In-plants Off The Beaten Path

For Warren Fraser, there's a certain magic about living so far away from the rest of the country.

"I can look out my office window and see the Alaska Range," says Fraser, manager of Printing Services at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. "If you want to be [in a place] with clean air and wilderness close at hand, but still live in a city that has a university and has cultural offerings...then there are some advantages to living in a city like this."

Of course, there are trade-offs. Temperatures this past winter plunged to -40 degrees, Fraser says—though he insists that was no big deal.

"Forty below isn't bad," he contends. "It's when it gets down to 60 below, that's when you've really got to start watching it."

Arctic winters aside, living in a remote location like Fairbanks isn't easy if you happen to be an in-plant manager, like Fraser. Simple services that managers in more populated areas take for granted, like overnight deliveries and easy access to equipment repair technicians, become drawn-out, expensive ordeals.

But there's a good side, Fraser points out: "We're not really high on the radar screen for facility management people."

Isolation Brings Efficiency

Tucked away in the farthest corners of this vast country, countless in-plants are striving every day to provide quality printing for their organizations, despite having access to fewer resources than many of their in-plant peers. For the most part, though, their relative isolation has strengthened them, they say, requiring them to plan far ahead and to improve their capabilities.

"Because of our location, we're pretty well prepared, and probably a little more self-sufficient than other in-plants are," contends Barb Clay, manager of Technical Publications for Marvin Windows and Doors, in Warroad, Minn., which hugs the shore of Lake of the Woods, just six miles south of Canada.

The company maintains its own maintenance department, she explains, with skilled technicians capable of repairing the in-plant's equipment.

"Actually, we probably get a little better service because they're right here," she notes. "They take pretty good care of us."

As far as supply deliveries are concerned, she adds, Marvin Windows' trucks pick up the in-plant's paper and ink orders, saving delivery time.

Still, there are many times when remote in-plants must rely on the outside world. That's when life can get difficult. Take the process of getting new equipment. Some areas are so far off the beaten path that vendors rarely make sales calls.

Way down in Laredo, Texas, right up against the Mexico border, Heriberto Pena reports that the 150-mile drive from San Antonio to his in-plant at Laredo Community College is too far for most vendors to bother making to show off their wares. The result?

"We don't get the latest technology," he says.

It's even worse in Fairbanks, contends Fraser.

"We're basically the absolute last place in the U.S. when there's roll-out of new technology," he says. "When we got the DocuTech, we were probably a year and a half behind the rest of the country."

For in-plant managers in remote places, it can be excruciating to read about new technology, but know it won't be offered to them for years.

"Some of the equipment just isn't available because there are no dealers and no service," Fraser adds. "We don't even consider some things because we know there's no local service."

Sometimes the reluctance of vendors to pay sales calls can backfire. In Grand Forks, N.D., where icy winds whip across the barren winter farmland, Print Shop Supervisor Jim Puppe relates the story of one press purchase for his four-employee shop at Minnkota Power Cooperative. Though the in-plant wanted a one-color press, the salesperson from a major press manufacturer wouldn't even make the trip to Grand Forks unless the in-plant would consider a four-color press. So Puppe gave the business to MAN Roland, whose representatives were more accommodating. When it came time to upgrade to a two-color press, he stuck with MAN Roland, leaving the other vendor out in the cold.

Long-distance Travel Required

While many U.S. in-plants have the luxury of seeing new equipment at regional trade shows, for in-plants in remote areas, there are no local shows. Fraser has to travel to Graph Expo, in Chicago, to see the latest gear.

Likewise, the 10-employee in-plant for First Hawaiian Bank, in Honolulu, doesn't have too many graphic arts trade shows to pick from on the island of Oahu. Manager Glen N. Tsumura says when he's looking for new equipment, he has to settle with reading sales literature, phoning vendors and visiting local commercial printers to see what they have. Two years ago, when he was preparing to buy a two-color Heidelberg GTO, he had to fly to San Francisco to see the equipment at print shops there.

Buying the equipment is only half the battle, though.

"The biggest difficulty is obviously the cost of getting factory technicians up to do repairs, installations, things along those lines," notes Arthur Larsen, director of Printing and Mailing Services at the University of Maine. Located five miles north of Bangor, in a heavily wooded area of old sawmill towns, the 32-employee in-plant has to pay the travel costs of technicians whenever a major repair is needed. Since this involves a five-hour trip from Boston, expenses can easily clear $1,000.

"So for the most part we do our own maintenance and our own repairs," Larsen says.

In Fairbanks the story is the same—only pricier. Fraser says travel costs for a technician to fly up from Seattle can reach $2,500—just to get someone in the door.

"So we get pretty good at doing what some people might consider some major repairs," Fraser says.

In Honolulu, Tsumura says technicians are flown in from the mainland just two or three times a year to do maintenance for all the print shops on the island. If something breaks down in between visits, his employees either fix it themselves or turn to one of the island's other printers for help.

Down in Americus, Ga., an agricultural region dominated by peanut and pecan farms, when equipment goes down at Habitat For Humanity's eight-employee in-plant, it means a long wait for service. Atlanta is three hours north.

"You generally lose one, maybe two days before you can get someone in to service them," laments Mike Chapman, print manager of Communication Services. When service people come in, his operators grill them for information on how to avoid the problem in the future and how to fix it themselves next time.

Preventative Maintenance Crucial

These difficulties have forced remote in-plants to be more self-reliant and carry out frequent preventative maintenance.

"Down time is spent working on the machines," affirms Larsen.

