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Q: How can you offer your equipment
at such affordable prices? Am I giving up any quality by purchasing
ESP?
A. ESP uses only the highest quality frame materials
and parts to build our equipment. Our machines are not built cheaper,
they are built smarter. By using automated production procedures,
we have reduced both production time as well as production costs.
This enables us to pass the savings along to our customers. Not
only that, but we price our machines based on cost plus profit,
NOT what the market will bear. With over 10 years of experience
in the industry, we at ESP can confidently say that our growth
is due to the quality of products and services we offer.
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Q: Normally
ESP can provide me with a very competitive price, but I recently
got a quote from a competitor and their price was about the
same. Why isn't there much difference?
A. Be sure that
the proposals are for the same equipment. Are they quoting
new or used machines? Occasionally a better price can be offered
if the quote is for used (or demo) machines. ESP quotes new
equipment unless the customer specifies otherwise. We always
appreciate the opportunity to bid for your business; however, to
provide you with a fair proposal, we need to know if we are quoting
the same solution and whether it is new, demo, or used. In
some cases, we can also offer an attractive price for used or demo
equipment.
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Q: What
does ESP offer for technical support and equipment maintenance
programs?
A. ESP offers several options
for maintenance and technical support:
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Most major printer vendors (IBM, OCE, Nipson,
etc.) have certified ESP’s products for maintenance. Please contact
ESP for more information on which vendors offer these services
and for the contact person at that company.
ESP offers training classes at ESP's headquarters
in Burlington, CT, for your maintenance staff. Many customers
self-maintain our full product line. We can arrange for access
to our 24 hour technical support number for urgent issues and
for less urgent issues, our technical support staff can be
reached via email (techsupport@espcorp.com)
or our main number (860)675-6443 during business hours.
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ESP’s equipment can be maintained by several
third-party service organizations. If you have a third-party
service company that you are currently working with, ESP can
send them information about our training class at ESP.
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Q: Why
don't ESP's machines have computer enhanced diagnostics?
A. The answer is "simple." Our
troubleshooting methods are simple. Even an inexperienced technician
can diagnose most problems in no time. With the aid of our technical
support staff helping via phone, we are confident that 99% of problems
can be fixed with minimal downtime. The addition of fancy and over-engineered computerized
diagnostics adds cost to machines. This cost is transferred to
you – the customer. We would rather put the extra money and
engineering efforts into making a product that does not break and
developing ways to produce machines at a cost savings to the customer.
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Q: Why don’t
you offer all the features or "bells & whistles" that
your competitors offer?
A. ESP does not want a customer
to pay for features they do not need. We designed our machines
to be modular so that we can configure them to suit our customer's
specific needs. In fact, we do offer the same features and options
as our competitors; we just do not include them on our "basic" machine.
This gives us the flexability to customize a machine to do exactly
what YOU require, at an affordable cost. The bottom line = your
bottom line!
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Q: The overall
weight of your machines is lighter than others in the industry;
are they rugged enough for high-volume production?
A. Our machines are rated
by Underwriters Laboratories (UL) to hold up to 1,200 lbs.
of rolled paper. To qualify for this rating, we have to be able
to support 4 times that amount, or 4,800 lbs. However, at the time
of testing, we didn’t have a 4,800 lb. weight in our facilities.
What we did have, was a piece of machinery weighing 7,800 lbs.!
We placed the 7,800 lb. weight on the core shaft of an ESP machine.
The machine did not even flex! Ask any of our competitors if they
can do the same with their machines.
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Q: Do belt-drive
unwinds leave marks on the forms?
A. Belt-drive (or surface-drive)
is a proven technology that is used by many different manufacturers. ESP
uses a 2" wide non-marring belt to ensure solid contact with
the paper without leaving marks on the form. We have hundreds of unwinds installed all over
the world, and we have never had a customer complain about the
belt marking the forms. Please feel free to contact us for a list of references
that you can call to verify this. With that in mind, consider these
advantages when using a belt drive over center drive:
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Driving the roll from the outside does not require
a large motor or braking system, allowing the ESP roll unwind
to run on a standard 110v/15 amp electrical circuit.
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There are fewer moving parts in a belt drive
system, with no gears to lubricate or brakes to replace, making
the overall system easier to maintain.
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Q: If I wanted
to run my application Box Feed to Roll Rewind, will the ESP300
Roll Rewind Processor break the perfs as it is being rewound?
