The In-plant Printing and Mailing Association Conference Drew More Than 130 In-plants To Milwaukee.

By Bob Neubauer

Association Enhancement

During a member meeting on the conference’s third day, IPMA President Elect Alvin Griffin unveiled the association’s five-year strategic plan. Inspired by the continuous improvement practices that have worked so well in Griffin’s in-plant at Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools, the plan will set targets, utilize best practices and measure results to strengthen the association.

The plan’s four goals are to maximize membership, cultivate partnerships with industry leaders, promote a culture of engagement and collaboration among members and optimize the financial status of IPMA. Membership has increased by almost 100 people since last year and is now at 608.

Also at the meeting, Richard Silver, membership relations representative, announced that IPMA would again hold regional meetings in September and October. Dubbed “Fall for IPMA,” the meetings will take place in nine new locations—Boise, Idaho, Denver, Muncie, Ind., Baton Rouge, Atlanta, Oklahoma, Houston, Nashville and central Pennsylvania—as well as four repeats from 2013—California (two locations), Oregon and Charlotte, N.C.

Despite some chilly spring weather, Milwaukee gave a warm welcome to the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association last month. More than 130 in-plant managers were on hand to celebrate IPMA's 50th anniversary during a very busy conference.

Their ranks included many first-time and long-absent attendees, which added a new dynamic to the discussions throughout the four-day event. A number of government printers from the National Government Publishing Association, now part of IPMA, were there this year, as well as two attendees from Australia.

Seven Habits of Successful In-plants

Returning to the IPMA conference this year, Barb Pellow, of InfoTrends, gave managers a lot to think about with her presentation on the seven habits of successful in-plants in a digital world. On her list:

Be unreasonably aspirational. She urged managers to set goals in order to get results, and pointed to the winners of the IPMA awards as examples of in-plants that have done this to great effect.
Be digital…be big. She noted that process color printing is growing rapidly and that inkjet will account for 58 percent of the industry’s print volume by 2017, according to InfoTrends.
Be different. “Beyond print, what services have the most value?” she asked, pointing to value-added offerings like fulfillment, mail, mobile marketing, email messaging, website design, cross-media and others
Follow the money. Be efficient, and create value by reducing costs, Pellow said, noting that for every dollar spent on print, $3 is spent on overhead. Add automation to reduce this, she encouraged.
Be quick and easy to work with. She stressed that Web-to-print gives customers 24/7 access, and brings many other benefits.
Acquire the capabilities to be a full-service provider. Take a long, hard look at the skills your in-plant will need, and acquire them by hiring the right people.
Be customer-obsessed. You have only one boss, Pellow said, and that is your customer. He can fire everyone by spending his money elsewhere.

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Bob Neubauer Author's page

Bob has served as editor of In-plant Impressions since October of 1994. Prior to that he served for three years as managing editor of Printing Impressions, a commercial printing publication. Mr. Neubauer is very active in the U.S. in-plant industry. He attends all the major in-plant conferences and has visited more than 180 in-plant operations around the world. He has given presentations to numerous in-plant groups in the U.S., Canada and Australia, including the Association of College and University Printers and the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association. He also coordinates the annual In-Print contest, co-sponsored by IPMA and In-plant Impressions.

IPMA Goes Full Throttle in Milwaukee