From the Editor: On the Road

Over the past month I've spent time with 200 or so in-plant managers at three different conferences. I had the opportunity to talk with dozens of them about issues in their shops, and to attended sessions in which managers shared ideas and compared their situations. It was both illuminating and reaffirming.

First I headed to Albuquerque, N.M., for the Association of College and University Printers (ACUP) conference, which drew 92 in-plants this year. From there, with only a weekend to recover, I flew down to Florida for the fourth annual Inkjet Summit, where a record 21 in-plant managers were in attendance. Then I headed to Washington, D.C., where I ran the second annual Digital Printing in Government and Higher-Ed Conference (DigiGov), which brought about 90 in-plants to the Government Publishing Office.

IPG Editor Bob Neubauer speaking at ACUP 2016 in Albuquerque.

At both ACUP and DigiGov, I gave presentations that included brand new IPG research on the in-plant industry. That data will be appearing in IPG over the next couple of issues.

Some of the topics discussed at these various events are the same ones you often read about in the magazine. At a session on Web-to-print at ACUP, three managers shared the pros and cons of their different systems, but Gerald Trotter, of Milwaukee Area Technical College spoke for all of them when he cautioned, "Make sure you have a dedicated person to set it up for you," because it will take more time than you will be able to devote to it. Overall, according to IPG data, 53.7% of in-plants have a Web-to-print system, though among universities that number jumps to 71.3%.

Another big topic was digital envelope printing. Over the past two years, IPG data shows, envelope printing has grown 9.1% at in-plants, with 76.7% now providing this service—and a staggering 90% of university in-plants offering it. At another ACUP session, two managers fielded questions about their digital envelope presses, revealing setbacks, such as occasional skewing issues, as well as triumphs: "We've been able to bring four-color jobs into our office that we were not able to do before," noted Tammy Elliot, of the University of the South.

Bob Neubauer presented the results from a major research project on the in-plant industry at the DigiGov 2016 conference.

Wide-format inkjet printing  (now offered by 65.3% of all in-plants) was a big area of discussion at ACUP too. Paul Roberts of the University of New Hampshire talked about his new hybrid flatbed LED printer, which let his shop bring in work that was being subcontracted. He anticipates a short two-year ROI. As noted in my article in the March issue, a small but growing number of in-plants are moving into the flatbed inkjet space and finding tremendous potential there.

Another popular topic at ACUP was merging print and mail (now together in 60.7% of in-plants, our data shows). Managers stressed that cross-training operators between the departments is essential.

A manager approached me at DigiGov to tell me his IT department wanted to take over fleet copier management, handled for years by the in-plant (as it is by 31.9% of all in-plants). This shows how beneficial (and lucrative) this service can be for in-plants that handle it.

At the Inkjet Summit, the talk was all about the next upgrade of digital print equipment and whether attending in-plants were ready for a production inkjet press. At least one manager insisted his shop will be adding a cut-sheet inkjet press in the near future. You can bet we’ll be covering that with gusto.

This is just a quick sample of some of the topics discussed by in-plants at these recent events. Watch for our full coverage next month.