Government, University In-plants Gather at D.C. Forum
Here are some points covered by speakers:
- Shawn Magill, director of Strategy & Development with the Defense Logistics Agency's Document Services operation, talked about his organization's successes eliminating warehouses of documents for clients like the Navy and Air Force and printing them on demand instead. "We are not a printing organization," he stressed. Any in-plant that doesn't think of itself as being in the information technology business, Magill added, is behind the times. His operation is now implementing EFI's Digital StoreFront.
- Jane Bloodworth, former manager of the World Bank's Printing, Graphics and Map Design Unit, detailed the steps she took to relocate her in-plant from downtown Washington into a new facility outside of the city. She noted the importance of Skype in helping staff communicate between the different locations, and talked of efforts the in-plant made to be more sustainable and to reduce unnecessary printing.
- Stephanie Hemling, Copy Center supervisor at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, noted that her student-staffed in-plant, in addition to handling digital and wide-format printing and laminating, is in charge of the digital signage on campus. She said that displaying promotions and student-made videos on these screens for customers has led to more print business.
- Leslie Rutledge, director of Brown University Graphic Services (see IPG's November cover story), detailed her in-plant's reorganization, noting that it was successful largely because she focused on getting employees to buy into the changes, take ownership of jobs and welcome cross-training.
- Former Public Printer Bob Tapella talked about his efforts while in office to move documents into a digital format. "Look at the communication needs of the customer as opposed to just the printing needs," he advised. How are clients using documents, and what is the best format in which to send them this data? He said the federal government's push to cut expenses by reducing printing is an opportunity for in-plants to show their value by aiding in the elimination of unnecessary printing.
A panel of executives from Kodak, HP and Xerox also provided updates of their companies' digital printing strategies. And during breaks between presentations, attendees visited the tabletop displays of vendors like Kodak, MGI, HP, Xerox and Canon.
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.
