Martin Yale CL6 6-Station Collating Machine Review

Users who have ever tried to assemble and collate large numbers of documents by hand know just how time consuming that collating can be. However, the cost of most collating machines has made them impractical for small organizations and offices.This simple to use collating machine provides a great solution for companies who need to assemble newsletters, brochures and literature for their clients.

• Users who have ever tried to assemble and collate large numbers of documents by hand know just how time consuming that collating can be. However, the cost of most collating machines has made them impractical for small organizations and offices.
• The Martin Yale CL6 changes all of that. It offers an inexpensive solution to assist in collating documents that are up to 6 pages in length.
• This simple to use collating machine provides a great solution for companies who need to assemble newsletters, brochures and literature for their clients.

Strengths / Features:

• One of the best things about the CL-6 is the cost. With a price tag of less than $150 the CL6 can easily offer enough time savings to pay for itself in no time. In fact, many organizations can justify the cost of the CL-6 as part of a single project.
• The CL-6 collator is incredibly simple to operate. All you need to do is add your letter, A4 or legal sized sheets into the collating bins and the machine is ready to work. Each bin holds up to 100 sheets of paper and there are six bins in total. Once the sheets are loaded into the CL6 all you need to do is pull the handle on the side of the machine forward and grab the sheets that extend out the front of the machine.
• The CL6 does not require power and thus does not have any expensive to replace electric parts. You can take the CL6 anywhere without the need to worry about plugging it in or adjusting any complicated settings. With the CL6, what you see is what you get.

Weaknesses / Limitations:

• The CL6 uses six pads on the six arms of the collator. These pads help to pick up the sheets of paper. However, the pads can eventually wear out and will need to be replaced. If the pads are worn or missing the CL6 will be unable to pick up paper.
• The CL6 is designed for collating up to six single sheets of paper into one document. It is not recommended for collating existing multi-part forms or stapled sets. Attempting to use the CL6 for these applications can result in feed problems or issues with the pick up pads used by the machine.
• Although the CL6 can greatly improve productivity over collating documents by hand, it is still a manual collating machine. High volume users will most likely find that the manual processes used by the CL6 are still tedious. Additionally, the construction of the CL6 is not meant for high volume continuous collating. It is designed for small organizations that need to assemble up to a few hundred documents per week.

Recommendation:

• If you are currently collating documents, newsletters or sales literature by hand, the Martin Yale CL6 can be a huge time saver.
• It is ideal for small organizations that need to collate up to a few hundred documents per week.
• It is not ideal for companies who need to collate stapled documents, multi-part forms or who are looking for a high volume automated collating system.
• Still, for the price, the Martin Yale CL-6 offers enough time savings that almost any organization should be able to justify its purchase.

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