Banding - New

Q1: What exactly is banding/bundling?

A: Think of banding as neatly dividing a large quantity of your printed product into smaller, manageable piles. We use a clear plastic strip to hold each of these smaller quantities together.

For example, if you order 1,000 flyers but need them in stacks of 250, you'd receive four distinct piles of 250 flyers, each secured with a band. This isn't your everyday rubber band; it's a specialized clear plastic strip designed for this purpose.

The primary reasons clients opt for banding include:

• Ease of Distribution: If you're sending items to multiple locations or departments, banding eliminates the need for you to count them out yourself.
• Mailing House Requirements: Sometimes, items need to be under a certain weight for mailing or distribution, and banding helps achieve precise quantities for boxing or further processing.

Q2: What are the benefits of banding for me, the customer?

A: The benefits for you are all about saving time and effort:

• Reduced Manual Work: No more spending hours counting out flyers or other printed materials. We handle the division and security for you.
• One-Stop Shop Convenience: You can get your printing and your bundling done in one place, avoiding the extra step and cost of sending your items to a separate finishing house. This streamlines your workflow and gets your products to you faster.

Q3: What types of products can you band?

A: We primarily band our flat products, with flyers being the most common.

Unfortunately, due to how our banding machine operates, we cannot band folded or stitched products. We also can't band very small items like A7 flyers.

Q4: What is the maximum size product you can band?

A: We can band items up to a maximum size of A3. Anything larger than A3 typically needs to be tubed for transport, making banding impractical.

Q5: Is there a limit to the quantities I can choose for banding?

A: Yes, you can choose a minimum band quantity of 25 items and a maximum of 500 items per band.

Please note, the smaller the quantity you choose per band (e.g., banding in 25s instead of 500s), the higher the additional charge will be. This is because smaller band quantities require more manual work and processing time.

The maximum total quantity of items we can consider for banding is 50,000 copies.

Q6: Are the banded bundles shrink-wrapped?

A: No, the bands are not shrink-wrapped, and we do not offer shrink-wrapping services for banded products.

Q7: How do I add banding to my order?

A: Adding banding to your order is straightforward within our system!

When you're reviewing your order details on IPOP, simply navigate to the job line you're interested in. You'll find a heading called "Bundling qty." Change this from "false" to "true" and then enter the quantity you'd like each bundle to contain.

Our system will highlight this in red, clearly indicating to our dispatch team that your order requires banding.

Q8: What machine do you use for banding?

A: We use a specialized machine called the Uchida Countron. This machine efficiently counts and prepares your stacks for banding. You feed a block of flyers into it, and it accurately counts each sheet. Once it reaches your target quantity, it inserts a paper tab into the stack, making it easy for our team to separate and apply the plastic band.

Q9: Are there any specific rules or limitations for the banding system?

A: Yes, here are some key rules for our banding service:

• Flat Items Only: The product you want to band must be flat, such as a flyer or a letterhead.
• Maximum Band Quantity: Our maximum quantity per band is 500 copies.
• Minimum Band Quantity: The smallest band quantity we offer is 25 copies.
• Total Quantity Limit: We can band up to a maximum total of 50,000 copies for an order.
• Stock Limitations: We can band up to 350gsm silk stock. We cannot offer banding on 450gsm silk or heavier stocks.

Important Note on Turnaround Time: For orders over 5,000 copies and up to 50,000 copies that require banding, there will be a 7 working day turnaround time. We will always communicate this to you clearly before your purchase is finalized.

Q10: Are any products banded as standard?

A: Yes, short-run business cards are banded as standard. This happens automatically once they come off the Rollem Punch machine. These cannot be removed or requested to be removed from banding, as doing so would require significant manual work.