Thriving in the DESERT
RISING FROM the barren desert along the north shore of the Great Salt Lake, Vic Conrad’s in-plant boasts one of the country’s most desolate locations.
“I look out my window and I see mountains and fields and desert,” says Conrad, manager of Publications/Media Support at ATK Launch Systems Group.
His 53-employee operation in the basement of the ATK administration building is part of a sprawling complex of manufacturing facilities spread over a 20-mile area near Promontory, Utah. The main plant itself covers about 19,000 acres.
“We have our own water supply and electricity and cafeterias,” he adds. “There’s nothing here, just us.”
The reason for this seclusion: As a leading provider of advanced weapon and space systems—with clients like NASA and the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force—ATK conducts some very loud rocket motor tests. Conrad and his staff can hear them clearly from the in-plant (as can people up to 60 miles away). Also, the propellants and other flammable ingredients ATK uses need to be kept away from residential areas.
The ATK complex is not far from the lonely spot where Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroad teams met in 1869 and drove in the “golden spike” to complete the first transcontinental railroad. Today, though, space shuttles not railroads are this area’s claim to fame. ATK Launch Systems, the $900 million division supported by the in-plant, provides solid rocket motors for the Space Shuttle fleet and has been selected as the prime contractor for NASA’s new Crew Launch Vehicle (CLV).
“The shuttle work generates tons and tons of paper and design work,” affirms Conrad.
The very nature of the company’s work has made the in-plant crucial to ATK’s success, he says.
“A lot of the work that’s done out here revolves around technical information...company proprietary information [and] classified information,” he says. “We have a lot of government contracts, and they want to protect that information. They don’t want to outsource that.”
In fact, the in-plant oversees two vaults dedicated to storing classified data.
“The other reason is our remote location,” he continues. “We’re 20, 25 miles out here in the desert. You can’t run into a Kinko’s.” Indeed, the nearest large town, Brigham City, is almost a half hour away.
To support ATK, the Publications/Media Support operation provides a host of services beyond printing and binding. It also offers technical writing/editing, graphic design and art, photography, video production, mail and library services. Among the printed products the in-plant produces are proposals, manuals, data books, marketing brochures, reports, posters and large-format drawings.
In addition to its main facility, the in-plant maintains a six-person operation called Bacchus Publications at ATK Launch System’s site near the town of Magna. Also part of Publications/Media Support are three one-person satellite centers and a fourth center with six employees.
Last summer Publications/Media Support experienced a major change when it added a Xerox iGen3 digital production press. Its speed and quality have improved the look of traditional products and enhanced the in-plant’s reputation at ATK.
Proposals, for example, used to be printed in black-and-white, with a few color pages inserted.
“Now...all the proposals come through the iGen,” Conrad says. “Color’s not a problem any more. Most of our proposals now have lots of color in them, so that’s a big change.”
The iGen3 is enhancing the in-plant’s reputation for speed and quality and is attracting more business from divisions in the company, he adds.
“They like the fact that, with the iGen, you send us the file and we’re able to print it...very quickly and get it back to them—and they’re saving some money,” Conrad says. “The iGen has really helped our image.”
Though most of ATK Launch Systems’ 4,300 employees are familiar with the in-plant, many of the parent company’s 15,000 employees in 23 states are not. This is hardly surprising considering the in-plant has only been with the ATK family for five years. It was originally part of a different company, Thiokol Propulsion, which formed the in-plant back in 1958. In 2001, ATK bought Thiokol from Alcoa.
Through open houses and marketing brochures Conrad is gradually spreading the word about his operation’s capabilities.
“Our workload for the corporate office and other divisions has been increasing, and I think it will continue to do so,” he remarks.
The in-plant is currently designing an intranet job submission tool to make it easier for distant customers to send work. Currently, Conrad says, most jobs arrive as e-mail attachments.
Long-time Xerox Users
Publications/Media Support has long been a Xerox user, so selecting the iGen3 was only natural, Conrad says. His operation recently standardized the equipment at its four satellite centers through a leasing arrangement with Xerox, so that each operation has the same units, including DocuColor 3535s and DocuTech 6100s. Two centers have Xerox 510 large-format printers.
Before getting the iGen3, the in-plant was using a Xerox-branded direct imaging offset press, which used Presstek imaging technology on an Adast press. The main drawback, Conrad says, other than plate costs, was the difficulty switching quickly from job to job, something the iGen3 does easily.
Publications/Media Support isn’t completely out of the offset business, though. It still uses a Heidelberg MO press, mainly to produce oversize art prints depicting ATK weapon and space systems. This aerospace art is created by in-house technical artist Mark Waki, whose work has won many awards. Prints are given out at trade shows the company attends.
Creating the booth displays and collateral for these shows is another major contribution made by Publications/Media Support. ATK exhibits at more than 20 shows a year, Conrad says, and the signage and printed materials the in-plant produces help bolster the image of the company in the public’s eye.
Another way the in-plant helps the company’s image is by producing booklets and other work for local civic groups and charities like the United Way and Red Cross. This helps improve community relations, Conrad says.
Though efforts like these aid ATK’s visibility, the in-plant’s biggest contribution to the company’s success is producing the documents ATK needs in order to operate—and this goes beyond just printing them. Publications/Media Support includes a team of technical editors who edit ATK’s proposals, presentations and brochures. The in-plant’s photographers and videographers capture images of products and product testing. The mail staff handles pickup and delivery of documents.
“We provide a full service,” Conrad says—from writing and photography to printing and delivery. “We’re almost like a mini advertising agency. Probably the reason that has built up that way is because of our remote location out here.”
Conrad is continually impressed with how well his staff handles these many responsibilities.
“The thing I’m most proud of is our people,” he says. “We have some highly talented, creative people that just do an amazing job.” IPG
In-plant Snapshot
ATK Launch Systems Group
Publications/Media Support
Promontory, Utah
Employees:53
Budget:$3 million+
Key Equipment:
• Xerox iGen3 digital color press
• Four Xerox DocuColor 3535s
- Companies:
- Xerox Corp.
Bob has served as editor of In-plant Impressions since October of 1994. Prior to that he served for three years as managing editor of Printing Impressions, a commercial printing publication. Mr. Neubauer is very active in the U.S. in-plant industry. He attends all the major in-plant conferences and has visited more than 180 in-plant operations around the world. He has given presentations to numerous in-plant groups in the U.S., Canada and Australia, including the Association of College and University Printers and the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association. He also coordinates the annual In-Print contest, co-sponsored by IPMA and In-plant Impressions.
