New Strategy at Ole Miss

MAY DAY, observed as a holiday in his native England, proved to be a busy day for Tony Seaman. The director of Printing and Graphic Services at the University of Mississippi put the in-plant’s new five-color Kodak NexPress 2500 digital press into service on May 1, leaving little time to dance around the Maypole.

Seaman, born in Binbrook, England, just outside of Oxford, admittedly deviated a bit from the in-plant’s norm with the addition of this machine. Traditionally utilizing Xerox equipment exclusively on the digital side of shop, Seaman decided on the Kodak digital press after comparing its features to that of the Xerox iGen3. Plus, he notes, Kodak came in with a lower price tag, which is significant for a facility required by the state to put out bids for all new equipment purchases.

But it wasn’t just price that went into Seaman’s decision—he was impressed by the NexPress’s fifth color station, which, in addition to red, green and blue, will run a clear ink to emulate a clear dull varnish, and can be used to produce a variety of security features.

“Also, this clear ink finish can be run through a glosser without any additional chemicals or costs involved,” Seaman explains, adding that it provides a very high-gloss finish, something other vendors’ machines couldn’t match.

Xerox offered a slightly larger page format, the in-plant chief concedes, however after considering the type of jobs the shop typically runs, an extra two inches wouldn’t have changed how many 5x8? postcards operators could fit on a sheet.

“We still would only be getting six-up, so that became a non-issue,” he says.

Finding Space

Sheet size wasn’t the only measurement that was a factor; the overall footprint of the machine was also a concern since shop space is limited.

“The NexPress not only has a smaller footprint, it is also more adept at living in an environment with an offset press, where the iGen is very much more sensitive to dust, chemicals, odors and chemical residue,” Seaman points out. “I feel like Kodak had a more impressive environmental requirement than the iGen.”

Seaman sees the new digital press stealing some of the shorter-run work—fewer than 2,500 pieces—away from the in-plant’s arsenal of six offset presses, providing faster turnaround times and bringing down costs.

“Time-wise, everyone wants the drive-through window, so it’s going to help us expedite jobs,” Seaman contends. “But more than anything else, the NexPress is going to help push the shop into personalized marketing and one-to-one variable data printing. That is the reason we went down this road.”

One of the areas Seaman feels the new press will help with right away is to produce personalized materials used to recruit new students to the university, a process that has become very competitive in recent years. Seaman reports that the average student response rate to a generic mass mailing is about 1.5 to 2 percent, while the response to a 1-1 marking campaign can be between 8 and 12 percent.

“The generic bulk mail, ‘dear student’ mailer is not...drawing the right kind of response rate,” Seaman says, noting that personalized mailers provide a significant response rate increase as well as the ability to target specific students. “You can pick and choose the type of student that you want to attract.”

The university outsources data collection to a national owner of school databases, which captures standardized test scores and other information about students in various regions of the country. It also captures online survey information filled out by potential students, and that data is passed on to the in-plant.

Great Marketing Potential

The university’s alumni and fund-raising groups are also very interested in the marketing potential the press provides, Seaman maintains. The ability to produce more personalized alumni donation materials including appropriate images and specially tailored text should help pad the school’s coffers. Fittingly, the first VDP project scheduled for the NexPress was for the university’s alumni group.

“Personalized information makes it more attractive and makes people feel like they are being personally addressed,” Seaman contends. “You attract more donors who haven’t given before, and then the donors that have given before are increasing their contributions.”

Printing and Graphic Services, with its tag line “One Source – Many Solutions,” can now print digitally on heavier stocks, which is going to help with producing jobs like hang tags, VIP parking passes and pocket-sized game-day schedules for the university’s athletic teams. And with the addition of a NexGlosser glossing unit, these products will be more durable and user friendly. That will be a welcome upgrade for dedicated Ole Miss sports fans.

“Football is a way of life in the South—but it’s not the football I know,” the British-born manager says with a laugh. “The athletic departments want that high-gloss, laminate-looking finish, and that is something we weren’t able to offer without actually physically laminating it, which is a pretty expensive way to do it. This way, it comes off complete and ready to rock-and-roll.”

Though the NexPress will greatly improve the quality of the digital pieces produced by the in-plant, the shop’s quality has not exactly been lacking. Printing and Graphic Services won a Gold Award in the In-Print 2008 contest for an invitation produced on its DocuColor 240.

A Self-supported In-plant

Printing and Graphic Services is a non-funded part of the University of Mississippi, and does not have first right of refusal, forcing the shop to be competitive and self-sustaining. The printing operation boasts annual revenue of $1.8 million and has a repair and replacement fund that allows it to buy new equipment as technology evolves.

To help cushion the bottom line, the shop insources work from other state departments, universities and colleges, and from the outside sector. Since there are no other four-color printers or bulk mail processers in Oxford, Miss., there is no conflict.

“We are kind of an oasis since we are 60 miles from any really big town,” Seaman points out. “We are uniquely positioned in that we don’t have a print shop on every corner and we are not in a metropolitan area where we have a lot of competition. But we also don’t want to sit back, high on the hog, and say ‘we don’t have to be competitive,’ because we have to be.”

Other Upgrades and Additions

The 17 in-plant employees have seen several other additions to the 20,000-square-foot shop in recent months. Darwin VDP software allows the shop to offer variable imaging for variable data jobs, and also supports the creation of PURLs (personalized URLs), a product Seaman plans to offer to the university in the future. The in-plant also added the storefront portion of PrintSmith, allowing the in-plant to provide online ordering.

“Again, this is a streamlined process of on-demand printing that will allow us to fulfill the customers’ ‘I want it now’ demands,” Seaman says.

On the traditional press side, the in-plant upgraded the Harlequin RIP on its imagesetter to support Acrobat 8, and to allow the shop to go direct-to-plate when the time is right. In the bindery, a 20-bin, fully automatic and programmable Duplo 8000 collator replaced a manual 10-bin machine.

“I can’t justify a big ticket item like [a direct-to-plate system] right now when I am running very efficiently,” Seaman says. “But we do have to go direct-to-plate eventually, and the new Harlequin RIP upgrade is compatible with direct-to-plate systems. So it’s a step towards putting direct-to-plate capabilities into place.”

Seaman plans to continue steering the in-plant on a course to keep up with the latest technology for the future, while keeping a watchful eye on the growth of the digital printing market and the migration of black-and-white work to color. He is also waiting for the right time to jump into direct-to-plate imaging and wide-format printing. The manager says his involvement with industry associations helps keep his decisions on the right track. He attended last month’s Association of College and University Printers conference and often goes to the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association conference.

“Networking and talking to other industry people has driven the in-plant to look at new ways of doing things, not being complacent with what we’ve got, and trying to keep up with technology,” Seaman concludes. “If you don’t, you are going to be left behind, and all of the sudden you are not going to be able to afford to jump into the technology you need—and that is the demise of the in-plant.”