Back from the Brink

Into the Future
Despite the savings produced by Fabian and his employees, the “what have you done for me lately” attitude experienced by most in-plants is a familiar one.
“Every year for the last four years, upper management has bid this operation out because they constantly want to keep a check on the cost savings,” says Fabian; the most recent bid went to Kinko’s. “We opened up our operation and let them know anything they wanted—but their bid was about three times what it costs us to do the work inside.”
Immediately after the failed Kinko’s bid, Fabian says, “Management let me go out and do 60-month leases on the Konica 1050s.”
The in-plant’s low prices result from a mixture of efficiency and savvy planning.
“Normally a vendor will charge a click for one 81⁄2x11˝, but I negotiate with them and pay one click for a 11x17˝ sheet and print two flyers,” says Fabian.
The in-plant also does its own preflight work, so on something like tab jobs, they’ll print the job with tabs in place so they can perfect bind it or place it in a three-ring binder immediately.