Our Sunday Visitor Streamlines Production with Colordyne's 3800 Series Water Based Inkjet
HUNTINGTON, Indiana (February 27, 2025)— Our Sunday Visitor (OSV), a longstanding provider of Catholic publications and parish resources, has enhanced its envelope production capabilities by integrating two Colordyne 3800 Series WB inkjet retrofits into its operations. This advancement has enabled OSV to produce single-pass process color inkjet envelopes more efficiently, bolstering both productivity and profitability.
Founded in 1912 by Fr. John Francis Noll, OSV has grown into the largest supplier of church envelopes and one of the world's leading Catholic publishers. The organization, with over a century of history, continues to focus on its mission to support Catholics in their discipleship and engagement with the church.
In May 2022, OSV installed its first Colordyne 3800 Series inkjet retrofit, experiencing significant enhancements in production speed, cost, and efficiency. The positive outcomes led to the acquisition of an additional 3800 Series system in April 2023. Colordyne’s 3800 Series features a four-color process, water-based ink, and can produce multiple jobs at a speed of 1,200 envelopes per minute without stopping for changeover. Both 3800 Series engines are mounted onto a W+D 202 RE — described as the most productive and fastest-changeover analog production system for transactional and direct mail envelopes globally.
Until the introduction of high-speed, inline process color inkjet from Colordyne, OSV was pushing the limits of its converting department to meet ever-changing customer demand. More and more customers were demanding customized envelopes.
"We are very capable of fulfilling these demands using flexo. However, the cost of plates, along with the cost of waste generated while registering colors, can be more than you think. We have over 4,500 make-to-order runs annually, which could potentially generate 90,000 lbs. of scrap using the flexo process. “This was a large reason for looking into digital," said Pat Alles, converting manager at OSV.
Using the Colordyne 3800 Series WB has reduced the scrap to virtually zero except for minorimage placement adjustments on some envelopes. Moreover, this reduction in waste and downtime has increased capacity by 25 million envelopes annually.
"In the years 2020 and 2021, it was necessary to buy over 30 million white currency envelopes from an outside vendor. In 2022, no envelopes were purchased from an outside vendor, mainly due to the Colordyne," Alles said. "When it is running and it becomes necessary to do a maintenance clean on the heads, the W+D 202 RE can still convert blank envelopes. No shutting down, no scrap, just producing good envelopes."
Taylor Buckthorpe, director of sales and marketing at Colordyne Technologies, commented on the collaboration, "We are excited to see the success OSV experiences with the 3800 Series. Providing businesses with a solution that leverages existing investments in their press room is a game-changer in the current market. We're not replacing equipment; we're enhancing it to unlock unimaginable efficiencies and productivity."
"Our Sunday Visitor's application has proven that in the right environment and application, there is no limit to the run lengths converters can approach digitally, especially when you have a customer like OSV who is willing to look at the true cost of production," Buckthorpe added.
Although digital consumable costs are high using the Colordyne, other variables offset these costs such as less wear and tear on the converting line, plate-making equipment, and plate-mounting equipment. Since installation, there have been several weeks where the W+D 202 RE was never inked up to run flexo.
"Since installation, Colordyne’s technicians have been committed to optimizing our production. We have reduced our digital ink consumption by 28% without sacrificing print quality or color. This not only reduced our cost to print but eliminated envelope curl, which is one major concern to adjusters on mail lines," Alles said.
OSV has the first inkjet engine ever mounted inline on a high-speed narrow web envelope converting machine. This forward-thinking approach has allowed OSV to stay ahead of its competition. After two years of digital production, OSV has had virtually no customer complaints. The transition from flexo to digital, on mainly customer-specific envelopes, was smooth and with no concerns from OSV’s customers.
Commercial printers and label and packaging converters can retrofit a digital printing onto existing analog printing and converting equipment without disruptions to current operations. Colordyne Technologies offers retrofit options using water-based and UV LED inkjet technology. Companies interested in learning more about Colordyne’s retrofit products can email marketing@colordynetech.com
About Our Sunday Visitor
Headquartered in Huntington, IN, OSV has been a champion of the Catholic Church for over a hundred years. In that time, the company has helped parishes and diocese raise hundreds of millions of dollars which support their community missions. In addition, through the OSV institute for Catholic Iinnovations, the company has donated millions of dollars to support other Catholic organizations, apostolates and initiatives that also strengthen the Church and its people. Our goal is, and always has been, to help individuals, families and communities grow closer to Christ. Visit www.osv.com for additional information.
AboutColordyne Technologies
Headquartered in Brookfield, WI, Colordyne Technologies is a leading manufacturer of high speed, high resolution and low capital cost water-based and UV-LED inkjet print engines. They are designed for integration onto existing printing and converting equipment to create an affordable hybrid production press. Colordyne Technologies recognizes the years of investments made into the people and equipment that make up a label converting press room. Colordyne’s unique retrofit approach to digital printing allows label converters to seamlessly integrate process color inkjet directly onto existing production lines at breakthrough speeds and without the loss of current press functionality. Visit www.colordynetech.com for additional information.
