You will manage a team of production operative in a fast moving multi-shift environment within the Print, Platen and Cutting Departments, ensuring that the production schedule is achieved in a safe manner which meets with both quality and on time delivery requirements. You will be part of the supervisory team answering directly to the Production Controller and ultimately the Operations Manager.

Highly developed organisational and leadership skills are essential as are well rounded communication skills and the ability to liaise with all levels.

This position would ideally suit an established Supervisor/Manager from a print / manufacturing / engineering / industrial background with 3-5 years hands on experience of management and understanding of LEAN manufacture.

Salary: circa 20K

Apply by sending your CV with a cover letter to Julie Bulmer, HR Manager – julie.bulmer@duraweld.co.uk

How Many Holes Do I Need On My Ring Binder?
Two rings is what is usually found in most high street shops and is usually one of the most popular products in many stationary shops. These sort of binders are ideal for infrequent use. They are usually the best priced (as they have the least number of rings) and are available in a multitude of colours and finishes. The distance between these rings is 80mm.

Three rings have become more popular in recent years as most American documentation is three-hole punched. This is another solution to prevent mixing documents with a spacing of 108mm between rings.

Four ringed ring binders are the heaviest duty of the three most popular types and offer the most protection to your document with frequent use. This is as the tension on the document is spread over four places rather than two or three with a distance of 80mm between rings.

What Types Of Ring Are There?
There are traditionally two types of ring for you to choose from when selecting your ring binder. These are the d-ring and the round-ring.

The d-ring is fixed to the back cover of the binder and is usually the most popular type. The fixing of this type of ring is clean and professional and the rivets are much less noticeable on the d-ring than the round-ring. This type of ring is perfect for use with presentation, student notes and papers, training materials and other display material.

The round-ring is fixed to the spine of a regular binder and is the easiest type of ring to quickly flick through the pages. One potential downside to this is the fact that any paper of plastic wallets will have to be designed in order to avoid the rivets. Ideal for easel binder, quick page turning and heavy usage.

Caring For Your Ring Binders & Folders
During the colder months, it is vital that you keep any ring binders you have in a warmer environment. As these products are traditionally made from vinyl and similar materials, it is possible that these can become so cold, they will crack or snap when dropped or knocked. The best way to ensure this does not happen is make sure your supplier cares for the product during storage and delivery.

Bubble wrap is fantastic during the cold months in insulating the products. It has been known that many of the more carefully suppliers of these products will ensure all stock is kept at an appropriate temperature and will do their best to make sure that as little movement occurs as possible during transportation.

All in all, there are many different types of binders and folders for a variety of applications, there will always be one to suit your needs.

What Types Of Ring Binders Are There?
There are three different types of material which ring binders are made from, depending on how much you use the ring binder and what you use it for will determine which one is best suited to your needs. The three different materials are vinyl, polypropylene and paper over board.

Vinyl is the most common material for a ring binder and this type is made from putting PVC over cardboard. The main benefit to this type of binder is its durability and the fact that it can be used a repeated number of times. The coating of the binder ensures that it is protected from water, grime and dirt and can also be recycled at the end of its use. The vinyl ring binder is not ideal for use in very cold weather, read the ‘Caring For Your Ring Binders & Folders‘ section below for more information.

Polypropylene folders are available in a variety of thicknesses depending on the desired protection and quality of the final product. Thicker material is better for more heavy usage. This type of folder is a reasonably priced alternative to other types of ring binder and can be wiped clean should it become dirty. These types of binders are less rigid than other types but are ideal for promotional items and materials and have the bonus of being recyclable once disposed of.

The paper over board option is the most versatile type of ring binder and can be printed with numerous designs. Ideal should you wish to personalise your folder or binder. Very cost effective option where you can be highly creative. Not ideal for high intensity use and difficult to recycle.

Here, we’ve looked at the different types of ring binders and which material of ring binder may be most suitable for your requirements. Take a look at part two, where caring for your ring binder becomes prominent as does the types of rings available and the number of ring available.

