ACUP by the Bay

IF YOU try to remain “just a printer,” you’re not going to be in business very long.

Those words, spoken by Xerox President Ursula Burns in her keynote address, reflected the overall message of this year’s Association of College and University Printers (ACUP) conference, held recently in San Francisco.

Taking the theme “We’re Not Just Printers Anymore,” ACUP 2007 endeavored to remind its in-plant attendees that they are communications providers, and should think beyond print when adding new products and services.

Collaborate with admissions and other departments to come up with new ways your in-plant can add value, urged Burns. And never forget that today’s technologically advanced students expect communication to reach them through more channels than just print.

This year’s ACUP, the 43rd annual event, was quite well attended, with 142 in-plant representatives from 93 higher-ed institutions taking part. They hailed from 34 states and five foreign countries (Canada, England, Scotland, Australia and New Zealand).

The location, too, was ideal. San Francisco is a gem among cities, and ACUP was smack in the middle of it, just a block from the Powell Street cable car tracks and the palm-lined oasis of Union Square.

Early arrivals enjoyed a trip to Alcatraz Island and a tour of the former prison there. Sunny spring weather throughout the conference only enhanced the experience. (Watch video of ACUP 2007: www.ipgonline.com/#videoplayer . Read about ACUP 2006: www.ipgonline.com/story/story.bsp?sid=32137&var=story)

ACUP 2007 was expertly organized and hosted by the in-plants of six University of California (UC) campuses: Berkeley, Davis, Riverside, Santa Cruz, San Diego and San Francisco. Tom Tozier, director of Printing Services at UC-Santa Cruz, served as ACUP president. He and managers from the other campuses planned session topics, invited speakers and scheduled evening activities. They also arranged to have 23 vendors bring their wares and ideas to ACUP and set up booths.

The conference included a field trip to one of the country’s largest and busiest university in-plants: University of California-Berkeley Printing Services. There, attendees got to check out the in-plant’s new facility and see its six multi-color presses—including a web press—in action.

Major Industry Event

In the university in-plant world—arguably the most active and vocal sector of the in-plant industry—ACUP is akin to the Academy Awards, an event that brings together all the big names in the business. For newcomers (and even seasoned editors) meeting people they recognize from the pages of IPG can feel like encountering stars.

That’s how it was at ACUP’s opening reception, a lively affair where first-timers and ACUP veterans from all over the world mingled comfortably like old friends.

The joviality spilled over into the first morning’s keynote address by Stan Morrison, director of Athletics at UC-Riverside. His message, that employees need to feel valuable, was well received, and he had attendees on their feet, shaking hands and thinking about the impact that a friendly, heartfelt greeting can have on employees’ moods (and loyalty).

Sharing knowledge with employees—not withholding it—is important to building esprit de corps, he declared.

“When you share, it will come back to you 10-fold,” he declared.

Selecting a Digital Press

Despite delving into non-print topics like Knowledge Management, copyright and customer integration, ACUP couldn’t entirely dodge the topic of printing. Two of the strongest sessions featured digital press users explaining why this technology has been crucial to their survival.

In the first panel discussion, three directors of in-plants using HP Indigo, Kodak and Xerox systems explained their reasons for picking the equipment they did. On the panel were:

n Steve Burdette, director of Maverick Print & Mail at the University of Texas-Arlington, which uses a Kodak NexPress 2100 Plus.

n Rick Wise, director of University of Missouri-Columbia Printing Services, where a Xerox iGen3 was installed in late 2005.

n Jimmy Friend, director of Print/Copy/Mail Services at University of North Texas, which runs an HP Indigo 3000 digital press.

All had similar reasons for needing a digital press—mainly because customers were demanding fast-turnaround, high-quality, short-run four-color work at competitive prices.

“I don’t want to tell our customers ‘no,’ ” explained Wise, adding that this was his number one reason for getting a digital press. Without one, he was sure his in-plant would lose business.

The ability to do variable data printing for personalized recruiting was also a big reason these in-plants got a digital press—but not the main reason.

“I believe variable data is icing on the cake,” noted Friend. “Don’t buy for variable data. It will come.”

Friend and his staff did a lot of homework before deciding to get an HP Indigo press. They met with all three vendors and gave each the same files to output. He shared the results with his shop’s seven highest-volume customers and got their input on quality levels. Based on their feedback, he says, “the Indigo was the machine of choice for us.”

Burdette said his in-plant considered each press’s ability to print on house paper, match PMS colors and fit in his facility, as well as the availability of local service technicians. Also important: production volume yield per eight-hour shift.

“We didn’t look at just what the price of the actual box was,” he added, “we actually [considered], if we do a million a year over a five-year period, how much [are] our consumables going to cost us?”

Wise said ability to print on a variety of stocks was an important consideration for his shop, since customers are used to such flexibility for offset jobs.

All three said customers are lining up to use their digital presses.

“I have more demand for my NexPress now than I can keep up with,” testified Burdette. As a result, his shop is requesting a second NexPress.

Friend noted that almost 65 percent of his shop’s print projects have migrated to his Indigo press.

Wise was surprised at how quickly his iGen3 was productive.

“We were producing live jobs three or four days after installation,” he said.

