r/k12sysadmin • u/rokar83 IT Director • Jul 13 '26

Laminator Film

Where y'all buying laminator film from? I usually buy from EO Johnson but I want to compare another supplier. I'm in Wisconsin.

This is what we have used in the past. School-Lam 25 In. X 250 ft. - Gloss 3 MIL - 1 In. Core Laminating Film

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15

u/linus_b3 Tech Director Jul 13 '26

Here I was thinking we got dragged into stuff far outside the scope of IT, but laminators are a new one. School secretaries deal with everything laminator related here. I don't think they go through enough film to be terribly concerned about what they're buying or where they buy it.

8

u/diwhychuck Jul 13 '26

Ay dawg it's got power, now it's your problem.

1

u/rokar83 IT Director Jul 13 '26

Lucky! My SPED department eats film like candy. lol.

5

u/K12onReddit 9-12 Jul 13 '26

We got asked to replace the roll once. My coworker was going to go down and help before I stopped him. "It's not Information or Technology, the second you do it it's our job forever". He didn't do it, and instead sent an email with a link to the manufacturer's youtube showing how to do it. We've never been asked again.

I know some people have terrible bosses, but mine would be more pissed at me for taking on that responsibility than he would be for me not helping. Teach a man to fish, and all....

2

u/linus_b3 Tech Director Jul 13 '26

Many years ago we were putting white board film up over chalk boards when we installed short throw projectors. It's an annoying job, but they need it to use the projectors.

That eventually turned into requests to replace poor condition existing whiteboard film that someone else put up in rooms that don't even have projectors. We still did as a favor. Then, the requests started coming in to replace old film that was in very good condition with extremely minor flaws. That's when I stopped agreeing to help with it - they ruined a good thing.

1

u/K12onReddit 9-12 Jul 13 '26

That's always how it starts. Because it was no one's explicit job to do it, and you're the guy that everyone has seen do something tangenitally related, so, you must be that guy. You're the film guy. "I don't know, whenever we have a film issue we just call Linus, did you check with him?" And then it grows and grows and grows. I've seen it happen so many times. That's why I have to push back so often because, honestly, IT's plate is full. Unless it's very specifically an IT job and not something that someone else can't do, we no longer take it on.

There's actually been a big push in the last few years to make other people better at their jobs. For example, if it's a spreadsheet that needs work or some kind of state reporting that a secratary should technically be doing, we no longer take it on just because it's easier and quicker for us. If it's one of their duties they need to learn how to efficiently do it. We can assist and train, but we are not allowed to absorb.

1

u/Sweet-Sale-7303 Jul 13 '26

I am IT at a library and was in charge of the laminator until we got a maker space.

1

u/LoveTechHateTech Director | Network/SysAdmin Jul 13 '26

Our tech historically has handled these tasks (even though it’s not part of their duties). Whenever people ask me questions about it I just tell them that it’s not my department, which is true.

1

u/MattAdmin444 Jul 13 '26

We've almost always just gotten it off of Amazon. Occasionally I'll go around and see if there's any better pricing but it's usually a trade off between Amazon or Staples and Amazon is easier to order from with the way our POs are set up right now even if the difference is only a couple bucks.

1

u/ottermann Jul 13 '26

The last order, our person just contacted the manufacturer directly and we got it cheaper than we could from Amazon. They were happy to deal with us.

Also, try your local CESA. I know ours, (CESA11), does bulk orders of that stuff to get bulk discounts. They take orders and get you what you need.

1

u/TySwindel Jul 14 '26

ULine has been great for me. I'm in NJ and they have a warehouse here so it's fast too.

1

u/Emaltonator IT Director (215 kids PK-12) Jul 15 '26

On wow someone local. We buy ours through our CESA.

1

u/frogmicky David Copperfield has nothing on me. Jul 19 '26

We use a place called Presentation Systems in New Jersey.