The establish of the commingling centers New Berlin, Wis., and at its existing direct mail production plant in Westampton, N.J will provide Quad customers will the ability to merge individual mail pieces together to improve presort discounts and drop-ship savings, reducing postal handling and delivery time.

In an interview with PrintWeek, Quad spokesperson Nicole Mosca said: "Direct marketing is a strong business for us, especially with the acquisition of Vertis. Our position in the market has grown and we're looking to grow it even more."

Though the US Postal Service has announced plans to end Saturday delivery across the country by August, Mosca said that had little to do with the decision to add the new commingling centers.

"Certainly that decision is causing clients to reevaluate their schedules and their strategies, but we don't really see that as a big driver for commingling," she said. "Really the big benefit of commingling is reduced postage costs. However, commingling does provide consistent, predictable in-home delivery, which is important to our customers."

Quad revealed it was also adding equipment to its Effingham, IL and Westampton, N.J., facilities. The Effingham plant will be getting a custom 11-unit double-web press featuring high output and maximum flexibility for producing complex mail pieces.

The press, which will be installed and running by September, will feature duplex inkjet capability so both sides of both webs can be personalized with coupons, bar codes and highly customized messaging to drive consumer engagement and elicit response and a modular design providing flexibility for inline finishing such as die-cutting, gluing and UV coatings that can be set up in any order depending on the job.

In addition, two other presses at the Effingham plant, scheduled to start up in May, will be upgraded with equipment for lottery and other game piece production. The Westampton plant is in the process of adding print capabilities, including several laser printers and two form presses, to complement the plant’s existing, advanced finishing operations.