Temp Job Launches Career

MARGARET KLING began her career in the printing industry rather unexpectedly three decades ago.

“I had a week-old baby at home,” recalls Kling, “and my sister-in-law wanted me to help out for two weeks, part time...[type]setting some name badges.” Glad to lend a hand, the self-described “stay-at-home mom” took the temp job at First Capital Printing, in St. Louis. There she made a discovery: she had a knack for typesetting.

“Two years later, she left and I was full time,” Kling says of her sister-in-law. Thus began a career that has transported Kling into the role of graphic and production supervisor for EMC Insurance Companies, in Des Moines, Iowa, where she now oversees three designers and five print shop employees. The in-plant recently carried out a major upgrade, adding a two-color Ryobi press and a Mitsubishi Eco computer-to-plate system.

Back in the ‘70s, though, CTP was still a distant dream for Kling. Wax and knives were her tools as she slowly worked her way into the St. Louis typesetting scene. She gained hands-on experience shooting negatives, stripping and making plates at several typesetting and printing firms. Eventually she was introduced to computerized desktop publishing and became proficient in that as well.

“That was a time when, if you were a really good typesetter, you didn’t have to go out and look for a job,” she recalls, fondly. “The jobs came to you, literally.” She was even hired over the phone once, she says.

A Change of Scenery

That all changed in 1991. Her husband, Al, took a job in Des Moines, and the family moved north. For a while she worked part-time in a fabric store, but the lure of typesetting was too strong to ignore. When she saw a help wanted ad for a typesetter who knew the Compugraphic system, she couldn’t resist. She took the part-time job at EMC—just for a few months, she told herself. That was in 1993.

“I’m still here,” she says.

At the time, the in-plant used “old, old offset” presses, she says. “For years they didn’t replace anything.”

Though the shop did get a Xerox DocuTech in the 1990s, digital color didn’t arrive until about six years ago, when a Xerox DocuColor 2045 was installed.

“We just thought we died and went to heaven,” she remarks.

Soon after that, the shop’s manager left. He wasn’t replaced, and Kling began reporting directly to the vice president, effectively assuming the role of in-plant manager. Since then, she has made it her mission to upgrade the shop’s equipment so it can offer EMC the best possible quality.

In 2006 she successfully convinced the company to replace the 2045 with a DocuColor 8000 hooked up to an inline booklet maker. This was later joined by a DocuColor 5000 and two Xerox Nuveras, one with a booklet maker.

About a year ago, the in-plant got into the wide-format ink-jet business when it acquired a 44? Canon IPF8000 and a GBC Titan 1244 laminator.

“I kept getting so many requests” for posters and banners, she explains. “It’s been a great business.”

Recently Graphic Services upgraded from a Kimosetter 410 to a Mitsubishi Eco 1630IIIR platesetter with SDP RIP and replaced its Multi 4620 press with a Ryobi 3302H.

“After checking everything out and talking to my peers at IPMA, the Ryobi was the best deal for the money and the most reliable,” she explains. “My goal is to cross-train my copy center people on the offset.” She hopes the press will allow the shop to bring some of the company’s four-color printing in-house.

Kling is proud to have helped the in-plant move from a small shop with old equipment to a state-of-the art facility. She feels equipment upgrades like these are essential for any in-plant that wants to continue producing its parent organization’s printing.

“If you cannot produce the product that they need, it’s going to go out the door,” she warns.

Her biggest success, she notes, was convincing the company to let Graphic Services handle EMC’s marketing pieces. She had to prove that the in-plant could produce top quality work and save EMC money. The company, she says, is supportive of Graphic Services and views the in-plant as “very valuable.”

Outside of work, Kling helps the in-plant community by serving as a regional coordinator for the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association (IPMA). She earned her Certified Graphic Communications Manager (CGCM) certification in 2001 and was recently recertified.

Fond of gardening and quilting, Kling enjoys spending time with her son—an officer in the National Guard—two daughters and four granddaughters. The family eagerly awaits the birth of another granddaughter this spring.