Faith In His Work

Running one of the country's largest in-plants is tough work, but Craig Sedgwick manages to do it well—while winning prizes for quality.

by Bob Neubauer

When an in-plant wins seven In-Print awards—including three first place prizes—it's clear the shop has an awful lot of talent inside its walls.

That feat was accomplished this year by the 350-employee in-plant for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in Salt Lake City.

Though the man behind the in-plant, Plant Manager Craig Sedgwick, would credit his employees' dedication and hard work, his own dedication to them and to the in-plant has certainly played a big part. By pushing to stay technologically advanced, while being constantly on the lookout for new services to offer, he has helped make his operation one of the top in-plants in the country.

Sedgwick's dedication to printing springs from his meticulous nature.

"I've always had a great attention to detail, so [printing] kind of captivated me," he says. "I was interested in doing that from the very beginning."

For Sedgwick, the beginning was back in junior high school when he served on the staff for the school paper in Clearfield, Utah.

"I got appointed as the printer," he recalls. The "press" was an old, hand-cranked mimeograph machine.

This positive experience stuck with him. Years later, when he was on a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Billings, Mont., he jumped at the chance to run the A.B.Dick press being used in the office there. For six months he printed newsletters and other information sent to missionaries and their families.

When he returned to Utah, his strong religious faith drew him to seek employment with the LDS Church.

"I saw that there was an opening in printing, so I thought 'Wow, that interests me more than anything else.' So I went and applied and got the job as a press assistant," he says.

For six months he worked in this position before being made head of the quick copy area.

"I ran the press, waited on people, did about everything," he recalls.

Four years later, after the LDS Church combined its in-plant with its commercial printing operation, Sedgwick was promoted to lead person in the small job shop area. He spent another four years there before moving to a job planning position in the LDS Church's main office. There, he acted as a customer service liaison, writing specifications and learning about job estimating.

A year and a half later, in 1986, he was back in the print shop as a supervisor, a role he played for the next three and a half years. While he was supervisor, the in-plant moved out of its headquarters in an old arms plant into a new facility—the first time since its creation in 1849 that it was located in a building built specifically as a print shop.

Sedgwick next became production manager, and in 1990 he was promoted to plant manager, his current position. He helped facilitate a major expansion two years ago that added 200,000 square feet to the facility, which is shared by printing and distribution. His operation, some 580,000 square feet in size, houses two web presses—rare finds at in-plants. They are used to print the Bible and the Book of Mormon, among other items.

Added Innovative Services

Sedgwick has overseen the addition of several innovative services at the in-plant, including Braille printing of religious texts and magazines, fine art printing of old master paintings with ink-jet printers, and the manufacturing of plastic sacrament (communion) cups.

Keeping such a large in-plant technologically current has been a tough task, he says, but fortunately the church supports his efforts.

Sedgwick enjoys his job not only because he likes printing, but because it allows him to give something back to his church, where he serves in a leadership position in his local stake (diocese).

A devoted family man, he and his wife Connie have raised seven children and have two grandchildren. And though he spends much of his free time remodeling his home, Sedgwick also devotes a lot of energy to the International Publishing Management Association, where he currently serves as International President. He credits the IPMA, which he joined in 1986, with allowing him to share ideas with other in-plants, thus improving his operation.

As for his career choice, Sedgwick has no regrets.

"It's been a wonderful place to work," he declares. "It's wonderful to be involved in something that you believe in so strongly."