Ring Binders

One of the most popular types of stationery and this product is available in three different sizes: A3, A4 and A5 with the optional extra of having a landscape version of the A4 version. There are a total of four different mechanisms to choose from depending on your needs: 2D, 3D and 4D as well as lever arch. 2D is ideal for lighter use and is a fantastic cost effective option. 3D is the standard for American documents and instructional documents and 4D is ideal for heavy use as it spreads the weight across four holes rather than the usual 2. Lever arch is available too for the really heavy usage with many sheets and documents included.

There are five different capacities for you to choose from depending on how many sheets of paper you are planning to store in your binder; 15mm, 25mm, 40mm, 50mm and 65mm. 15mm will accommodate approximately 120 sheets of paper, 25mm will house 200 sheets of paper, 40mm will cover 320 sheets, 50mm will accommodate 400 sheets and 65mm will surpass 500 sheets.

You can pick from a range of 17 different colours for your binder, all which are medium weight vinyl and in just about any colour you can think of. These include black, red, blue, green, orange, grey and yellow along with varying shades of these colours. There are also a choice of 3 recycled colours should you wish to stay as ‘green’ as possible, these are white, black pantone and grey.

There are a total of five different overlay options to pick from, along with 9 different pocket options. This is really useful if you are wishing to store numerous documents and CDs all in one space. Ideal should you be planning to give out information at conferences and other networking meetings. Diagonal pockets, horizontal pockets and spine pockets are also an option should these be more suited to your needs.

You have a total of four print options to choose from too, with 1, 2, 3 spot colours along with a full colour print available.

Don’t forget, you can also personalise your document boxes, travel card holders as well as tax disc holders!

The editor of Sustainable Times has chosen the range for his Editors Choice Award this month; an award reserved for products that editor James Goulding feels stand out against the enormous range of sustainable products which make green claims.  Our 100% recycled polypropylene, made from our own off cuts and ring binders which our customers return when they’ve finished with them, is unique in the industry.  This closed loop system avoids landfill altogether and reduces the amount of virgin material which needs to be manufactured. In theory the system should be repeatable indefinitely.

In the international arena, our Feelin’ Green Range has been shortlisted for a Product Of Excellence Award with the BIA (Binding Industries Association).  The final results will be announced in June at the Association’s annual conference in Missouri. Keep watching this blog for further information.

Every business owner, from the person who runs a home visit hairdressing service to the CEO of the world’s biggest record label, will tell you that a good business card can have a huge impact on the success of your business. A business card doesn’t just say who you are; it is an introduction that tells people what you do and that you are proud of doing it. It shows you are passionate about your business and truly believe that your business is the best in the industry. Giving someone a personalised business card is the same as announcing your presence in a room and it creates an excellent opportunity for further conversation about your business and what you can offer a potential customer.

It’s no good to purchase 5000 business cards and never use them. Once you have designed your brand and your card, you need to get them out there into the hands of potential clients. A quick and easy way of doing this is to attach sticky business card pockets to the front of every wallet, document cover or ring binder you ever give out. The pocket will hold your business card firmly in place so people will not lose it. The business card should also be attached to any brochure or catalogue you have for your business. Punched business card pockets will keep your business card in place even while customers flip through the brochure. They will be able to find your name and contact details straight away when they want to make an order.

 You should also be giving business cards to everyone you meet, whether it is while stood in a queue in another shop or if it is to a parent outside your son or daughters school. Potential customers are everywhere and, even if someone is not directly in your target market, they may be able to use your services or recommend you to someone else. If you get the chance, you should also leave business cards where people will see them in your local area. Great examples are on the reception desks of doctors, dentists and libraries. If you community has a notice board at the village or town hall, ask if you can pin your business card in there for people to see. It is very easy to have your business card seen by as many people as possible.

Business cards are very cheap to produce and can increase your amount of customers greatly. By spreading out your cards to as many people as possible you may cause your business to be hugely successful.

+Jane Harper

A good way that a teacher can make sure their teaching methods stand out from the rest is to bring an example of the customised printed ring binders they use when teaching children. Primary school children love to feel special and giving each child a printed ring binder when they start the year can have a huge impact on their learning. Students can keep work they are proud of in the folder, teaching them the importance of hard work and how satisfying it is to complete a piece of hard work to a high standard. Primary school children also love stickers, so providing students with stickers to decorate their folder with when they have worked hard is a good way of encouraging positive behaviour in the classroom.

