
themselves before they buy a unit for thier office.
1. What
types of folds do you need to produce? This is the first and most
important question that you need to consider. In general, most churches
will need to fold their church bulletin and letters to congregation
members. This means that they need to choose a paper folder that can do
a z fold and half fold. However, some churches fold large format
documents, legal sized church bulletins, tri-fold brochures or other
materials. It is important that before you go shopping for a folding
machine that you know what types of folds that you will need it to do.
2. How much folding are you going to need to do? This is an important
question to ask when choosing a paper folder. More than likely the
paper folder will be used to fold Church bulletins more than any other
type of document. Ask yourself, "how many bulletins do we print each
week?" If you are going to need to fold hundreds of bulletins every
week you are going to want to make sure that you buy a paper folder
that will hold up over time.
3. How often are you going to
need to change folds? I know a lot of churches that very rarely ever
change the settings on their folding machine. They use their machine
for their weekly bulletins and nothing else. For these churches, a
heavy duty paper folder with folding plates that are adjusted manually
is ideal. However, other churches are constantly changing the settings
on their machine to produce different types of documents (think back to
question one). If you plan on folding lots of different types of
documents or are going to need to change the fold settings more than
once a week it would be a really good idea to get a folder that has
either easy to adjust fold plates or is completely digital.
4.
What types of papers are you going to need to fold? If you are going to
need to fold heavy duty card stocks or glossy papers with your folding
machine you are going to want to make sure that the folder can handle
it. Many paper folders are not capable of handling heavy or coated
paper stocks. In fact, even expensive folders often require card stock
to be pre scored before being run. It is always a good idea to have
your special papers tested in the paperfolder of your choice before you
make your purchase. That way you will know for sure if they will work
or not.
5. What sizes of papers are you going to need to fold?
Again, it is important to try to anticipate the different types of
documents that you are going to need to fold. If you think that you
will need to make brochures out of 11" x 17" paper it is important to
choose a folding machine that can handle this size of paper. Likewise,
if the Church uses legal sized bulletins you will need a paper folder
that can handle legal sized paper. Generally if you choose a folder
that can handle 11" x 17" or larger paper then it will be able to
handle all of the smaller sizes as well.
