Fed In-plants - Bank On Them
Federal Reserve Bank in-plants don't print money, but they work together to try to save it.
COSMO CORVAGLIA has a kingdom—though he'd probably prefer to call it an area, or maybe just a district. Either way, he's the one responsible for it.
This kingdom (or district if you prefer) stretches from Trenton, N.J., to Rehoboth, Del., and from Pittsburgh to Cape May Point, N.J. And although he isn't really a king, or even a prince for that matter, he is part of an organization few understand—and even fewer could live without.
Cos Corvaglia is print manager for the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. And while the Fed doesn't print any bills or mint any coins, it does formulate and execute monetary policy for the U.S. government. On top of that, because the Philadelphia-area Fed acts as a clearinghouse for locally deposited checks, it processes between six to seven million checks a night.
Crucial Support
Although Corvaglia's crew doesn't actually help with the processing of those checks, it does print and distribute nearly every other document necessary to the Fed's work in Philadelphia. So while Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan is busy adjusting interest rates and making headlines, the in-plant for the Third District of the Federal Reserve is printing the items that help the Fed function—everything from directories, reports and newsletters to brochures, memos and procedure manuals, and quite a few things in between. The 20-employee shop runs eight Heidelberg presses, as well as four Canon copiers and assorted prepress and bindery equipment.
"I've got seven pressmen with between 10 and 30 years experience out on the floor," says Corvaglia. "There might be six different ways to do a job and these guys have seen them all."
Venerable Institution
Created by an act of Congress in 1913, the Federal Reserve Bank acts as the central bank of the United States and is represented by 12 regional districts. Each region retains its own in-plant according to its needs.
Naturally, the biggest shops are in the busiest areas and get the most work. The largest Fed printing operations reside in Atlanta, Chicago and Philadelphia.
The offices in Dallas, Richmond, Kansas City, Boston, St. Louis and San Francisco have less equipment and fewer employees in their in-plants. The Cleveland, New York and Minneapolis Feds have only copy centers.
Because of the nature of the work, Fed in-plants are expected to keep outsourcing to a minimum as both a measure of thrift and security.
And because each Fed in-plant is set up according to its own needs, their combined ability to produce numerous different types of jobs within the Fed system is fairly astounding.
For instance, the Philadelphia Fed specializes in four-color offset printing and is the only in-plant in the system to offer perfect binding. In Atlanta, the specialty is web printing, and in Chicago they use an all digital workflow.
Though there isn't any kind of internal edict directing Fed in-plants to outsource work to other Feds, there is an informal network that does just that. When it works, everybody benefits.
"My primary duties are to handle Philly's priorities," Corvaglia explains from his office, its windows revealing an impressive view of the Philadelphia skyline. "But we are in constant contact with the other Feds to see if we can fill in some open time. Sometimes other Feds will throw each other overflow. Chicago will call and say, 'Hey, I've got a long run, will you take it?' "
Though Corvaglia admits this may only happen four or five times a year, when it does happen it's usually saving one Fed money and time while filling downtime and bringing in revenue for the other.
Perhaps the best example of this kind of camaraderie is when the Philadelphia, Chicago and Atlanta in-plants teamed up to print 50,000 copies of 10 different operating circulars, which were then customized for each of the 12 districts.
"It was too much for any one of us, so we all got together and printed them together," recalls Corvaglia. "When we finished, the customer couldn't tell who printed what where."
Sisters And Brothers
However, the occasional bailout-as-professional-courtesy isn't the only reason Fed in-plants help each other. Sometimes it's just plain practical.
Take the Dallas Fed, for example. For the past two years the 11th District has bid on and won a job to print a general information publication for the Boston Fed.
Since the Boston Fed's in-plant doesn't produce any offset work in-house, it outsources. Yet, because it functions under Congressional oversight, it must bid jobs out. Fortunately for everyone involved, the Dallas Fed just happens to have the best price.
But more than just getting the right price, Boston gets quality work and a quick turnaround, while the 11th District gets to reduce some of that all-important open capacity.
The Fed in-plants help each other in other ways too.
"I've had other Feds call me for information about equipment or systems or the best way to do something," recalls James Mason, operational supervisor of the Dallas District in-plant. "Whatever we can do to help each other out, if we can do it, we will."
