From the Editor: The Value of Adding Value

By Bob Neubauer

It’s been a busy spring for me, chock-full of conferences. Counting this month’s In-plant Printing and Mailing Association conference, I’ve attended four different printing events: the Association of College and University Printers conference; the Inkjet Summit; and the new Digital Printing in Government and Higher-Ed conference. The last three are all detailed in this issue.

Bob Neubauer, editor and content director of In-plant Graphics

One impression I got from all the time I spent talking with various managers is that in-plants understand the need to expand their services and are paying close attention to the new capabilities other in-plants are adding. At each event managers told me about new services their shops have launched or were looking into—anything from mail services and wide-format printing, to scanning, e-publications and dye-sublimation. Clearly, they understand the value of adding value.

As Howie Fenton of InfoTrends noted in his presentation at the Digital Printing in Government and Higher-Ed conference, print spending is trending downward, so in-plants need to focus on offering more value-added services and decreasing the cost of manufacturing print.

That conference (which we’ve been calling DigiGov for short) was organized entirely by IPG and had a great turnout. Held inside the Government Publishing Office in Washington, DC, it drew about 70 in-plant managers from across the country, plus dozens of other printers, vendors and consultants. Having expected only regional attendance, I was very pleased that so many managers flew into town for the event—from Illinois, Tennessee, even California. I met a number of managers for the first time, such as those from the National Gallery of Art, the Defense Intelligence Agency and Pennsylvania’s General Services department.

Feedback has been very positive, so attendees obviously found value in the content. Having been to dozens of educational conferences—and occasionally sat through sessions with minimal educational value—I endeavored to plan a compelling program, and was very happy to get the participation of so many high-level speakers. (See our DigiGov story for a recap.)

Our plans are already well underway to offer several other free educational sessions during Graph Expo in September, so if you’re planning to attend the Chicago show, I hope you’ll make time to attend. In addition to the information you’ll get from the speakers (and the free lunch), you’ll have a great opportunity to talk with other in-plant managers.

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Bob Neubauer Author's page

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.