How To Choose Your Paper Folder
WHY USE A PAPER FOLDER?
Folding paper by hand can be a long and labourious process, not to mention the painful paper cuts. Paper folders greatly reduce the number of hours spent folding letters, brochures, pamphlets, flyers, invoices, statements or any number of other forms and documents. Quick and easy to use, a paper folding machine can produce a variety of different folds (see below) at speeds of thousands of sheets per hour.
Paper folders can:
- Increase the number of sheets/forms folded per hour.
- Increase the types of folds you can create.
- Reduce mental and physical fatigue, including Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI).
- Save you money by increasing overall productivity.
- Free up time to work on other tasks.
Paper folders and paper folding machines are a must-have for any real estate agent, bank, financial institution, insurance company, mailroom or organisation that mails statements, invoices, correspondence, or produces brochures and pamphlets.
THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE PURCHASING A PAPER FOLDER
What type of paper will be used?
There are numerous types of paper weights, thicknesses (expressed as 'gsm') and coatings (plain and glossy). Different paper folder models feature different capabilities that affect how it folds paper. Make sure the paper folder you are using will not tear or crease the paper you use now and in the future.
How frequently will the paper folder be used?
Some paper folders are built for continual use while others are meant for occasional use. Whether your needs are for mass mailings or for an occasional sheet of paper, be sure you get a folder that will meet your work volume.
TYPES OF PAPER FOLDERS
Manual Feed
These are low cost, economical non-adjustable, manual feed paper folders for low volume use. Typically single sheets of paper are manually fed into the machine and folded one at a time. They can only create basic fold types (usually 'C' fold) and offer a small paper feed hoppers (up to 20-30 sheets). Great for occasional use and ideal for desktops.
Friction Feed
Friction feed paper folders are excellent folding machines. They use rollers to pull the paper into the paper folding machine to be folded. Friction feed folders offer folding options for all folding volumes.
Semi-Automatic paper folders are designed for medium to high volume workloads. The folding plates are either manually adjusted or dials are turned to cater for the correct paper size and exact fold-type required. Load a tray with a stack of paper and each sheet will be automatically fed into the paper folder using motorised friction rollers. These friction feed paper folders can only handle plain, non-glossy stock. Automatic paper folders are often capable of multiple fold types and in some cases may accept up to 3-5 sheets of stapled or unstapled sheets of paper at once.
Automatic paper folders are also designed for medium to high volume workloads. The paper folder automatically self-adjusts to the type of fold you set. Friction rollers automatically pull paper in from the feed tray and fold it. Other features may include automatic paper out, automatic jam detection and digital LED status displays.
WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF PAPER FOLDS?
