Graph Expo In-plant Session Draws Large Crowd

More than 60 in-plant managers filled the room for a special seminar on digital printing at Graph Expo last week. They were a diverse mix, representing government, insurance companies, school districts, universities, retail chains and more.

The 90-minute session—co-hosted by IPG and the IPMA—yielded tons of useful information from six different speakers: three vendors and three in-plant managers. The theme of the meeting was digital printing, a topic of strong interest among in-plants.

Océ’s Eric de Goeijen listed seven key criteria in-plants should consider when selecting a digital press: product features, scalability, modularity, workflow software, sustainability, service/support and financing programs. Then Charlotte Holden, director of Administrative Services at the Houston Independent School District, offered advice on how to select a printer. Know your monthly impressions, electrical requirements, cost of ownership, staffing, and other crucial information up front, she coached. Don’t simply rely on vendors’ data. Consider future types of work before picking equipment. Ask for marketing support from the vendor. And request a trial period with any new equipment.

Xerox’s Karlie Jessop and Christopher Donlon, communications leader for print production at Kohler Co., tackled the topic of cost justification of a digital press by having a mock conversation on stage, during which Donlon revealed he is considering adding two iGen3s to his three-employee in-plant. His background in sales has been useful, he said, in gaining new customers and in creating a buzz for print-on-demand. As the print buyer, he sees (and tracks) all outgoing printing so he knows what type of work his shop would have to print if it were to get a digital press. This data will help him justify any new digital printing equipment.

Ricoh’s Greg Cholmondeley urged managers to stress to their upper management how their in-plant is helping the organization’s core business and how digital printing can help the organization succeed. Offering a perspective from his work with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota’s in-plant, Loren Schoenzeit advised in-plants to market digital printing by starting with small projects. Find a key internal partner, he said, help them be successful using digital printing, and then promote this success to get more business and more investment capital.

Read more about this important session in the December issue of IPG.