Fred Neumann, print services manager for the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago agrees. He says he always considers other Feds as possible outsourcing outlets.
"Very much so," he affirms. "If the shipment, price and time are beneficial to the district, we would ship it to them."
A Good Place To Work
Like the Philadelphia operation, several Fed in-plants boast very loyal employees. Stephanie North, director of general services at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, says employees in the Sixth District average about 17 to 18 years of experience apiece. While that might seem like a long time nowadays, North says she's not surprised. For one thing, the Fed is just a nice place to work, North says. But more than that she feels employee longevity is related to the requirements of the job.
"The longevity that we have with our people is probably the strongest testament that it is a good place to work," surmises North. "If you are a challenge-oriented person, then this is a wonderful environment because there's always something new. But if you're change-averse, this is a horrible environment, because there's always something new."
No doubt. In the Sixth District, when they aren't printing magnetized, coded control documents on their 22˝ Didde web press for the Fed, they're probably printing some kind of promotional material for the Public Affairs department or brochures for one of the six branches they serve.
Mason, of Dallas, says his staff is brimming with experience too.
"It's a staff of seven, but I've got a staff of 15," says Mason with a chuckle. "When you reduce your staff, people gain more knowledge and it offers you an opportunity to reduce your overhead. But at the same time, you've got to compensate your employees."
Outside Help
Despite the wealth of experience to be found within the Federal Reserve system, sometimes it's necessary to look elsewhere. That's why several Fed in-plant managers are either members or supporters of the International Publishing Management Association (IPMA). In fact, Corvaglia says he's been so happy with his involvement in the IPMA that he's practically ready to shout it from the rooftops.
"To be able to talk with my peers and solve problems, and make new friends, that's the value of IPMA," he lauds.
Last year when Corvaglia was looking to upgrade the printing division's prepress area, he attended the IPMA conference in San Antonio hoping to find some answers.
"I learned more in a two-hour session in my Bermuda shorts at a roundtable discussion than I could going for week-long visits to vendor facilities," gushes Corvaglia.
He also met two gentlemen there who walked him through the entire process—from what to buy, to how to write up the request-for-proposal. What's more, when he got back Corvaglia set up two separate conference calls with his newfound IPMA brethren to help him hammer out the last of the details. In the end, he added an Agfa Phoenix imagesetter.
"It's going to help us in storage, in quality and turnaround, and maybe eventually we'll get to CTP," Corvaglia says. "We were spending between $20,000 and $30,000 a year at service bureaus for providing multi-color negs. Now we can do it in-house."
Corvaglia is not alone in his efforts to add digital prepress equipment. North, of Atlanta, is also ready to digitize. In fact, she says her plans for the future hinge on just three little words: "Digital, digital, digital."
Still, other Fed in-plants are content to stick with what they do best. Mason, of the Dallas Fed, says that while he is looking into the advantages of moving to an all-digital workflow, for now he's doing just fine.
"At the pace we're going it would require something pretty drastic to make us jump into it," he says. "We're turning out great quality work with the basic stuff. At this point we do very little digital."
Whichever way they choose, the more the Fed's in-plants can maximize productivity, the more savings they will bring to the Federal Reserve Bank.
And that's got to be good for the economy.
Sidebar: Ahead Of The Curve
Fred Neumann doesn't try to reinvent the wheel; he just tries to stay prepared.
"My biggest challenge is keeping abreast of the industry," affirms Neumann, print services manager for the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. "I believe in not standing still. I believe in planning mentally two years ahead of time."
That way, Neumann says, you'll never be caught off guard. For instance, when Neumann noticed that with the onset of on-demand printing his offset operation was beginning to become a bit cumbersome and expensive, he decided to go completely digital.
"Until June of 2000 I had a total conventional offset printing operation," Neumann attests, "But large-volume printing has become really counterproductive. I looked at the type of work the district is printing and I sold off the offset operation."
The Chicago Fed now uses an Indigo TurboStream digital color press and networked high-speed printers from Canon and Danka. Now, the Print Services crew utilizes both its equipment and manpower more productively. Plus, its customers can network to the in-plant and send jobs as digital files.
So far Neumann says he's very impressed with the new system because turnaround times have been cut in half and unit costs are lower than offset. But like a kid with a toy, he already wants a bigger, faster model.
"I'm already thinking of upgrading to a larger format—and faster," he says.
