Maximum Coverage

BlueCross BlueShield is a big name in the in-plant world, with dozens of shops serving its many offices around the country. We spoke with several of them to find out why BCBS values its in-plants so much.

By MIKE LLEWELLYN &012;If you were to look at a list of all the in-plants in the country, one name would pop up more than any other: BlueCross BlueShield.

Because BCBS is not centrally operated, each "Blue Plan," as employees call the independent companies in the network, must produce its own marketing materials, explanations of benefits (EOBs), brochures and internal correspondence. Thus, many BCBS Blue Plans have set up in-plants.

The managers that operate these facilities all over the country say there are many reasons in-plants are such an attractive alternative to outsourcing printing for BCBS.

"We're right on site, so turnaround is much quicker than commercial printers," says Cindy Larson, director of the Output Facility at BCBS of Minnesota. With 80 employees, her St. Paul operation is the largest BCBS in-plant in the country.

Sandy McFarland, of Anthem BlueCross BlueShield of Colorado and Nevada, agrees with Larson.

"With us, turnaround can be as little as five minutes, or a few days, depending," she says. "But I think we've got a true vested interest in the health of the company, and in the quality of what we produce."

McFarland's in-plant made IPG headlines a few years ago after the company dumped the outsourcing firm it had brought in to replace the in-plant and restarted its own print shop—with very successful results.

"Plus, you're dealing with people's health care," continues Larson. "So security is a very high priority for upper management."

She feels that because her shop prints so much private health information, the company feels compelled to print everything in-house.

While security and convenience are certainly important, the decision to host an in-plant facility is ultimately an economic one for each BCBS location.

Maxine Glass, manager of Regence BlueCross in Oregon, says that cost effectiveness is, by far, the leading factor in the popularity of in-plants among BCBS network companies.

"We do a cost justification every year," she says. "Most of the time, we can show the company that they're saving between 30 and 60 percent over what they would be spending had they chosen to send the work to a commercial printer."

Larson concurs.

"Having an in-plant on site just lowers prices," she says. "And we can customize the work to suit our customers' needs much more easily than a commercial printer can."

The value of BCBS in-plants even holds up under scrutiny.

"In Michigan, they've brought in consultants on two occasions to look at the possibility of outsourcing us," says Patrick O'Donnell, manager of BCBS of Michigan Printing Services. "Both times, the consultants have told the company that we should be doing more printing work."

With an in-plant, O'Donnell continues, the company has more say over exactly which jobs are most important. The company never has to play second fiddle to anyone else.

"The corporation can control our priorities," he points out.

Long Distance Relationships

With so much in common, the in-plants seem in a great position to communicate and share work. But the BCBS printing family doesn't get around to seeing much of each other, says Mike Bross, manager of Office Services for BCBS of Mississippi. "We never split up work," says the 35-year veteran, explaining that because each "Blue Plan" is run as a separate business, it would be difficult to delineate costs between the two companies. "But we call each other up on occassion to ask for advice."

Patrick O'Donnell, in Michigan, says his communication with other BCBS in-plants has been by chance. He often turns to the International Publishing Management Association's listserv for advice, and has seen other BCBS in-plants posting tips in the past.

"That's really a great service," he says.

Larson says that while she knows of no formal associations among the in-plants, she has attended several impromptu roundtables at a number of trade shows, especially Xplor.

Merges Ahead

The decentralized management of BlueCross BlueShield has resulted in another unique challenge for the managers: Corporate mergers.

Several of the Blue Plans have merged over the past few years, and there are more consolidations on the horizon.

Sandy McFarland says that she now finds herself at the helm of a much larger operation than she did just a few years ago.

"We were bought out by Anthem in 1999, so now the whole western division is part of the same plan," she says.

In New England, Anthem BCBS has taken over several Blue Plans and consolidated some of the in-plants. The in-plant at Anthem's Maine office was closed, and now the New Hampshire in-plant is handling all of the offset printing for the Maine office, as well as for other Anthem offices on the East Coast. Digital printing is now done at Anthem's Connecticut facility.

Manager Gordon Billodeau says his nine-employee shop is trying to become the main offset operation for all Anthem BCBS offices in the country.

As the facilities merge their responsibilties, the Blue Cross name is becoming identified with some of the largest in-plants in the country. Already, BCBS of Minnesota ranks 23 on the IPG Top 50, and BCBS of Michigan comes in at number 69 on the extended list.

Although each BCBS in-plant has ostensibly the same mandate, they vary widely in size and specialization. Most handle offset printing and bindery, but some specialize in areas like data center printing or CD replication.

What follows is a look at several BCBS in-plants of various sizes around the country.

BCBS of Minnesota

Manager: Cindy Larson

Employees: 80

Budget: $19 million

Specialties: High-speed digital printing, mailing, distribution services (both internal and external)

"We've had really strong upper management support," says Cindy Larson, director of the Output Facility. "We have a pretty paper-intense business, but we've been able to turn work around quicker [than commercial printers]. And we're convenient because we're right on site."