Sometimes the difficulty of getting service affects what equipment an in-plant buys. Perched on the shores of Lake Superior, on Michigan's remote Upper Peninsula, Northern Michigan University Printing Services is a long way from the nearest big city. Manager John Keating says he tries to purchase better quality equipment that will not require much servicing. As a result, he says, his eight-employee shop is a little more sophisticated than the other printers in Marquette.

"We have the most capabilities," he says.

Even so, the shop can't handle everything. So when Keating needs to outsource, he has to turn to commercial printers as far away as Appleton, Wis., or Traverse City, Mich., five or six hours away. This can slow down completion of jobs and make customers anxious. To keep as many jobs in-house as possible, Keating's staff helps customers design their jobs to fit the in-plant's capabilities.

On the Georgia plains, Chapman of Habitat For Humanity says the nearest large commercial printers are at least 60 miles away. This distance has benefitted the in-plant by justifying its existence, he says.

When remote in-plants do have commercial printers nearby, managers say they have close relationships with them because of their shared isolation.

"We work close with our commercial shops," reports Jim Puppe, of Minnkota Power. His shop has borrowed plates from commercial printers and used their equipment to burn them in a pinch. The in-plant has returned such favors.

Skilled Employees Scarce

One of the toughest things about running an in-plant in a remote location is finding skilled employees. Though this task is no picnic even in big cities, it's especially difficult to lure skilled operators to out-of-the-way locations.

"It's tough to get people to move," affirms Arthur Larsen, at the University of Maine. Though the cost of living in Maine is lower than in New York, he says, the salary doesn't look very attractive by comparison. Fortunately, says Larsen, "we hardly have any turnover."

The hiring process is equally difficult in Alaska.

"There's a very small labor pool in Fairbanks," says Fraser. "A lot of people from Anchorage don't want to move to Fairbanks."

He has had to go out of state to find skilled press operators, using such perks as Alaska's lack of a state income tax. Two of his press operators moved from California and Nevada, lured at least in part by the remoteness of the area.

Sometimes the lack of local talent is due to a lack of emphasis on graphic arts in the schools.

"Here in Hawaii, the extent of training goes up to just a few community colleges," says Glen Tsumura, of First Hawaiian Bank. "Some high schools have graphic classes or printing, but they're slowly dying out."

In situations like this, in-plants are forced to do their own training. They also take advantage of vendor training courses. Fraser has sent employees to Chicago for training. Chapman's operators have gone to Atlanta for press seminars.

"Any time an opportunity comes up, I try to make it available," Chapman says.

Many managers develop their own skills by attending in-plant conferences, where they can fraternize with other managers, something they rarely get to do at home. Chapman is fond of attending the International Publishing Management Association conference. Keating and Fraser try to attend the Association of College and University Printers conference, which both have hosted. (Unfortunately, Fraser—who usually entertains ACUP attendees with his bagpipe melodies—had to skip the event last month to finish up his MBA studies.)

Mail Delays

Though remote in-plants try to be self-sufficient, they can't avoid one complication: the lack of access to overnight delivery services.

"There is just no real convenient overnight service to the eastern part of the United States," laments Fraser. Federal Express picks up at noon, he says, but it cannot guarantee overnight delivery from Alaska.

The UAF rifle team recently needed its media guides printed and shipped to the NCAA National Rifle Championships in Kentucky (which the team won yet again), but the in-plant didn't receive the job until the last minute. Because of the distance, the guides arrived late.

"It just slows everything down," says Fraser.

Chapman also reports slow Federal Express and UPS service, with pickups and deliveries in the late afternoon. When parts are shipped to the in-plant, they don't arrive until late, so the equipment can't be used for almost a full day.

Digital technology has eliminated some of the need for delivery services, making it easier for an in-plant to be located in a remote location. At Marvin Windows, in northern Minnesota, the 21-employee in-plant used to have to wait for Federal Express to deliver film produced by the company's marketing department, down in Eagan, Minn. Now PDF files are sent digitally, saving lots of time.

One factor that often accompanies a remote location is extreme weather. Frigid winters and humid summers can make life unpleasant. But most northern in-plants say cold, snowy winters have little negative impact on their in-plants—if they take a few precautions.

"We have to climatize the paper when it comes off the truck," says Larsen, in Maine. This involves storing it in the shop's climate-controlled stock room for 24 hours.

Cold winters require in-plants to plan ahead. Puppe says he orders chemicals well in advance of winter so they don't freeze during delivery.

Down in Georgia, where summer humidity levels soar, Chapman says his climate-controlled building helps prevent humidity-related problems in the print shop. Unfortunately, Keating doesn't have a climate-controlled shop up at Northern Michigan University, where he says humidity levels can change dramatically from day to day. This can lead to copier problems as static builds up.

But Keating, for one, wouldn't trade northern Michigan's weather for anything. He likes the area's access to winter sports, and its beauty and relative remoteness are part of the reason he has stayed there so many years. Also, he says, the area's location has bred a feeling of small-town camaraderie between his tight-knit staff and the customers.

"Because of where we are and because we're a smaller school, we think it's easier to be a little more personable with people," he says.

As an example, he mentions a recent snowy day when he was out of the office. The university closed because of the snow, but his staff kept working, concerned about getting customers' jobs done on time.

Overall, managers of remote in-plants feel the quality of life in their regions is so good that it far outweighs the difficulties they may face. But the biggest plus, points out Puppe, of Minnkota Power, may well be the commute:

"It's only about seven minutes to work," he says.