When purchasing a folder inserter / mailing machine it is important to get a model that is suitable for your application.  This guide has been designed to educate customers as to the basic things that effect the performance of the folder inserter.  Should you need any advise please feel free to email us or call 01895 448984 to speak to a folder inserter expert.

Monthly volume
This is the maximum amount of filled envelopes that the folder inserter has been designed to produce in a month.  The mailing machines are not limited to this volume but if you expect to do more, it might be prudent to look at a folder inserter with a higher monthly rating.  If your application has up and down volume, for example a quarterly news letter, just calculate an average monthly volume to work from.

Speed
This is the number of envelopes the folder inserter will produce in an hour.  This figure is based on the industry standard 1 x A4 piece of paper, letter folded into a DL envelope.

Envelopes sizes
All folder inserters that we sell handle both DL and C5 sized envelopes.  Be advised all mailing machines require machine envelopes, you can not use your peel and seal envelopes in these machines.  Price wise, machine envelopes often save customers money, as they are basic in design and use less material compared to peal and seal envelopes.  The folder inserted takes care of wetting and sealing the envelope.

Envelope feeder capacity
How many machine envelopes the envelope feeder will take

Paper feeder capacity
How many sheets of A4 70gsm paper the A4 feeders will take

Feeder configuration
Folder inserters use 3 types or paper feeder:
A4 feeder
A4 feeder that can also work as an insert feeder
Insert feeder, inserts material that is C5 or smaller that does not need folding, return envelopes, reply cards etc.

Display
How the mailing machine shows visual information and accepts commands from the operator.  Most modern mailing used LCD with button commands.  Top end and future folder inserters will be touch screen.

Presets
Regular jobs can easily be preset on your folder inserter so save time when changing application.  Presets are easy to assign, although your first presets will be set up by the installing engineer when your machine is installed.

Reload whilst running
A useful feature on most modern folder inserters, simply means the Paper and envelope feeder can be reloaded whilst the envelope stuffer is in operation reducing down time.

Fold only option
Means the folder inserter can fold the paper without inserting into envelopes, useful for flyers etc.  If you find you are doing a lot of "fold only", it is prudent to purchase a PAPER FOLDING MACHINES these are much cheaper to purchase and maintain than folder inserters, which will help reduce wear and tear on your valuable folder inserter.

Price - Manufacturers recommended retail price
Annual maintenance - Yearly cost of fully comprehensive maintenance agreement and maximum envelope throughput for that period
Speed Envelopes per hour - 1 x A4 into DL envelope
Maximum monthly volumes - Maximum amount of envelopes the machine was designed to handle in an average month
Feeders - Insert feeder for C5 size or small, i.e. flyers, return envelopes etc.  Insert feeder can not fold
Accumulation pre folding - Ability to fold pages together or back to back
OMR - Optical mark recognition
Load whilst running - Envelope and paper feeders can before refilled whilst machine is in operation
Folding Capacity - Maximum half folded sheets in daily post mode