Kevin Field Aiming To Please

With a sense of humor and impeccable customer service, Kevin Field has made several in-plant success stories.

by Mike Llewellyn

IT WAS supposed to be a small affair, a quiet gathering of friends and colleagues at Washington, D.C.'s 500-employee Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). They were seeing Manager Kevin Field off to his current post as administrator for Virginia Beach City/Schools Printing and Mail Services. Instead, 250 people showed up to say good-bye.

"If they want to come, they're going to come," Field recalls joking to his former boss. No one expected that kind of turnout, but it shouldn't have come as much of a surprise. Field has built his career on customer service, and he's gotten really good at it. Just ask the folks at AAMC.

An Early Start

Field was so young when he started in the printing industry he needed working papers. As a 16-year-old high school student living in Philadelphia, his first job was jogging issues of TV Guide in the bindery of Triangle Publications.

"I guess that's how I got 'ink in my blood,' " he muses. "That red [logo] kept coming off and getting all over my hands."

In 1982 he picked up a degree in business administration from LaSalle University, and picked up a job as production manager for the in-plant at Laventhol and Horwath, an accounting firm in Philadelphia.

"That's when I really got into in-plant management," he says, adding that he made numerous contacts through the International Publishing Management Association (IPMA).

The firm folded, though, and after a brief stint doing facilities management with Kodak, he was able to use his contacts at IPMA to land the position at AAMC in Washington.

"I had a lot of good friends at IPMA, and fortunately I had my CGCM," he says, referring to IPMA's Certified Graphic Communication Manager certification.

Phone Call From A Friend

Field worked at AAMC for seven years, until he got a call from his friend Harry Smithson who was retiring from the helm at the City of Virginia Beach's in-plant.

"He said I should come to the City of Virginia Beach. I said 'I'm happy where I am.' But he convinced me," Field remembers. "So I said 'Okay, I'll do it,' and lo and behold..."

There were nearly 60 applications for the job Smithson was leaving behind, but Field managed to beat out the competition and secure the post. He says his experience with computers and a high score on the municipal test probably helped the most in landing him the position.

Field has only been at the Virginia Beach in-plant since 2001, but he has already made a big splash.

"One of the first things I had to do was get a handle on the budget," he says. "Government budgeting is a little different."

Field says he has since cut back on overtime, replaced or sold most of the in-plant's unused equipment, and brought in an A.B.Dick DPM 3240 platesetter, which allowed him to turn the old dark room into his new office.

It hasn't been smooth sailing the whole way, but Field says he's proud that his move into the manager's chair has gone so well. He credits Harry Smithson, who came back to work part time as a consultant, with helping to make the transition smooth.

Field also credits his staff's experience and skill with making the Virginia Beach facility so healthy. He does his best to maintain a great rapport with employees, and he has found some very creative, if slightly quirky, ways to keep the lines of communication open and morale high.

"We bought a fish, and we were taking bets to see how long it would last," he says. "But because the fish we have now is still alive, I bought a gift certificate for whoever comes up with the best name for it."

Now that he's settled in, Field is searching for new opportunities to generate more revenue. With a background in computer technology, he's looking forward to rolling up his sleeves and getting elbow-deep in variable data printing.

Writing A Success Story

Cutting costs and investing in technology are essential to Field's operation, but it's his focus on customer service that has made the in-plant so successful.

"Today's world is a fast-food market, and it's up to us as managers to give the customers what they want, when they want it," he says.

A father of four and a movie and theater buff, he says his favorite pastime is hitting the links.

"And for a golfer like me," says Field, "I'm working in exactly the right city."