IPMA Report: Become an Asset by Insourcing
Martin James, manager of Print Services at Deer Valley Unified School District, gave a presentation titled “Is Your In-plant Print Services Department an Asset or Liability?”
Insourcing is a vital strategy to ensure the future of your in-plant. That was the message stressed by Martin James, manager of Print Services at Deer Valley Unified School District, in Phoenix, in his presentation at the recent IPMA conference titled “Is Your In-plant Print Services Department an Asset or Liability?”
James traced his in-plant’s journey from the days when it was truly a “liability,” constantly in the red and not valued by the district. To rectify this, he personally visited each campus and department to assess their needs, then revamped Print Services. Business increased and over time, the in-plant outgrew its facility – twice – and moved into larger quarters. By 2001, it was in the black and had generated enough revenue to present the superintendent with a $36,000 check to be put back into the district’s budget.
His plan for further growth included insourcing work from other districts that had no in-plants. To find such districts, James joined the Arizona Association of School Business Officials (AASBO) and went to its conference. He made lots of new contacts there, and came away with a new external customer. Over the next three years he added 15 external school districts as customers.
The in-plant was doing well when James decided to move on in 2004. When he was asked to return to the district nine years later, he found that business had declined in his absence. To rebuild it, he held road shows and talked with internal customers to shore up trust in the in-plant, which he remodeled and refreshed.
By setting up a booth at the AASBO conference, James brought in external clients once again and expanded the in-plant’s curriculum printing business. Sales grew dramatically, and the in-plant now serves 95 external clients. Outside revenue grew from $144,555 in 2016-17 to $788,201 in 2022-23. This fueled an overall record 2022-23 financial year for the in-plant, which generated $2,159,027.
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.
