On-Line News
Twice The Color—Without The Cost
Customers wanted more color. But Arkansas State University Printing Services had only a one-color, 29˝ Heidelberg press.
Posing with Arkansas State University Printing Services' new MAN Roland R204E press are (front row, from left) Director David Maloch, L. C. McHalffey (press operator), Allison Brown (printing management student), and Terri Collins (accounting tech). Standing behind Maloch: Homer Hallet (press/bindery operator), Phareta Calkin (prepress tech), and Mark Meyer (assistant director).
For years, the nine-employee operation had been running four-color work on the press, in addition to black-and-white book jobs. But despite operating the press eight hours a day, five days a week, the shop was having a tough time keeping up.
"You can imagine that was an ordeal," remarks David Maloch, director. "We were just getting into a lot of time crunches on delivery."
So Maloch started looking into a two-color press. When he talked to MAN Roland about it, however, the company offered him twice was he was looking for.
"MAN Roland came out and gave us a proposal on a four-color, with an educational discount, for just a few dollars more than what a two-color was going to cost," Maloch reveals.
So the in-plant took it. In June, the Jonesboro-based operation installed a 20x29˝ MAN Roland R204E press with an operator console in the delivery end. With auto ink keys, registration and job memory, plus a Calypso chiller and Baldwin blanket washers, the press is major step up for the in-plant.
"It's really expanded our capacity," enthuses Maloch. The shop used to have to stop printing four-color jobs to print books; now the one-color press can print books all the time. And where one four-color job often took two days previously, now two jobs can be run in one day.
The in-plant was fortunate to have a university vice president with some printing experience who understood the advantage of a four-color press over a two-color. Also, because the university runs a printing management program, with the in-plant serving as a lab, the new press will expose students to four-color printing the way it's done in the commercial world—on a four-color press.
The in-plant prints many of the school's recruiting pieces, so the demand for quality is high. With the new press, Maloch says, registration will be much improved and the problem of paper stretching and shrinking between runs will be eliminated.
What's more, with the additional capacity, the in-plant will be able to take in more color work from other universities, in addition to its own five satellite campuses.
Printing Services recently had a scare when a storm blew off half of its building's roof, damaging some offices and pouring water into the Macintosh lab. Fortunately, the shop got only minimal damage, none of it to the new press.
The in-plant will get a chance to formally show off its new press at an open house on August 29, when it will also show off its new 42˝ Encad wide-format printer and GBC Titan laminator.
Top 50 Meeting A Success
Representatives from 16 of the Top 50 in-plants met with IPG Editor Bob Neubauer in Portland, Ore., recently to discuss topics of particular interest to their very large operations.
The lively meeting marked the first time managers from the country's largest in-plants had gathered in one room for face-to-face discussions. Participants discussed their reporting hierarchies, the pros and cons of having a right of first refusal, insourcing and associations they belonged to. The meeting ended all too quickly, with conversation still flowing strongly. Participants agreed that future similar roundtables would be very useful.
With this in mind, IPG is planning a much larger gathering during the Print 01 trade show in Chicago. The September 9 meeting, open to all in-plants listed on the IPG Top 70 list (see our Web site), will feature roundtable discussions on topics of interest to the largest in-plants. For more info and to suggest topics for discussion, please e-mail editor.ipg@napco.com.
IPG Honors Managers
At the recent IPMA 2001 conference in Portland, Ore., IPG Editor Bob Neubauer presented 12 certificates of recognition to managers who have been profiled in IPG's Manager Profile section. At the conference to receive their awards were Warren Lombardy, Debbie Pavletich, Charlie Tonoff, Tim Criswell and Bill Nungesser (accepting the award for Pete Beck). Other recipients were Doug Larsen, Frank R. Gennusa Sr., Doug Miller, Mike Sprayberry, Gary Judd, Rob Lilley and Dan Kovalsky.
Calendar
• September 6-13. PRINT 01. McCormick Place, Chicago. For info, call (703) 264-7200, e-mail info@gasc.org or visit www.gasc.org.
• September 24-28. Seybold San Francisco. For info, call (888) 886-8895 or visit www.seyboldseminars.com.
• September 30-October 3. National State Publishing Association, 25th annual conference. Baton Rouge, La. For info, call (601) 582-3330 or visit www.govpublishing.org.
• October 21-24. Southeastern University Printing and Duplicating Managers Conference. Gulfport, Miss. For info, call (601) 266-4186.
Printnation Returns
Pitman Co. has relaunched Printnation.com, the online printing equipment and supplies store. The e-commerce Web site reportedly offers customers the ability to order more than 80,000 products online, including equipment, software and consumables. It now is backed up by Pitman's nationwide bricks-and-mortar infrastructure—including 20 warehouse locations across the United States.
Internet Benefits
According to Xplor International's 2000-2001 Technology Directions Survey, the top benefits of Internet use for companies and service providers are:
• To facilitate connection to customers
• E-business
• To obtain information
• To facilitate customer service
• As a sales tool for marketing communications
• As a sales tool for lead generation
• To facilitate connection to partners/suppliers
"Connecting with customers through the implementation of Internet and e-business solutions is becoming a necessity rather than a luxury for today's enterprises," says Roberta S. McKee, Xplor's director of technology and programs. "The solution may be as simple as e-mail capabilities with customers, or as complex as supply-chain management, customer relationship management, or dynamic statement and payment options."
To order a copy of the survey, e-mail info@xplor.org.
In-plants Attend Open House
More than 300 printers from the United States and Canada attended a Technology Open House in June sponsored by MAN Roland. In-plant managers from Arkansas, Illinois, Louisiana and Florida visited the Westmont, Ill., Graphic Center, a demonstration facility.
Product Manager Brian McGreevy demonstrated a Roland 700, stressing the quickness of the computer makeready and power-plate loading systems. Because of strong interest in full 23x29˝ sheet size by many in-plants, next up was the Roland 300, where emphasis was on the use of multiple perfecting units to add versatility to the press configuration. McGreevy finished on the four-color Roland 204, a half-size press with a small footprint.
Dr. Josef Schneider, head of digital printing for MAN Roland, gave an overview of the Digital Change Over (DICO) system, including the DICOweb direct imaging press.
The Graphic Center allows real-time demonstrations to be transmitted via the Web to other locations. An in-plant can send a small team to the center and show the demo to others back home at the same time.
—by Don W. Davis
A Contest By Context
A new printing competition, sponsored by Potlatch, will pit entries against others within their own industry category rather than by type of printed piece. Called Context One, the contest will judge brochures, catalogs, newsletters, posters, etc. produced by non-profits, for example, against those of other non-profits. The 10 categories are:
• Technology and telecommunication
• Health/medicine
• Architecture/furnishings
• Travel/transportation
• Entertainment/leisure
• Fashion/accessories
• Corporate/finance/law
• Sports/recreation
• Consumer products
• Museums, institutions and non-profits
Entries must be printed, at least in part, on Potlatch coated paper. The deadline is December 31. Visit www.potlatchpaper.com for details, or telephone (800) 447-2133.
E-News Briefs
• Servador has acquired the business of 58k.com, an online printing auction site.
• Printable Technologies has acquired core assets of Collabria, allowing Collabria customers to maintain their services.
• printChannel.com, a Web-based print procurement provider, has announced that it will buy key technology assets from MediaFlex, which ceased operations in February of 2001.
