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THE NUMBERS ARE IN.
A production time and cost comparison between the SPARK 1612 and the GERBER EDGE® II.

You might ask yourself how accurate these numbers are. They are obtained by comparing run times of each production system required to produce a certain label. The other comparison is the cost of materials. You can assign a cost to your labor equal to the run time of each machine involved.

QUICK COMPARISON...
In the pull-down lists immediatly below, there are square ft. PER DAY run rates for 1 - 4 color jobs. Divide those numbers by 8 for hourly run rates. Following the run rate are the cost ranges for each square ft. using basic resin ribbon colors.

GERBER EDGE® I 1/C = 800 Sq ft. at $.40 - $.60 ea. 2/C = 400 Sq ft. at $.80 - $1.20 ea. 3/C = 266 Sq ft. at $1.20 - $1.80 ea. 4/C = 200 Sq ft. at $1.60 - $2.40 ea.
GERBER EDGE® II 1/C = 2400 Sq ft. at $.40 - $.60 ea. 2/C = 1200 Sq ft. at $.80 - $1.20 ea. 3/C = 800 Sq ft. at $1.20 - $1.80 ea. 4/C = 600 Sq ft. at $1.60 - $2.40 ea.
SPARK 1612 1/C = 2400 Sq ft. at $.30 - $.33 ea. 2/C = 2400 Sq ft. at $.60 - $66 ea. 3/C = 2400 Sq ft. at $.90 - $.99 ea. 4/C = 2400 Sq ft. at $1.20 - $1.32 ea.

GUIDELINES FOR THE FOLLOWING JOBS:
Each process was timed including set up and handling of the equipment. No software setup comparison is currently being made on these jobs. The Spark is run from FlexiSign or PhotoPrint and the Gerber is being driven by Gerber's Omega software.
In each estimate a .25" gap is chosen for the space between the labels. For estimating purposes the laminate costs the same as either the Duracoat or Matan ribbon. The Gerber brand ribbon street price is usually 25% or more higher than Duracoat or Matan at list price.
"Kiss Cutting" refers to when a label is cut through the face stock down to the liner. Die cutting cuts through the liner. Both of these systems kiss cut so the label remains on the roll liner after the waste is stripped.
For estimating, we made the setup times for the SPARK and DFS 2 minutes for each color and 5 minutes to thread the material through the DFS. For the GERBER EDGE® II and the enVision™ 375 plotter, we used half of that.

INTEGRATED REGISTRATION OF CUT
Notice the L shaped crop marks on the bottom edge of the material (top photo). These crop marks tell the DFS (Digital Finishing System) exactly where to cut. The electro-optical registration mark recognition sees each crop mark as it travels down the web cutting the decals. It eliminates manual registration mark sighting as well as material shifting issues.

FULL MATERIAL USE
The SPARK prints edge to edge in either 16" or 12" web width. The EDGE is only capable of printing on 78.66% of the material. Therefore there tends to be less scrap material when printing with the SPARK.

IN-LINE PRINTING OR NOT?
The other major difference between the two systems is that the SPARK prints at 45" per minute with up to 4 colors in- line. However, you can't print more than 4 colors with the SPARK. The EDGE II prints "up to" 60 linear inches per minute. On certain materials with most colors, it will print that fast. However the EDGE only prints one color at a time.
Therefore the SPARK becomes much faster running more than 1 color. The SPARK makes up for slower printing on single color jobs by utilizing the full width of the material..

IN-LINE LAMINATING & CUTTING OR NOT?
After printing with an Edge you can laminate off line if you have to and then load it into the cutter and kiss cut the product. That is the way all of the estimates are calulated. If the run is long, an Edge user may choose to print smaller sections of labels and start laminating and cutting them while they are running the next batch.
While printing with the Spark, the output can be fed directly into the DFS (Digital Finishing System) for laminating, cutting and weeding the waste away from the liner. The DFS can also slice and rewind the finished decals into thinner rolls. Because this is ALL done all in-line, it is blazing fast from start to "ready to ship" product.

SHEETING
A sheet cutter will become available soon as the last station on the DFS. That will eliminate another labor intensive job.

Go to the SPARK 1612 page

XTREME TRACTION (pictured at top):
This is a 3 color kiss cut label shown on the 16" web of material (Oracal 651 Vinyl) printed with the Spark. It is then laminated with a clear protective vinyl laminate. The graphic is 5.5" x 2.75".

DON'T FORGET TO CALCULATE
YOUR COST ON THE RUN TIME.
COSTS ON THE SPARK: Quantity first:
500 @ 25¢ ea., 1000 @ 24¢ ea., 5000 @ 23¢ ea.
Run Times: 26 minutes, 39 minutes, 141 minutes.
COSTS ON THE GERBER EDGE® II:
Gerber ribbons, then Duracoat® refillable ribbons.
500 @ 29¢ ea., 1000 @ 29¢ ea., 5000 @ 29¢ ea.
500 @ 23¢ ea., 1000 @ 23¢ ea., 5000 @ 23¢ ea.
Run Times: 64 minutes, 126 minutes, 10.4 hrs.
Without the advantage of using the DFS, add another 10 minutes of labor for each 1,000 you have to weed by hand.


SHADOZ
This is a 4 Color process job that is 6" x 4.625"
It is kiss cut label on (Oracal 651 Vinyl). No laminating, just cutting and stripping the waste.

DON'T FORGET TO CALCULATE
YOUR COST ON THE RUN TIME.
COSTS ON THE SPARK: Quantity first:
100 @ 45¢ ea., 500 @ 41¢ ea., 2500 @ 39¢ ea.
Run Times: 18 minutes, 36 minutes, 129 minutes.
COSTS ON THE GERBER EDGE® II:
Gerber ribbons, then Duracoat® refillable ribbons.
100 @ 71¢ ea., 500 @ 69¢ ea., 2500 @ 69¢ ea.
100 @ 56¢ ea., 1000 @ 54¢ ea., 5000 @ 54¢ ea.
Run Times: 30 minutes, 2.5 hrs, 11.6 hrs.
Without the advantage of using the DFS, add another 2 minutes of labor for each 100 you have to weed by hand.



PROPERTY OF... (consecutive numbered labels)
This is a 2 Color job that is 1.625" x .75"
It is kiss cut label on (Oracal 651 Vinyl). No laminating, just cutting and stripping the waste.

DON'T FORGET TO CALCULATE
YOUR COST ON THE RUN TIME.
COSTS ON THE SPARK: Quantity first:
1000 @ 1.6¢ ea., 5000 @ 1.6¢ ea., 25000 @ 1.6¢ ea.
Run Times: 26 minutes, 1.5 hrs., 7.09 hrs.
COSTS ON THE GERBER EDGE® II:
Gerber ribbons, then Duracoat® refillable ribbons.
1000 @ 1.8¢ ea., 5000 @ 1.8¢ ea., 25000 @ 1.8¢ ea.
1000 @ 1.6¢ ea., 5000 @ 1.6¢ ea., 25000 @ 1.6¢ ea.
Run Times: 43 minutes, 3.2 hrs, 15.72 hrs.
Without the advantage of using the DFS, add another 2 minutes of labor for each 1000 you have to weed by hand.

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Content © 2003 Distribution Enterprises, Inc.
Gerber Edge® is a registered trademark of Gerber Scientific Products, Inc.