Berea College Printing Services added a new HP DesignJet T830 multifunction printer and has been cranking out architectural drawings for subcontractors

By Bob Neubauer

Name a university that does not have a construction project or a renovation going on this year. Every single one of these projects requires a set of “blueprints” or architectural drawings. Who is printing these?

Melvin Cooper (left), director of Berea College Printing Services, and Veronica Godsey, graphic designer, retrieve a drawing from their new HP DesignJet T830.

At Berea College, in Berea, Ky., that important task is being handled by the in-plant. Printing Services just added a new HP DesignJet T830 multifunction printer and has been cranking out sets of 400 drawings for subcontractors working on a new science building on campus.

Director Melvin Cooper says the in-plant got into the business a few years ago when his boss encouraged the college’s project manager to send blueprint work to the in-plant. At the time Printing Services used an older Canon imagePROGRAF iPF8000, and each print took about three and a half minutes to produce.

“The business started increasing when they started construction on the science building,” notes Cooper. “They’d come in here and they’d order a full set.”

But with each of the 400 prints in the set taking three and a half minutes, he says, this was not a quick job.

“It would take us a week to do a set,” he reveals.

Justifying the cost of the HP T830 was a breeze. Prints now take a mere 30 seconds.

With each of the 28 subcontractors working on the science center required to order a full set of prints from the in-plant, the HP T830 will be busy for quite some time. And new buildings and renovation are already in the plans, Cooper says, ensuring future business.

Cooper feels that adding this service was a great move for his in-plant.

“We’re generating revenue and we’re staying relevant,” he says.

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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.

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