Ancor expands capabilities with addition of BÖWE BELL + HOWELL Plastic Card System

June 08, 2006 (PRLEAP.COM) Business News
Troy, Mich., June 8, 2006 – Ancor Information Management, a diversified services organization offering customer communications and information management solutions, is pleased to announce the addition of a new BÖWE BELL + HOWELL Plastic Card SystemTM (PCS®). Originally purchased as a backup unit, the PCS system is now Ancor’s primary plastic card machine and is being used to process numerous membership cards for local American Automobile Association (AAA) clubs and various health care organizations.

“The PCS has some functionality we didn’t have,” said Kelly Colohan, director of the Membership Services Unit. “As our health care business continues to grow, we definitely saw the advantages of having the BÖWE BELL + HOWELL machine do that work.”

Among the features that most impressed Colohan was the PCS system’s card-reading capabilities. The PCS system can identify a wide array of codes such as 1D or 2D barcodes, contact or contact-less chips, magnetic stripe and optical character recognition (OCR). Colohan also cited the PCS system’s “superior” camera system for OCR and its ability to divert problems and continue running, as opposed to other machines that are very linear in design and that require shutting down to address problems.

The PCS system can accommodate a wide variety of document format processing, including 1-up and 2-up formats, letter, legal or 11” x 17” as cut-sheets or continuous web. The machine also provides numerous folding, inserting and delivery options, while providing a detailed audit report of what cards were mailed and when. The PCS system can integrate with automatic booklet makers, mail inserters, and various monochrome and color printers using its Doculink or Weblink modules.

On one- and two-card applications, Colohan claims their PCS system is running about 35-40 percent faster than Ancor’s previous card machine. On three- and four-card applications, Colohan has seen an astounding increase in productivity of around 80-90 percent. The PCS system has cycle speeds of up to 8,000 cards per hour.

“I’ve got a quote out on a job for 8 million cards that we probably wouldn’t have gone after previously,” Colohan stated. “One advantage of this machine is the ‘wow factor’ it elicits when we show it to potential customers. It’s very impressive to see in operation.”

As Ancor’s growing health care business involves production of an extremely high number of membership cards within a short time frame to meet calendar-year enrollments, the flexibility and reliability of the PCS system has given them confidence to take on such intensive jobs.

“We sell ourselves on quality,” added Colohan. “The reason we made this investment was to bring a higher quality product to market, and we’ve achieved that goal.”

For more information on Ancor Information Management, contact Kelly Colohan at 248-526-4831 or kcolohan@ancorinfo.com.

For more information on BÖWE BELL + HOWELL’s Plastic Card System, contact Susan Forsgard, PCS business manager, at 919-767-4419 or by e-mail at Susan.Forsgard@bowebellhowell.com. Or visit www.bowebellhowell.com.

# # #

About Ancor Information Management
Ancor Information Management is a leading provider of customer communication management solutions for the health care, automotive and utility markets. Using sophisticated software technology and leading production capability, Ancor provides personalized information management solutions such as print and mail, statement processing, data capture and mining, and electronic bill presentment and payment. Headquartered in Troy, Mich., Ancor produces over 12 million customized membership cards annually for automotive clubs and health care organizations nationwide.

About BÖWE BELL + HOWELL
Headquartered in Wheeling, Ill., 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. The company’s portfolio of cutting, packaging, inserting, plastic card, sorting, integrity, print-on-demand and software solutions is the most comprehensive product offering for paper-based and digital mail communications. These solutions are supported by one of the largest dedicated service organizations in the industry. For further information on BÖWE BELL + HOWELL, please visit www.bowebellhowell.com.

© 2006 Böwe Bell + Howell Company. All rights reserved. BÖWE BELL + HOWELL and the Böwe Bell + Howell Company logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of BBH, Inc. PCS is a registered trademark of Böwe Systec AG. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners. Specifications are subject to change without notice. Actual performance results may vary depending on mailing characteristics, document and workplace conditions and hardware configuration.