Digital color printing, online ordering have improved University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston's in-plant.

Rebranding, Online Ordering Helps Secure Stationery Business

A rebranding initiative by its two main customers, coupled with the installation of a new online ordering system, allowed UTHealth Auxiliary Enterprises Printing and Media Services to become the sole supplier of stationery items for these two key clients.

It all began in 2010, when the MD Anderson Cancer Center, part of The University of Texas System, decided to launch its new logo. The in-plant had just installed Xerox Freeflow Web Services, which provides a Web-based ordering platform, and Director Donna Cooper Horbelt saw an opportunity.

“We built all the MD Anderson templates for all their letterheads, envelopes, business cards, fold-over cards, notepads...in the online system,” she says, “and then we trained the customer on how to use the online system.” MD Anderson put the in-plant’s ordering site on its intranet, making it convenient for customers.

But just as important for MD Anderson as convenience was graphic consistency. Having its staff order all stationery from the in-plant stopped designers from altering the new logo to fit their creative purposes, as had been done in the past. Now all clients must use the prescribed graphic standards.

When UTHealth rebranded in August of 2010, the in-plant had stationery templates ready to go. Using this automated system has greatly improved productivity over the days when the in-plant had to typeset business cards, wait for customers to approve a proof, and then gang them up on a plate before printing them, Horbelt says.

“The customers were getting their cards in three or four weeks,” she recalls. “It was embarrassing. Now a business card usually is out of my shop in three days.”

Once an order is placed online, the file either goes to a folder in prepress, where it is used to make a polyester plate or it is sent to a digital press to be printed on demand. Cards are cut using a new Morgana CardXtra business card slitter. The shop averages 800 business card orders a month, Horbelt says. And production costs on business cards have decreased by 55 percent, she adds, which increased profits 35 percent.

An EFI Hagen OA interface between Freeflow Web Services and the in-plant’s EFI Monarch system automatically populates data fields for all jobs. The customer, shipping information, billing, cost and the name of the person placing the order are logged automatically to allow minimal job processing.

“We don’t even touch the jobs that come through Web Services any more,” Horbelt says. “They just happen.”

Thanks to the success of the online ordering system, the Auxiliary Enterprises Printing and Media Services team is now building online order templates for two other divisions of MD Anderson Cancer Center—and is in discussions to do the same for two other UTHealth groups.

Before adding a digital color press in 2010, Donna Cooper Horbelt says her in-plant at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) was not nearly as busy as she wanted it to be.

"I was losing color copy business to everybody in town," recalls the director of Auxiliary Enterprises, Printing and Media Services. "Our quality just wasn't good enough."

The in-plant's Xerox 6060 was seven years old and its color capabilities were far from state-of-the-art. Seeking to upgrade, Horbelt looked at a number of options. In the end, the in-plant decided to install a Xerox iGen4.

"They just really had the quality product for color that we needed," she remarks.

Immediately, the in-plant was able to upgrade the quality of the color digital products it could deliver. Customers took notice. The number of color digital copies increased from 644,000 in the 2010 fiscal year to more than 1.13 million the following year. Horbelt now credits the digital machine with her in-plant's survival.

"My doors would have closed if I hadn't moved to high-end color digital," she contends.

A Well-rounded In-plant

With 22 full-time employees handling more than 8,000 jobs a year, Auxiliary Enterprises, Printing and Media Services is a busy in-plant. Its customers include 369 departments at UTHealth, another 374 within MD Anderson Cancer Center, and 87 other accounts. UTHealth educates more healthcare professionals than any health-related institution in the State of Texas, and features the nation's seventh-largest medical school. It has more than 10,000 faculty, staff, students and residents.

As the university has grown, so has its need for printed materials. Typical jobs for the in-plant include identity packages, brochures, magazines and newsletters, digital copying, perfect-bound books, fulfillment, kits and invitations.

The in-plant boasts five offset presses, ranging from a six-color, 29˝ Heidelberg Speedmaster 74 perfector to several two-color presses ranging from 18˝ to 40˝. The presses produce high-end brochures, newsletters, four-color stationery, invitations, posters and more. An A.B.Dick 9870 prints nearly three million envelopes a year.

The addition of the iGen4, has changed things a little, though.

"The iGen4 has allowed us to move many jobs from offset to digital to meet our customers' needs," Horbelt says. "I don't think there's an application we don't do on the iGen4."

That wasn't the only new digital device the in-plant added, though. For the shop's black-and-white copy work—the majority of which is tab work, 43-hole drill stock and copy-and-staple jobs—Horbelt selected the Xerox 4127 copier/printer. As a result, black-and-white impressions increased from roughly 6 to 6.5 million in FY 2011.

"I was able to lower my copy prices twice last year because of increased volume," she declares.

Higher Volumes, Higher Revenues

All told, the in-plant's total job count spiked to more than 8,700 in 2011, from just under 6,000 the previous year. What's more, the print shop's annual revenue jumped nearly 117 percent, from $2.4 million in 2010 to $5.2 million in 2011. Profits during the same period increased from 1 percent to 16 percent. The majority of these profits were generated by streamlining workflow via the new Xerox Freeflow Web Services online ordering system (see sidebar), right-sizing and increasing revenue from existing accounts, thanks to the ease of ordering and the higher quality of the product. Horbelt has also found new customers within the medical school, such as the Children's Learning Institute (CLI).

"They were doing an unbelievable amount of printing every year, and we were doing none of it," she says. This was largely because the in-plant's prior capabilities did not match CLI's needs. After showing CLI what the in-plant can now do, the shop is handling a good amount of its printing and fulfillment.

"I don't ever look at a customer and say, 'I'm sorry I can't do that for you,' " Horbelt says.

Thanks to the new digital equipment and online ordering system, the print shop has executed a complete makeover of its reputation. Auxiliary Enterprises Printing and Media Services is now perceived as an innovative resource that offers high quality and quick delivery, with a customer-friendly online ordering process.

"We are now the go-to source when clients have a special project and need advice," Horbelt says. "We have also been asked to provide services to outside groups and have had many referrals within the Texas Medical Center." She lauds her boss, Charles Figari, for his support of the in-plant through this transition.

Moving forward, Horbelt is considering acquiring another Xerox 4127, and moving to the Xerox Matte Dry Ink on the iGen4.

"It's really going to fit our clients' needs very well," she says.

She also anticipates adding some small bindery equipment better suited to digital printing. For now, though, the in-plant is well equipped to handle any work that comes its way.

"I'm going to do whatever my institution needs me to do," Horbelt declares. IPG