A New Dimension at Missouri State University

Ever since Missouri State University Printing Services added a Kodak NexPress 2500, the Springfield, Mo., in-plant has been able to take on more work than it did in 2009—back when the shop still had five full-time employees.

Though the Printing Services staff has been reduced to two full-timers, with three part-time employees, Printing Services Manager Mark McCarty has drastically upgraded his shop’s capabilities using a combination of persistence and a keen understanding of his numbers.

One of the first steps in swaying MSU administration on the benefits of a digital color press was bringing in a selection of customers for a focus group session. Representatives from Kodak visited the university to discuss the digital press and distribute samples of work produced by the 2500. These samples were the most influential part of the presentation, McCarty says, because they were produced by other universities and provided something tangible for his customers to relate to.

“We had customers saying, ‘Wow,’ ” McCarty reminisces. “One lady turned around to the designers behind her and said she wanted her job to look like that next year.”

While the focus group session went well, McCarty says that convincing MSU’s hierarchy to approve the press was a long, challenging process. In the end, though, his efforts paid off.

“They unanimously voted for approval,” McCarty says. “There were a few people in the room who knew what Printing Services had gone through, and we almost got a round of applause because they knew how much it meant to us.”

In November, the in-plant installed a remanufactured NexPress 2500 with five color stations and a speed of 83 (A4 sized) pages per minute. Since then, the university community has been most impressed with the NexPress’ ability to add Kodak Dimensional Printing effects to finished projects. For example,McCarty says, the school’s basketball coaches were blown away by the press’ ability to add texture to a printed basketball.

Adding that next dimension to his in-plant’s work was a large part of what drew McCarty to the NexPress. He says many of his customers had been requesting intricate designs; the ability to supply additional texture and more vivid colors in-house would ensure those customers didn’t seek out external printers to supply those elements.

“That was a big thing for us,” McCarty explains. “If we were going to be able to offer the university the type of printing they wanted done—and we were seeing more short- run, fancy designs—we were going to have to have that ability. And if we didn’t have it, someone else would.”

In its quest for a digital press, Printing Services received a great deal of support from other offices around campus, such as the Office of Publications, which designs approximately 90 percent of the materials the in-plant prints.

“If they hadn’t been behind this, it never would have happened,” McCarty says. “I’m thankful and blessed to have the support of the campus.”