Changes were made to The Document Source print and mail center on campus to better help students and faculty with all their printing needs.

New equipment including printers and a cutter machine has been added to speed up the process of printing and expanding the abilities The Document Source has access to.

Robin Parker, director of marketing and strategic initiatives for auxiliary services, went into detail about the need for equipment upgrades.

“The age of the equipment that we replaced was a major factor,” said Parker. “The quality was difficult to maintain and we had started to experience higher than normal downtime. The new production printers have the latest printing technology with expanded services and automation features. With the focus on automation, we should see increased productivity.”

Parker described how the new features will contribute to increased productivity.

“The new machines have features such as automatic jam clearance that will speed the process of recovery after paper jams,” explained Parker. “The automated finishing features such as three edge trim of booklets and automatic cutting features will also decrease production time. We also saw the need to bring new technology to the university that will give us the ability to offer new features and capabilities to our students, faculty and staff.”

Four new machines were added to The Document Source. Among the new equipment is the Xerox Versant 3100 Digital Press.

“This machine serves as the workhorse that offers print speeds up to 100 pages per minute and will print on a wide array of materials such as full color printing on envelopes,” explained Parker. “Producing booklets is a major offering for us and this new machine has the ability to trim all three sides automatically to deliver a complete full bleed color product all in one run.”

The Xerox Color C70 Printer is the other equipment that has been installed. Parker explained how the printer will increase efficiency.

“It is a multifunction production machine,” said Parker. “It offers exceptional color quality that allows us to utilize it as a backup for the main color device but offers some of the basic features someone would expect on an office device such as faxing and scanning to email. It also has a digital front end embedded, which allows for seamless workflow. This machine far exceeds the capabilities of the device it replaced.”

The other two machines are the Xerox D136, a machine that helps with printing, and the Duplo DC-618 Slitter, Cutter, Creaser automatic finishing device, which has the ability to perform up to six slits, 30 cuts and 20 creases in a single go.

Parker discussed why these new machines are being brought to the center.

“The Document Source supports the printed communications for Southeastern, and it is imperative that these documents are produced with the quality that represents the highest standards of Southeastern Louisiana University,” explained Parker. “It is our goal to provide the best possible product available, and with the new equipment, we will be able to meet that goal.”

With the addition of new machinery comes the process of learning how it works.

“There are always challenges when upgrading equipment,” said Parker. “The new level of software and the added features have unique workflows that present some learning curves. However, we are working closely with the analyst and trainers to become familiar with the new equipment. We should not see a major interruption in production during the transition. We have a full time staff of four along with a number of students that work in The Document Source. Each person will learn the operation at various levels depending on need and their area of focus in production.”

For all printing, mailing and duplicating needs, students and faculty can visit The Document Source center located next to Starbucks.