Low-volume Digital Color

A similar panel allowed three low-volume in-plants to discuss the digital printers they installed. Sharing their experiences were:

n Alan Anderson, director of Mail & Document Services at New York’s Barnard College, where a Konica Minolta C500 was the printer of choice.

n Lida Gardner, manager of University Graphics & Copy Center at North Carolina State University-Raleigh. The shop is using a Xerox DocuColor 240.

n Duncan Hurst, director of Media Services at Heriot-Watt University, in Edinburgh, Scotland, where the Océ CPS 800 Platinum handles color printing.

The managers reported that their new color equipment cut costs drastically and allowed more customers to incorporate four-color images. More versatility in handling heavy papers was another benefit. Gardner said in-line finishing was an important feature and has helped tremendously.

“We rarely stitch in the bindery anymore,” she reported.

For help selecting the best device, Anderson and Hurst looked to reports from BERTL, Larry Hunt and Better Buys for Business.

The advantages of digital printing, particularly for variable data, were explored further in a session hosted by INTERQUEST, a research and consulting firm. Speakers assessed all the color printing solutions on the market and gave examples of how universities are successfully implementing color digital printing and 1:1 communications.

Web-to-print Solutions

Bringing customer files into your in-plant in the easiest, most reliable way possible is on the minds of many managers. Sharing their experiences with Web-to-print systems were:

n Dan Dore, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory

n Maury Kane, Temple University

n Nancy Wallan, UC-Los Angeles

n Rick Wise, University of Missouri-Columbia

Dore’s in-plant utilizes an internally designed system to allow online ordering of stationery, business cards and supplies. The main reasons they stuck with an in-house solution were the lower cost, the ability to customize it and the fact that updates can be done quickly.

The system provides e-mail notifications of incoming jobs, which Dore says is very helpful. It also accepts MicroSoft Office and Adobe files for output on digital copiers. It has improved productivity for customers and the in-plant, though customers lament the loss of the personal touch they got when bringing jobs to the in-plant.

Kane started using PagePath’s MyOrderDesk in 2001 to accept jobs for his eight Philadelphia copy centers. He said this system offered the best return on investment. The Advanced Package costs $7.00 per day for up to 500 users, plus the $700 initial sign up fee. MyOrderDesk can set up templates for standard forms, accept most files, convert them to PDFs and provide soft proofs via e-mail.

Though users find the system convenient, they do have to download a print driver, and upgrading computers requires a software reload. Kane laments that he has too few users at Temple (less than 100 active ones) and 95 percent of all work is still submitted as hard copy.

UC-Los Angeles went with NowPRINT from NowDocs. Key features include automated job pricing and billing, capturing and storing job ticket information, security, a convenient customer interface, automated online job status notifications, access to order and account histories and online proofing. The system offers electronic job ticketing and automated translation of job specifications to the printing equipment, which reduces setup time. Wallan reports “tremendous interest” in using the system.

Online job submission at the University of Missouri-Columbia consists of two components, one for digital (toner) work and one for offset jobs. The digital component was originally co-developed by MU Printing Services and T/R Systems, and has since evolved into the Digital Storefront now owned by EFI. Printing Services operates the original beta site for this product. For offset work, Printing Services created its own Web submission system. Both components are being heavily used on a daily basis by customers.

Reaching Your Customer

To give attendees ideas on how they can better integrate with customers, an international panel of managers took the floor. Taking part were:

• Robert Mascarenhas, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia

• Richard Beto, University of Texas at Austin

• Francis Reis, University of Plymouth, England

• Andrew Scott, Glasgow Caledonian University, Scotland

Mascarenhas tries to integrate with student customers by offering useful new services. His in-plant downloads lectures and puts them on CD, and sells course notes. He also provides photo kiosks, a popular attraction.

All panelists say they reach out personally to faculty and staff by doing presentations at meetings and scheduling one-on-one meetings. Reis noted that it’s harder for them to tell you “no” when you’re there in person. Plus, meeting with them shows you’re prepared to come to them to help.

Some said they hold educational events to help customers prepare files for print and understand the possibilities of one-to-one marketing.

Focus on new employees, panelists urged. Scott targets them with welcome e-mails and invitations to tour his shop. Beto participates in new faculty orientation. And don’t forget new students, Mascarenhas said. He has asked the peer group that introduces new students to the university to mention his in-plant.

Customer focus groups are a great way to learn the concerns of customers—just make sure you listen, Beto cautioned.

“For every one complaint that you get, you have to act on it,” he said. If you do, 85 percent of dissatisfied customers will come back.

Integrating with your customers is vital. Mascarenhas says he is involved with and integrated into so many departments that it would be very hard for his university to shut down his in-plant.

Knowledge Management Doubleheader

Knowledge Management was a big topic at ACUP, with no less than two sessions devoted to it. Ken Macro, assistant professor at California Polytechnic State University, gave a high-speed presentation detailing why in-plants should get involved in Knowledge Management initiatives. (His paper on the topic was summarized in IPG’s March issue.)

Wayne Riggall, of the University of Canterbury, in New Zealand, followed up with a practical perspective. In-plants, he said, should seek out others who influence or use information systems that have strong linkages to documents. They should also find ways to leverage their document repositories for new business outcomes. Pushing for a common meta data standard in an organization, he said, will help the in-plant collect needed data from different divisions.

“It’s about working collaboritively,” he said.

And collaboration is one word ACUP attendees understand. Of all sectors in the in-plant industry, university in-plants collaborate with each other more than any others. It’s what ACUP is all about, and has been for 43 years now.IPG

ACUP 2008 will move back to the East Coast, with its first foray into Florida. Florida State University will co-host with the University of North Florida. The conference will take place in Jacksonville next April.