Envelope design is more important than many people imagine. Especially if the envelopes are used for high-speed automated inserting machines.
Inserting machine design is continually modified to improve inserting machine capability, efficiency, and output. However, envelope design has evolved little in the past 20-30 years – until now.
Inserting machine envelopes need a special design to ensure that they can be used on inserting machines. This includes the flap shape and depth, the throat and the seams. They need to be light but rigid enough so as not buckle during high-speed inserting.
Standard inserting machine envelopes when stacked, do not remain flat. This is because the 4 corners of the envelope do not have equal layers of paper. Although it is a single piece of paper, when folded into an envelope it will have differing layers. So, at the bottom of the envelope there are three layers, (the front, the seam and the back of the envelope). At the top of the envelope it will have 4 layers, (the front, the seam and the back of the envelope AND the folded flap). The consequence is that when the envelopes need to be compacted – as for the tight, brick-like unit of PackMail, the envelopes will not be held straight.
Therefore, we developed the Patented Autoflat envelope design. The Autoflat design is used for packaging envelopes in the PackMail format. In the UK, ¾ billion envelopes have been shipped in the last 2 years to mail inserting companies who use the most recognised inserting machines such as Pitney Bowes, Bowe Fusion, Kern and others. Autoflat looks just like any standard inserting machine envelope but it has a double side seam which means 4 layers along both sides which equals the 4 layers at the top. The double side seams also means envelopes are more rigid and much less likely to buckle and fail on the inserting machines. And because the double side-seams are more rigid, some customers have actually reduced the paper weight used but still maintain strength and rigidity to allow inserting as efficient as heavier papers. This means you can reduce the weight of the finished mail pack AND reduce the total tonnage of paper you consume by approximately 10%.
Autoflat is the envelope to help mail inserting companies reduce stoppages, which means reduced machine downtime which leads to improved output and that means reducing your overall cost of inserting.
For more information you can visit packmailltd.com and read more about the design on the Autoflat page.