In-Print Awards Bring Pride and Prestige

In a time when in-plants are being closely scrutinized, winning awards for quality can go a long way with both customers and management.

By Rick Wise

As we are all too aware, the in-plant landscape is becoming increasingly frightening. A recent spat of closings (in some cases due to very poor administrative decisions) has us all looking over our shoulder to see if our operation is in any way vulnerable.

Naturally there is no one solution to assure success. Certainly for us at the University of Missouri, our focus is keeping the faculty, staff and student customers pleased with our services. Also, administrative support is critical, maybe more so now than ever before.

Another piece of this survival puzzle is to somehow instill pride in your operation, both internally and externally. And entering the annual In-Print printing contest, sponsored by International Publishing Management Association (IPMA) and In-Plant Graphics magazine, has the possibility of providing a source for this pride.

We have been very fortunate and honored to win the Best of Show award three times, including 2005 for our "Illumination" magazine. And as those of you who attended ACUP 2005 here at MU Printing Services know, we are blessed with a superb staff of skilled professionals. Hopefully you got to meet many of them. Winning this award does bring a sense of pride to our people; there is just no way it can't.

Plus we recently hosted a reception at our plant and invited the department responsible for "Illumination" to attend, along with our employees. We thanked them for providing us with the publication that resulted in our winning the Best of Show award. I know they were equally proud to have their piece recognized and honored. We served refreshments and took time out from the hectic pace for a few minutes and visited. It was both worthwhile and very enjoyable.

Become an 'Award-winning' Shop

Winning an award, whether you win Gold, Silver or Bronze, can be something you share specifically with your boss, along with the rest of the campus or company. It's a great piece of information for them to tuck away and use at the right time. They can legitimately refer to your print operation as an "award winning" in-plant. And with 21 offset categories (many with multiple sub-categories) and 17 non-offset categories, there is opportunity for every operation—large, small and in-between.

I can just about guarantee you that the department or office responsible for the piece that wins an award will be very tickled to hear about it, and that's just great PR. They gain even more confidence in your operation and your ability to handle their printing. I'll take all of that I can get, believe me.

The judging is done by a group of our peers (no, not designers). Quality in press and bindery are the primary determinants. The degree of difficulty is a factor, as well. There is a complete listing of the criteria used by the judges at http://www.ipgonline.com/doc/in_print.html. You can also download an entry form there.

The first three entries are free. If you choose to enter more than three pieces, there is a modest entry fee of $25 for each additional piece entered. The deadline for In-Print 2006 is January 13, 2006. You'll need four samples of each piece you enter, plus the entry form.

If you've been entering for years, keep on doing so. If you haven't tried yet, I encourage you to give it a shot. As they say, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. And you don't have to tell anyone about the pieces you've entered that don't win. I sure don't.

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Rick Wise is director of Printing Services at the University of Missouri-Columbia, where he has worked since 1989.