Inside The Firm
Pat Seier has dedicated more than 20 years to making her in-plant an integral part in the success of Kutak Rock, an Omaha-based law firm.
by BOB NEUBAUER
Patricia Seier never planned on working in the printing industry. She was only looking for a better-paying job when she took a position in the mail room of Kutak Rock, an Omaha, Neb.-based law firm.
But after working there just a few years, fate intervened.
"Mr. Kutak asked me if I would be interested in heading up their copy center," Seier recalls. "I had absolutely no background in printing."
She learned fast. Over the past 22 years, Pat Seier has guided that in-plant from the offset world into toner territory, and on into CD imaging. Along the way, she has played a vital part in Kutak Rock's success in the document-intensive law business. After all, with more than 300 attorneys in 16 offices around the country, the firm generates a lot of paperwork.
Born to a farming family in northwest Nebraska, Seier initially earned a cosmetology license and spent a decade in that field. But with two children to support, she found herself, after her divorce, in need of a better paying career. After some searching, she had to pick between two opportunities: Kutak Rock or a local car dealership.
"I think it was a good decision," she says of her selection. "Kutak Rock has been a great firm to work for."
One of the first things she did after her promotion to Copy Services manager was to join the International Publishing Management Association. At the local chapter meetings she essentially got a crash course.
"I learned a lot from the people there," she says. "We always had great meetings, as far as getting the information about the industry."
When she started, Copy Services had an A.B.Dick offset duplicator and some Xerox copiers. Since most of the press runs were very short—only a few hundred copies—Seier thought the shop would be more efficient migrating from offset to copier technology. She managed to convince her boss of this, and within a few years, the presses were gone. The in-plant beta-tested the Xerox DocuTech, retraining its press operator to run the digital printer. More copiers and digital devices followed.
Two years ago, the shop networked all of its digital copiers and printers. Convincing customers to send jobs over the network, though, was not easy. Seier ran a month-long campaign offering free delivery—and a candy bar—to anyone who transmitted jobs via the network. Though it worked to some degree, she says it is still a challenge to convince people of the value of digital file transmission.
Imaging Opportunities
Other technologies have also had a strong impact on her in-plant.
"Today, many of the documents are sent via the Internet—e-mail," she says. "We're not doing the multiple copies we used to. The volume is down."
But rather then let that defeat her, she initiated a new service: CD creation. In the past, all documents from a deal were hard bound in a book. In 1999, the in-plant started imaging this information onto CD. Customers are gradually seeing the value in this. In 2000, the in-plant had 153 requests, which equalled 48,174 scans and 302 CDs; in 2001, the in-plant got 321 requests, requiring 186,977 scans and yielding 1,544 CDs. This keeps the in-plant's Rimage Protege II CD burner busy. The shop also scanns documents to PDF.
Though she expects her shop's imaging area to grow, Seier anticipates having fewer large machines in her in-plant in the future. Still, she has found another way to use her years of copier experience to help the firm save money. Seier provides direction and input for the selection of low-, mid- and high-volume copiers for all Kutak Rock offices.
Over the years, Pat Seier has given a lot back to IPMA, the association that helped launch her into the printing world. Since 1980 she has served as director, treasurer and twice as president. In 1995 and 2000 she was named chapter member of the year, and she was also regional member of the year in 2000.
But when asked what she's most proud of, these accolades don't get a mention. Instead, she praises her staff.
"They work so hard to give really good service," she lauds. "They're great people."
In her spare time, Seier likes to spend time with her grandchildren, when she's not helping run a program for children of divorced or deceased parents.
"I like working with young people," she says.