Unlike many other BCBS in-plants, BCBS of Minnesota merged its in-plant with its data center output and mail operations several years ago. In addition to offset printing, the in-plant now prints items like claims, member ID cards, contracts, EOBs and other system-generated business letters, using the company's main customer database.

Anthem BCBS of Colorado and Nevada

Manager: Sandy McFarland

Employees: 25 (soon to increase to 35)

Specialties: Mailing, centralizing business functions

In 1999, offset printing was removed from manager Sandy McFarland's jurisdiction. As part of a large consolidation, her in-plant was brought under the control of the Anthem arm of the BCBS network, and she has been placed in charge of the Western territory of the company.

"We now do mainly mainframe and print-on-demand work," she says. A large majority of that work is forms and health plan descriptions, which she runs off of a Xerox 6180.

As a manager, McFarland says she devotes most of her effort to finding new ways to consolidate the operation.

BCBS of Michigan

Manager: Patrick O'Donnell

Employees: 33

Budget: $5.8 million

Specialties: On-demand printing, multi-color marketing brochures, forms and high-speeed CD replication

BCBS of Michigan, contends Manager Patrick O'Donnell, is the largest health plan in the network. As a result, the in-plant finds itself turning out 7 million impressions a month, 35 percent of which are offset. To handle that offset work, O'Donnell's shop boasts a five-color Heidelberg GTO, a 25˝ single color Heidelberg, and three 18˝ Ryobis.

"We do a lot of on-demand work," he says—65 percent of the total volume. To handle that, the shop uses four Xerox DocuTech 135s and a two-color Xerox DP92.

BCBS of Illinois

Manager: Mike Compton

Employees: 18

Specialties: Two-color offset, high-speed digital printing

This in-plant team spends a good deal of its time running two-color forms and benefit booklets. To handle these jobs, and others, the shop boasts two Didde web presses. Most of the multi-color work, says Compton, is printed on a Sakurai 258 E2.

To streamline his shop's workflow and efficiency, Compton also runs an Avanti job tracking system.

"I've got a real good team," says Compton, "and I get a lot of support from upper management."

Horizon BCBS of New Jersey

Manager: Mike Driscoll

Employees: 10

Specialties: Two-color offset, forms printing

"Cost effectiveness," says manager Mike Driscoll, is what keeps the doors of his shop open. "Plus, some of the things that we print are confidential, and our turnaround time is very fast."

Most of the work the shop handles is run on five two-color presses, he says. His shop tries to keep open lines of communication with other BCBS shops.

"My manager has called up Connecticut and Florida," he says. "Most of the time it's regarding a comparison of equipment."

Care First BCBS (Washington, D.C.)

Manager: Clarence Porter

Employees: 5

Budget: $100,000+

Specialties: Digital printing, booklet making

The Care First shop just moved to its new location in May, says Supervisor Clarence Porter.

The shop cashed in all of its offset equipment and is now running the majority of its color work off a bank of Xerox DocuTechs. The printers turn out about 2.3 million impressions per month.

"Our main thing is customized book covers," says Porter. "We run about 12 to 15 [thousand] of those each month."

Porter says it's not uncommon for him to get calls from other BCBS shops asking for advice, or to make some of those calls himself.

"We've gotten a couple of calls about running DocuTechs," he says.

BCBS of Utah

Manager: Scott Taylor

Employees: 8

Budget: $600,000

Specialties: Two-color offset, finishing

Running two Ryobi presses and a Shinohara, Scott Taylor and his team output about three million impressions a month. Taylor says there is one thing keeping his shop in business: "Service. We service the company's printing needs easier, faster and cheaper than anyone else could."

His shop specializes in two-color, saddle-stitched marketing material.

Regence BlueShield (Tacoma, Wash.)

Manager: Maxine Glass

Employees: 33 in two states

Budget: $3.3 million ($4.5 million including outgoing mail)

Specialties: Four-color, four-over-four offset and high-speed digital printing

Maxine Glass has seen her responsibilities expand as Regence BlueShield became a partner in a four-state operation including Washington, Oregon, Utah, and Idaho. Where once she was only responsible for Washington, she is now responsible for Washington BlueShield and Oregon BlueCross and BlueShield. (Idaho and Utah have a seperate printing operation.)

Her facilities produce a variety of materials, including four-color marketing and sales pieces, which the shop turns out on a Heidelberg Speedmaster and Heidelberg GTO perfectors.

Digital work is done on two Xerox DocuTech 6180s with bindery capabilities and a Xerox 2060 color machine. The in-plant prints a range of brochures and publications for the company.

BCBS of Mississippi

Manager: Michael Bross

Employees: 32

Specialties: Mailing, high-speed digital printing

If there's one thing the BCBS of Mississippi in-plant does well, it's mailing. Office Services' operation hinges on Pitney Bowes' StreamWeaver software and a Pitney Bowes inserter.

Michael Bross reports that his shop is also involved in a year-old "test partnership" with the company's data center. Troubled by aging equipment, the data center is considering sending many of its larger jobs to Bross's facility to be printed from a bank of Xerox DocuTechs and mailed.

His shop is responsible for both incoming and outgoing mail—a big responsibility when, Bross reports, his operation is mailing out a million EOBs each month.