A Lifelong In-plant Manager

SCOTT NELSON was a high school freshman when printing first caught his eye. He was touring his school’s vocational programs, and something about the dark room and the old Multi presses excited him. He started classes the next year.

Nearly four decades later, the excitement is still there.

Today, Nelson is supervisor of the 10-employee in-plant at Otter Tail Power Co., one of the largest employers in his home town of Fergus Falls, Minn. He started there as a summer intern in 1970, acting on a tip from the father of his girlfriend (now his wife). After graduating the next year he stayed on, beginning a career that has lasted 35 years.

Looking for other opportunities outside of Fergus Falls has never appealed to Nelson. He truly loves his home town, which he describes as a quiet place full of nice people.

“We’ve never had any desire to leave,” he says of himself and his wife Debi. Together, they just finished renovating their 124-year-old Victorian home.

As for easy commutes, Nelson may have the record. He says he has always lived within a few blocks of the company.

“I’ve walked to work for 35 years,” he says.

When Nelson started at Print & Mail Services, back in 1972, the shop had five employees and a trio of Multi presses. Simple one-color jobs were as sophisticated as things got, Nelson says. Not too much changed over the next 12 years, he acknowledges. A two-color press and a collator were added, but staff size remained the same.

Then, in 1984, the supervisor retired. Nelson was promoted into the position.

“One of the toughest things that I had to do was let go of everything that I did,” he says. He still wanted to run the equipment in addition to his supervisor chores. He ended up hiring a press operator to do the work.

In the mid 1980s, the mail center was moved into the print shop, gaining him one staff member. Then computers started easing their way into the in-plant.

In 1991, the shop installed a two-color, 14x20? Ryobi 522 to help print the two-color marketing materials inserted into utility bills. By the late ’90s, those had become four-color inserts, and sheets were going through the press twice. Meanwhile, the first Xerox DocuTech had arrived and was changing everything.

“The ability to print and collate and stitch inline was a real driving force,” he says.

Insourcing Takes Off

Another big change came around 2000 when the in-plant got a DocuColor 12. Nelson showed it off to local printers at an open house, and they began sending him orders for short-run, four-color work. So began the shop’s insourcing business.

When the in-plant added a four-color, 14x20? Heidelberg GTO in 2005, insourcing really took off. It now comprises more than a third of the in-plant’s business, he says.

“We’re still the only four-color press within 50 miles of Fergus,” Nelson proclaims.

Insourcing, he says, has made his shop a profit center, thus providing more value to Otter Tail. The company, though, has acknowledged the in-plant’s value for years.

“My bosses...recognize what we’re doing and what we’re providing,” Nelson says. “I’ve never had any problem justifying equipment.”

Now armed with a Xerox 6060, as well as an Agfa Acento CTP device, the in-plant is a graphic arts showplace in the middle of Fergus Falls, a town of about 13,500 just 25 miles from the North Dakota border.

Still, what makes Nelson most proud is his staff.

“I’ve got great people,” he lauds. “Other departments recognize us as a fun group of people, a good group of people, a hard-working group of people.”

As something of a reward for their dedication, the in-plant will be getting a new facility next year. It will be built adjacent to Otter Tail’s high-tech center. At 6,500 square feet, the new shop will provide 1,300 square feet of additional space, with a loading dock, a basement storage area, easier street access and a counter, which will provide more of a “storefront” presence.

“It is really an exciting thing,” Nelson says. “They’ve recognized us as doing a good job.”IPG