Inspirational Session on New Services Caps SUPDMC Conference
On the last day of the Southeastern University Print, Digital and Mail Conference (SUPDMC), Ed Arning swept into Savannah and took over with an energetic and inspirational presentation on his in-plant’s successes. With the strong support of Middle Tennessee State University’s marketing and communications division, Arning’s in-plant is marketing its services in clever ways and bringing project ideas to customers, fueling growth to the point that September was the shop’s highest revenue month in history.
Ed Arning of Middle Tennessee State University talks about his in-plant's services and marketing efforts at SUPDMC 2024.
“We tend to say ‘yes’ to every idea there is and give it a shot,” said Arning, director of market development, in which role he oversees the Murfreesboro, Tennessee, university’s 11-person in-plant, called Blue Print.
The session came at the tail end of the three-day SUPDMC 2024 conference, held in Savannah, Georgia, Oct. 14-16. Coordinated by Drew Burgering, manager of Columbus State University’s in-plant, the 46th SUPDMC conference brought managers together from schools like the University of North Carolina, Duke University, North Carolina State University, Ohio University, Clayton County Public Schools and others.
Drew Burgering, manager of Columbus State University’s in-plant, welcomes SUPDMC attendees.
Arning revealed that the university’s desire to promote its football program after bringing in a new coach spurred to in-plant to unleash a variety of printed promotional pieces, including a lot of signage around campus. The in-plant has had great success with pull-up banners and vinyl pole banners too. It promotes yard signs to the parents of new students and graduates, who can order signs online congratulating their children and place them on their lawns. Blue Print also has a growing T-shirt printing business.
Because it is part of the university’s marketing and communications division, the in-plant is permitted to advertise its service on campus, which it does with window perf ads on bus shelters, pop-up banners, flyers, booklets, and other printed pieces promoting the variety of services it provides.
From left: Blaine Gabriel, Paul Jones and Steve Barrett participate in a spirited discussion during SUPDMC 2024.
“We’re actually taking ideas to the customer base,” said Arning. “We don’t sit and wait for the phone to ring.”
The conference kicked off with opening speaker Rob Butcher, CEO of Swim Across America, who detailed how his career developed from his days as a college swimming, to his time at NASCAR, to his leadership role in the national nonprofit. He was followed by IPI Editor Bob Neubauer who talked about trends at higher-ed in-plants, citing data from a 2024 IPI research report. He also addressed artificial intelligence (AI) in the printing industry and offered examples of how it’s being used to create direct mail campaigns and even analyze and summarize lengthy email messages.
Blaine Gabriel talked about his in-plant’s busy apparel printing business.
Another interesting speaker, Blaine Gabriel of Ohio University, impressed attendees with a description of his in-plant’s busy apparel printing business, which is generating his shop’s second highest profit margin after wide-format printing. His staff produces 500-600 shirts per week using a new EZ-Jet Pro 24 direct-to-film printer from Equipment Zone and three heat presses. The Athens, Ohio, in-plant produces shirts for university groups and for local businesses.
“We are just ecstatic with the way this thing’s taken off for us,” said Gabriel. “It’s a very big revenue maker for us.”
Bob Neubauer discussed trends at higher-ed in-plants, citing data from a 2024 IPI research report.
Other sessions covered different types of adhesives used on graphics, and ways in-plants can add value with wide-format, embellishment, and security inks. Mike Strand of edu Business Solutions led a discussion on Web-to-print systems in which he showed some in-plants’ ordering sites and discussed various features. He also previewed an apparel ordering module he is working on.
An interactive discussion about production inkjet by Dave Matheu of R.J. Young covered the state of inkjet in the market, the difference between aqueous and UV inkjet presses, recent improvements to the technology, and more. The conversation inspired lots of questions from attendees.
At the end of the conference, Steve Barrett revealed his interest in hosting SUPDMC 2025 at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, next fall.
Bob has served as editor of In-plant Impressions since October of 1994. Prior to that he served for three years as managing editor of Printing Impressions, a commercial printing publication. Mr. Neubauer is very active in the U.S. in-plant industry. He attends all the major in-plant conferences and has visited more than 180 in-plant operations around the world. He has given presentations to numerous in-plant groups in the U.S., Canada and Australia, including the Association of College and University Printers and the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association. He also coordinates the annual In-Print contest, co-sponsored by IPMA and In-plant Impressions.
