Franklin University Brings Printing In-house
When Robert Donahue started as director of purchasing at Franklin University, one of his goals was to revamp the mailing services operation and cut costs. His success there got him thinking about other ways to save money for the 111-year-old private university, based in Columbus, Ohio. In particular, he wondered how much the university was spending to outsource printing and whether the school could save money by getting equipment and printing that work in-house.
While researching this, he contacted consultant Jerry Sampson, then with xpedx, who did a feasibility study on the types of printing being outsourced, the volumes and the cost. The study showed that starting an in-plant and moving some printing in-house "had the potential for about 30 percent savings," Donahue says. In just the first year, that would yield approximately $90,000 in reduced spending—a figure he simply could not ignore.
So Donahue wrote a business plan, presented it to Franklin's president and board of trustees, and last February received approval to begin building a new in-plant. Over the past year, Franklin University's printing operation has progressed from an idea to a reality. So far Donahue has added:
- A Konica Minolta bizhub PRESS C8000 color printer
- A Konica Minolta bizhub Pro 1200 black-and-white printer
- A PSI LM 3655 envelope printer
- An HP Designjet T790 wide-format printer
- A Duplo DC-645 slitter/cutter/creaser
- An MBM Triumph cutter
The in-plant, called Franklin University Print Services, now has three employees, including Donahue, and produces work ranging from business cards, post cards and envelopes to brochures, posters and marketing pieces. Donahue is in the process of implementing Print Shop Pro job ordering software from EDU Business Solutions, and he is looking into PTI FusionPro variable data software to expand the shop's services even further.
Lower Costs, Faster Turnaround
Departments are slowly catching on to the cost savings they can realize by using the in-plant. Donahue has been busy marketing the operation by attending departmental meetings, making personal visits and inviting people to see the shop. He plans to hold an open house in the spring. So far, departments like human resources, marketing, student services, faculty services, alumni, the registrar and financial aid are all using the in-plant. One of the benefits they all appreciate is the faster turnaround time.
"My lead time is significantly less than going through the process of getting it outsourced," notes Donahue.
One example, he points out, is business card printing. When using an outside vendor, the university had to accumulate a large quantity of orders before the printer would be able to take the job. Some customers had to wait a month to get their cards. Things are much different now.
"If they give me an order of 250 cards, I can do that in a matter of a few minutes," he says. "That really has gotten some folks' attention. The ability to control the quality more closely is a benefit we've seen too."
In the future, Donahue hopes to add more binding capabilities to improve upon the inline binding on the Konica Minolta printers.
The new in-plant is off to a good start, Donahue says; even the university president and vice president have embraced its potential. And why shouldn't they? Since the in-plant started operating in August, Donahue has tracked about $50,000 in savings, with plenty more to come.
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.
