 |
|
|
- Promotions |
Heckman Bindery, Inc., announces the promotion of two of its managers to the level of Vice President effective January 1, 1999. Bill DeWitt was promoted to Vice President-Information Services and Jay Jellison to Vice President-Sales and Marketing. They join three other people, Stan Singpiel, Vice President-Manufacturing; Larry Dean, Vice President-Finance; and Steve Heckman, President, as members of Heckman’s top management team.
Jay Jellison started at Heckman in October, 1996, following a long and distinguished
career in sales and marketing. His efforts have led to significantly increased sales at
Heckman. In addition to his responsibilities in Sales and Marketing, Jay oversees
Heckman’s Customer Service department, managed by Jane DeWitt.
A new automated case-making line was installed at Heckman on December 14, 1998. If the productivity improvement and quality produced with it prove to be as good as expected, more lines will be added in 1999. The line consists of two units, one manufactured by CMC of Milan, Italy, the other by Creative Finishing Systems, who distributes the line. One part of the line, the "Virgo" unit, has been used by game board manufacturers, etc. for some time. However, Heckman Bindery is the first library bindery in North America to connect a corner folding unit, the "4LCU", to the "Virgo" to automatically produce book and periodical cases. One of the reasons Heckman chose the CMC line was because it can produce Heckman’s traditional library corner. Like all automated case-makers, however, the new line requires the elimination of spine cord at the head and tail. (The following article about the new standard addresses this issue.) Before the automated case-making line was added, Heckman had eight manual case-making
lines, each operated by three people. Employees have been assured that while this
automation will cause some people in case-making to be transferred to other jobs at
Heckman, it will not cause any layoffs. The final step is near in a six year effort to produce a new joint standard to replace the LBI Standard for Library Binding, 8th Edition. The draft was approved by the LBI, the library community, and the NISO Standards committee some time ago. NISO voting members have from December 15, 1998, through January 31, 1999, to review and comment on the draft. Assuming approval, the new ANSI/LBI/NISO Standard should become effective in early 1999. A number of changes in library binding will result from the new joint standard. These changes are primarily a result of extensive independent book testing performed for the NISO standards committee. This newsletter will focus on just one of the changes to expect. One set of tests was dedicated to measuring the value of head and tail reinforcement in the spines of bound volumes. Spines containing cord, braid, and no reinforcement were tested and the results were compared. Each spine, at head and tail, was subjected to a steel finger-like device connected to a pressure meter. The steel finger pulled with greater and greater pressure until the covers tore in the spine. The test results were revealing. There was no significant difference in the pressure at
which covers tore, no matter whether reinforced or not. Why? The committee concluded that
it is because of the cover material. The cotton/polyester buckram adopted several years
ago is much stronger than the 100% cotton buckram it replaced. The new standard will not
call for the use of reinforcement in the spine of library bound volumes. Heckman is continuing to upgrade all current Library LARS customers to the latest version, LARS 3.0, and intends to complete the upgrade by early spring. In parallel, Heckman has been installing the new "LARS FTP Client" which makes the transfer of data to and from the bindery even easier. To receive your FTP upgrade, please contact Rick Blevins or Teresa Galley who will schedule a time for you. Testing on the Heckman Library Interface is complete and the Library of Congress is
currently using it to prepare their monographs. We will begin to install the interface in
other libraries shortly after the first of the year. If you have any questions concerning
the interface, please check out our web page or contact your customer service
representative. On October 27, 1998, Heckman Bindery recognized 4 retirees and 153 employees having at least 10 years of continuous service. The event, Heckman’s 27th Annual Employee Recognition Banquet, had a country western theme. Following a meal served by management employees, service pins were presented and retirees were given gifts. The entertainment was also provided by management employees with piano accompaniment by Dr. Debora (Mrs. Bill) DeWitt, professor of music, Manchester College.
Steve Heckman recognizes four retirees. Left to right are Jim Baker, 10 years; Clyta
Hale, 11 years; Heckman; Pat Horn, 13 years; and Clara Williams, 12 years.
We regret to announce the resignation of Romia Olsen, Customer Service Representative,
who has served Heckman Bindery for 12 years. Romia has been working part-time while going
to school to become a registered nurse. Everyone at Heckman wishes Romia the best of
success in her new career and will miss her very much. |
|
Bill
started at Heckman in January, 1995. Since then he has been responsible for a number of
innovations that have made Heckman’s automated binding slip preparation system more
customer friendly. In addition to his contributions to the development of the LARS
software, Bill established an FTP site at Heckman making it possible for customers to
transfer their LARS binding data via the Internet. In addition, he developed an interface
that allows libraries to enter information into LARS directly from their ILS (integrated
library system) thereby eliminating duplicate data entry. Bill and his staff have also
helped the company become more efficient internally through improved systems.
