Marathon Press adds SpencerMetrics LYNK automation solution

Marathon Press Inc., one of the most unique printing and photo labs in the United States, has invested in efficiency and productivity automation with the SpencerMetrics LYNK solution. LYNK provides fully automated, touchless, real-time data collection, monitoring, and reporting from multi-vendor, multi-technology production equipment.

Marathon offers full-color digital printing, email marketing, graphic design, web-to-print online ordering, specializing in printing yearbooks, children’s books, photo books, and specialty books. Marathon is also a wholesale outsource provider for other printing companies and online photo businesses. Their Norfolk, Nebraska, production facility operates high-end digital production equipment from multiple vendors including HP, Konica Minolta, Horizon, etc., the company said, adding with thousands of short-run variable jobs to track, the manual steps required for job recording were no longer reliable and accurate. They turned to LYNK to support their desire for accurate tracking of what was and what was not printed within their on-demand print facility.

LYNK’s multi-vendor, multi-technology direct digital machine connection now supports Marathon’s automation initiative. LYNK automatically tracks machine status, jobs, and counts, and reports various KPIs such as utilization, production volume, speed, as well as job production details – all without any human intervention. The real-time production dashboard provides immediate visibility into job production status. Easy-to-use cloud-based analytics show historical details allowing understanding of production trends and enabling data-driven business decisions.

“SpencerMetrics has been great to work with and has helped immensely with our internal order tracking,” said Max Alewel, director of operations, Marathon Press. “Their support has been very responsive, and they are always willing to help make our process better.”

“LYNK helps businesses like Marathon leverage the power of automation to attain new levels of performance and efficiency that empower the business to succeed,” said Catherine Fiasconaro, Vice President of Operations at SpencerMetrics LLC. “The power of SpencerMetrics allows for real-time monitoring and action, resulting in higher efficiencies, greater profitability, and increased customer satisfaction.”