Direct Group (DG), a leading provider in the premium high-volume, time-sensitive segment of the direct mail industry, has purchased 20 new BÖWE Bell + Howell DemandWorks CMC-250S high-speed inserters to meet customer demands for increased direct-mail production capacity.

"Each new machine inserts as many as six items into envelopes at speeds up 18,000 per hour," said Ray Clemmer, vice president and general manager of Direct Group’s direct mail processing facility in Swedesboro, N.J.

The new inserters feature interchangeable shuttle and rotary feeders to accommodate the weight and order of items that need to be inserted into a package. All will accommodate envelopes up to “stretch,” or six by 11 inches. Some will also accommodate up to jumbo envelopes while still reaching speeds of 16,000 per hour.

These new inserters will help Direct Group break its own annual production record of 1.3 billion pieces produced and mailed in 2004.

At its two main production facilities located in New Jersey, Direct Group prints, personalizes, assembles, affixes cards, inserts, commingles and mails on average more than five million pieces of mail every day of the year. The company can produce more than two billion pieces of mail annually.

To keep pace with the needs of its world-class customers, Direct Group has more than doubled the size of its largest direct mail production facility, located on Route 322 in Swedesboro, N.J., from 167,000 square feet to 417,000 square feet, doubling the number of printing presses and restructuring the layout to greatly speed workflow from concept through mail.

About Direct Group

DG provides a full suite of direct mail services from prepress, print and personalization through lettershop, commingling and mail to telemarketing, response and fulfillment through long-term partnerships with world-class customers throughout the United States. The company’s three operating facilities and corporate offices are in New Jersey. For more information about the company, visit www.directgroup.net.

About BÖWE Bell + Howell

Headquartered in Chicago, BÖWE Bell + Howell, a company with more than 70 years of industry experience, is a leading provider of high-performance document management solutions and services supported by the largest dedicated service organization in the industry. For further information on BÖWE Bell + Howell, please visit www.bowebellhowell.com.