Up to the Challenge

ONE OF an in-plant manager’s greatest fears is a shutdown. Walter Leonard has felt the power of that threat three times during his tenure with Sonoma State University General Services. But proving its worth has kept him managing for 17 years.

Born and raised in San Francisco, Leonard attended a local college until his father passed away, then he went to work full time. He took a position with San Francisco-based distributor WJ Lancaster. Starting as a clerk in the mail room, he occasionally filled in for the duplicator operator. The company eventually purchased a MultiLith 1250 and he started doing full-color work. Leonard grew the department into its own in-plant with three employees. He ran the in-plant for 11 years until the company went out of business.

He then took a job with a local commercial printer as a production manager while taking night classes at San Francisco State University.

“They put a suit on me and I somehow ended up in charge of 105 employees,” he says. “It still boggles my mind.”

He stayed with Royal Communicating Graphics, for two years and after earning his degree in Psychology, he moved north to Sonoma County. There Leonard opened his own high-end commercial printing company, Ajalon Printing. The small shop printed primarily posters and greeting cards. He managed its seven employees for 10 years until, after suffering a heart attack, he sold the business.

Back to the In-plant World

He then came across an ad for an in-plant manger position with Sonoma State University, in Rohnert Park, Calif. He applied and 17 years later is still director of the operation.

When Leonard first arrived at the in-plant, it was running an A.B.Dick 350 and a 12x18˝ Ryobi duplicator.

“It was very clean, very neat but other than that, it was a disaster,” quips Leonard. “I came in with the idea that I would make a lot of changes, but that wasn’t the case.”

The shop was run by a union and was set up so that one person handled every aspect of a job, from platemaking to finishing. Leonard says it was easier to keep it that way, and although it probably wouldn’t work elsewhere, it works for his shop.

Another immediate battle he faced was the in-plant’s environmental problems. Chemicals were literally being dumped down the drain, and Leonard worked diligently to clean this up.

But after a couple of years, and the purchase of a 25˝ Heidelberg single color press, the shop began running into funding issues.

Part of the general fund at first, the in-plant was moved into the Sonoma State Enterprise Corp. for about eight years, where it was expected to make a profit. Though the in-plant initially exceeded expectations, the corporation added so many charges that the shop began losing money. Two attempts were made to close it. Leonard petitioned to get the in-plant back in the general fund as a break-even service. Today it shows a modest profit.

A third attempt to close the in-plant was made a few years ago. Leonard was prepared. He says he has a lot of friends on campus who advocated his cause.

“With any change in upper management personnel, we will go through this,” he says. “They very seldom take the time to look at figures.”

The in-plant is still running the original A.B.Dick and Ryobi presses, along with a Heidelberg MO, a Chief 17 and assorted bindery equipment. The shop produces one- and two-color work and some course pack material; full-color work is outsourced.

The shop also makes money from its copier program and a campus copy center, which uses a digital storefront to get jobs from remote locations. The copy center was upgraded in the past year, and campus copiers were installed in recent weeks through a lease from Canon. The in-plant now operates three Canon 105+ printers, a Canon 3230 and a high-end Konica Minolta CPP500 color copier.

“It’s always a challenge to keep a shop going,” offers Leonard. “You must never be complacent, learn as much as you can about defending it and create a lot of good will. Have as many people on your side as you can, and be sure to do a good job.”

Leonard has been married to his wife, Suzanne, for 36 years, and they have two sons, Walter and Sean. In his free time Leonard says he has one normal hobby and one not-so-normal hobby. For the past 32 years, he has shown and judged exhibition poultry all over the U.S. and Canada. He completed a five-year apprenticeship to become a judge, and is a member of the American Poultry Association and its Hall of Fame. He also lets his competitive side out by racing his Nissan 350Z and his Formula V cars on Wednesday nights and the weekends.