Following His Own Track

Life has a way of changing our plans. And when you have as many interests and talents as John D.L. Johnson, the possibilities are endless.

As a teenager, Johnson—now manager of Palm Beach County's Graphics Division—studied architectural drafting at Northern Montgomery County Vocational-Technical School, in Lansdale, Pa. He went on to study American history at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., graduating in 1976. But then a hobby put him on a different track.

Johnson and a friend decided to publish a magazine about trains and model railroading for fellow enthusiasts. Working with local print shops planted the seed for a career in printing. So Johnson obtained a printing technology certificate at the Philadelphia Offset Printing School and started his own business in the basement of his parents' Ambler, Pa., home. A year later, his parents moved to California (where Johnson's family is from originally), so he relocated into a storefront in Oreland, Pa. For 10 years he ran Crusader Printing for hobby-related publications, mostly about trains. But, ultimately, Crusader went bankrupt in 1988.

When business started taking a downturn, Johnson accepted a position as assistant manager for the graphic arts department at the Philadelphia Gear Corp., making his way into the in-plant world. He then managed a commercial print shop in Allentown, Pa., for a brief time.

When his parents informed him of an in-plant manager opening at California State University, Johnson applied for the position. After a series of interviews, he was hired. In 1989, he and his wife Carol took off for Chico, Calif.

"My biggest accomplishments there were designing the remodel of an old building into a modern new print shop, moving the print shop from one building to another, moving from prepress to digital, and establishing the bulk mail operation," Johnson reflects.

He also taught graphic art classes, began attending conferences such as IPMA, ACUP, Graph Expo and the Gutenberg Festival, joined IPMA and became a certified graphic communications manager (CGCM). On top of his professional responsibilities, Johnson took up some course work at Chico State, earning his master's degree in business administration in 1999.

The Move to Florida

Then, in 2001, he came across a job listing for an in-plant manager for Palm Beach County's Graphics and Printing division, in West Palm Beach, Fla. He applied for the position, was hired and immediately found his work was cut out for him.

"Much of the equipment had aged beyond the point of repair. The two-color, 25˝ Shinohara had not been operated for several years. Much of the printing had been contracted out," Johnson explains. "I was told that the print shop would probably be moving within two years. It was up to me to turn things around and make it a vital part of the county government."

So he rolled up his sleeves and got to work. Within the first year, Johnson hired a press operator to run the Shinohara, bringing much of the short-run four-color process work back in-house. In 2004, he helped renovate and expand the copy center to 1,500 square feet and worked on a $1 million design and renovation project to transform a water pumping station into a 6,000-square-foot print shop. In the same year, Johnson started a bulk mail service for county departments.

A couple of years later, he installed a Presstek CTP system, ending the shop's reliance on outside vendors. The in-plant also added EFI's MicroPress production workflow and EFI's Digital StoreFront for online ordering. Today, Johnson and his staff of eight run a Xerox 700, a Konica Minolta bizhub PRO C6500 and a bizhub PRO 1050.

Working with the county's shrinking budgets has been a challenge, he says, but it has also helped to motivate his staff. "We want to show our administration that they are getting a good value from our services," he asserts.

Johnson believes that keeping the in-plant current, relevant and open for business has been his biggest success.

"The entrepreneurial skills I learned from my time in business have been put to work in in-plants," he says. "I have always approached my position with a sense of exploration and innovation." In the future, Johnson believes variable data printing will take on a bigger role.

Johnson's love of trains has not waned a bit with the passing years. He is currently building a scale model of a steam locomotive from scratch in his garage. It is eight feet long and will weigh about 800 lbs. upon completion. IPG