A. The ESP300 Roll Rewind
Processor makes it easy to run light or heavy perfed forms without
the perforations breaking. Our electronic web tensioning
system is operator-adjustable on the fly. This allows you to set
the right amount of tension for your forms by increasing or decreasing
the web tension at any time during your job, without having to
rethread the paper.
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Q: Do your
Unwind or Rewind processors have a built-in splicing station?
A. Many of our customers
do not use splicing stations, so we make the splicing station optional. As
in the question above, we do offer most of the features that are
required, we just do not include them in our basic machine. Again,
this is one of the ways ESP maintains flexibility when customizing
solutions for our clients.
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Q. Are ESP machines microprocessor
controlled?
A. Yes, all ESP machines
are microprocessor controlled. Our microprocessor technology paves
the way for future advancements, including computerized integration
for monitoring system status, paper used/left and sheets processed.
We build ESP machines with quality construction and ease of use
in mind, choosing rugged industrial-grade parts that will withstand
a lifetime of use.
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Q. Do ESP machines meet all
the required safety certifications for sales worldwide?
A. Yes! ESP machines have been certified
for the following: UL, cUL (Canadian UL), CE, VDE and FCC. Also,
most major printer vendors offer certified service and support
on ESP machines. ESP goes the extra mile to ensure that our equipment
can be sold and maintained in the global marketplace.
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Q: Why don’t
the ESP400 and 300 Roll Processors have wheels?
A. Portability is a key feature
of our machine designs; we do not need wheels. Using a standard
pallet jack, you can easily lift and move the machine from all
4 sides, in any direction, even in tight quarters!
Our Unwinds and Rewinds rest solidly on the floor
on padded and reinforced steel feet. Considering that large, heavy
rolls of paper are constantly being loaded and removed from these
machines, it is safer to have the machines rest on padded feet
instead of wheels that can slip and cause the machine to move unexpectedly.Should
you need to move a machine (such as putting the box feeder in the
unwinder’s place), you should consider the ESP800 Roll/Box Feed solution.
It’s the perfect solution for shops that constantly switch
from roll to box-fed forms. By placing the box feeder next to the
unwinder, both machines share the unwinder loop control and printer
interfacing. And, once set up, this solution never has to be moved,
ending any problems you may have had with moving ESP Pre-processing
equipment!
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Q: Does the
Roll/Box Feed Solution require a lot of space?
A. Not at all. The box feeder
can be mounted on either side of the unwinder unit, and is only
19" wide. Most printers require more room than that around
the printer just to open the printer covers and doors for maintenance!
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Q. Your ESP300 Rewind and ESP400
Unwind Processors require air to inflate the roll core shafts.
What if I do not have compressed air in my facility?
A. You do not need air. ESP
has and option available to add on-board air to inflate the roll
core shafts.
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Q: Why don't
your ESP300 Rewind or ESP400 Unwind Processors have
arms to lift rolls into place?
A. ESP takes pride in providing
affordable solutions that increase your productivity without sacrifice.
This is accomplished by making a mobile cart, the ESP12 Powered Roll Lift/Transport
Cart, that moves rolls as well as lifts them onto the machine.
The ESP12 Powered Roll Lift/Transport cart is easy
to maneuver and has a self-contained hydraulic system to lift up
to 52" diameter x 21" wide rolls. The big advantage of
the ESP12 is that one unit can be shared with many machines, reducing
overall machine cost. Even companies who manufacture roll processing
equipment with roll lifts built on board still sell you a cart
to move rolls from storage to the point of use. With the ESP12
you can pick up the roll from storage, bring it into the print
center, and mount it on the machine, in one step, without
the roll ever touching the floor.
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Q: How much
room do I need to maneuver the ESP12 cart?
A. The ESP12 has 2 fixed wheels
in the front and swivel casters in the rear, allowing the cart
to spin on its axis. Only 5" longer than a 52" diameter
roll, you do not need a lot of room to maneuver the cart.
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Q: How safe
is moving and lifting rolls of paper with the ESP12?
A. The ESP12 is one of the
safest solutions available for roll handling. Since the ESP12 supports
the roll from the core, it is impossible to tip the cart or roll
of paper over. Supporting the roll from the bottom (as done by
vendors in the industry) can be very dangerous when going around
a sharp corner, especially with narrow rolls. Using straps to hold
the roll in place still doesn’t solve the problem and adds
another step that results in wasted time.
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