Custom ring binder manufacturers may be able to offer discount to people who buy in bulk. Instead of a teacher just providing personalised folders for their class, the school could provide a folder for each child. The children could take home these folders at the end of the year to show their parents the hard work they have done. Nothing makes a child work harder than knowing their parents will be proud of them, apart from maybe the promise of more stickers!

If you are a teacher and you are looking for a way to make your job application stand out, consider how you can make your class feel more positive about their work. Encourage children to be proud of the work they do and to look after work they have enjoyed doing. Children love being rewarded and feeling that they have done well, so placing work in their special personalised folder will can have a huge impact on their academic skills and their attitude.

+Jane Harper

What has stationery ever done for us?

Look to your right.  What do you see? A pen? paper? stapler? hole punch?  That’s what I see.  And I’m willing to bet that 90% of the people reading this have a pen and paper within sight – even if they are reading on a smartphone.  We simply can’t escape office supplies.  Since the dawn of time we’ve not been able to resist the urge to scratch our feelings into a cave wall – record them for future generations to reference.  The Ancient Egyptians mastered hieroglyphics and we are still uncovering their secrets. As well as thanking them for inventing paper!

Is stationery still relevant today?

I love my iPhone and worship my iPad; but even the most technologically advanced  people in society still use traditional stationery.  Imagine the world without a note pad for brain dumps and lists (I keep one beside my bed); a calendar for the family schedule (there are five if us to co-ordinate);  an unwrapped birthday present or your child’s first masterpiece on Pinterest not pinned to the wall. Life would lose some of it’s cheerful practicality without stationery.

Cabinet after cabinet of neatly filed documents; arranged alphabetically and archived annually are as prone to fire and flood as a rack of servers in an air conditioned room.  Virus and human error are as much a threat to physical archives as they are to digital ones.  Paper goes yellow and degrades over time – my CD collection from the ’90s won’t be playable for much longer. But then that’s what the Cloud is for.

In conclusion, we are evolving as a race, and at first glance, good old paper and pen looks as if it is on the way out - replaced by shiny, efficient technology.  But the reality is – even if the thrill of opening the box for you new iPhone is significant enough to get you 4,000 views on YouTube – it does not compare to the simple pleasure of the smell of new paper and writing on a clean sheet in my PukkaPad. I celebrate the fact that stationery has it’s own day – every day!

If you have already created a strong brand image that customers can remember you need to make sure that your brand is seen by as many people as possible. For example, if you have an in-store catalogue with information about your products you could use personalised binder folders to display the information. These folders may be passed around your business and even given to potential investors. If an investor receives a branded folder they will get a good impression of the business before they have even begun looking through the details that the folder contains. Customised ring binders and folders can also be used at conferences. If a business is sending employees to a conference they should be sent with information about the business in a personalised folder. This will make sure people are aware of the business immediately.

If a business has a strong brand they should make sure they use it in every place possible and it should definitely be used on business cards. Business cards should be given away to each and every person who may be interested in the business. The business card should have the name and brand of the business and contact details in case anyone has a question or wants to get in touch. Self-adhesive business card pockets should be attached to the front of all folders and wallets to make sure the business card catches the attention of potential customers straight away. A business card wallet can also be used on the front of notebooks and other promotional merchandise. Everything the business uses as information or promotion to outside parties should include a business card.

If a business has invested a lot of time and money creating a strong brand they should make sure that it can be seen everywhere, whether it is at conferences, online or in the shop, a strong brand needs to be seen by as many people as possible to remain effective.

+Jane Harper

The monthly suggestion box is proving popular with staff who benefit personally from sharing their ideas. Duraweld’s 20 Step Environmental Action Plan lists the targets they have set out to achieve.  Quarterly Green Team meetings report on progress against those targets and reports back to the workers via a bi-annual newsletter.

read more about Duraweld’s commitment to environmental issues on the Environment Page on their website.

Company Director, Mark Yeung presenting Oli with his winnings