In-plant Session at Graph Expo Draws Large Crowd

If you couldn’t already tell from the numerous news stories IPG publishes each month, digital color printing is a hot topic for in-plants. One more sign of this came at Graph Expo last month when more than 60 in-plant managers packed into a special digital printing seminar, co-hosted by IPG and the IPMA. The 90-minute session featured six different speakers—three vendors and three in-plant managers—who provided a ton of useful information about selecting, cost justifying and marketing digital color printing equipment.

First up, Océ’s Eric de Goeijen listed seven key criteria in-plants should consider when selecting a digital press: product features, workflow software (for production, archiving and job submission), scalability (ability to add capacity as you grow), modularity, sustainability (of the equipment and vendor), service/support and financing programs.

Then Charlotte Holden, director of Administrative Services at the Houston Independent School District, offered her advice on how to select a printer. Know your information up front, she said; don’t rely on vendors to give it to you. This includes monthly impressions, electrical requirements, total cost of ownership, staffing capabilities and equipment/software capabilities.

Make sure you’re getting a device that can handle both current and future types of work. Ask for marketing support from the vendor, and request a trial period with any new equipment. (She asks for 30 days.) Know the exceptions up front or they could end up being deal breakers, she said.

Xerox’s Karlie Jessop and Christopher Donlon, communications leader for print production at Kohler Co., tackled the topic of cost justification of a digital press by having a mock conversation on stage. Donlon revealed he is considering adding two iGen3s to his three-employee in-plant. As the print buyer, he sees (and tracks) all outgoing printing so he knows what type of work his shop would have to print if it were to get a digital press.

Donlon said his in-plant does not have the right of first refusal, so he must constantly sell his shop’s services. Fortunately he has a sales background, he said.

“I take a sales approach with everything I do,” he said.

This has helped him gain new customers and also sell the print-on-demand concept to his company—an important part of justifying new digital equipment.

Ricoh’s Greg Cholmondeley urged managers to stress to their upper management how their in-plant is helping the organization’s core business, rather than just stressing how the in-plant saves money, the approach taken by facilities management companies.

Offering a perspective from his work with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota’s in-plant, Loren Schoenzeit advised in-plant managers to listen to customers for clues that it’s time for the in-plant to evolve. If customers are saying it’s easier to outsource printing; if they’re printing more than 100,000 pages a month on workgroup printers; if you see less than six inventory turnovers a year, then it’s time to change. Digital printing is probably the answer.

To “sell” digital printing to customers, start with small projects, he said. Find a key internal partner, help them succeed using digital printing, and then promote this success. This will bring in more business as well as more investment capital.

“This is far more than buying a digital printer,” he concluded. “This is really...about improving communication.”