Sussex-based Quad/Graphics Inc. announced that it plans to start up a Midwest commingling center in May in a 225,000-square-foot building in New Berlin.
The building, currently owned and occupied by Ace Distribution Services Inc., is located at 5600 S. Moorland Road, just south of I-43, in New Berlin. Quad expects to be operational in the building by May 20 and will have 145 employees there.
Ace Distribution Services and Quad will co-occupy the building as Quad moves in and Ace Distribution Services transitions out. Quad will lease the property from Ace Distribution Services, which will retain ownership.
Quad said it also plans to create an East Coast commingling center at its existing direct mail production plan in Westampton, N.J.
The facilities are part of a multimillion-dollar investment that Quad is making in its direct marketing platform.
The commingling process merges individual mail pieces together to improve presort discounts and drop-ship savings. Quad said the process reduces postal handling and delivery time.
“Postage is typically our clients’ single largest production-related expense and can be as much as 60 percent of their budget,” said Steve Jaeger, president of Quad/Graphics direct marketing. “By consolidating direct mail volume into these two new mailing centers, Quad/Graphics will help our clients qualify for greater postal discounts.”
Jaeger said the company plans to add co-palletization (a manufacturing process that consolidates mail onto pallets and ships them to U.S. Postal Service sorting facilities) capabilities to its New Berlin facility “in the near future…to further enhance postal discounts for our clients.”
Quad also plans to add a new custom web press and other equipment upgrades at its Effingham, Ill. plant and will add print capabilities to the Westampton plant.
