From the Editor: One Day, Four In-plants
Just before Christmas I took the train up to New York City to visit a few in-plants. I do this from time to time to remind myself what the inside of an in-plant looks like and to learn more about the situations managers are facing.
So I planned a rather ambitious itinerary that would take me to four different in-plants, all around the city. One was at a television network, one at a financial services company. Another was in a hospital, and the last at a famous art museum. I decided to do it all on foot, which turned out to be about eight miles of traipsing, but New York really shines at Christmas time, so I enjoyed every step (except perhaps the last thousand).
My first stop was Rockefeller Center—not to ogle the enormous Christmas tree or watch the ice skaters, but to visit the in-plant at NBC Universal. Director Michael Orlan proudly showed off samples of the work this shop prints for both TV shows and executives. Posters printed on the in-plant's wide-format press appear on many NBC shows. I was especially impressed with the view out the pressroom window; the Komori operator can look right out at Sixth Avenue.
Mike related many examples of how his in-plant bends over backwards to provide anything NBC needs, something outside printers would never do without a big charge. Clearly NBC is getting a great deal from him and his in-plant.
From there I took a short walk to AXA Equitable on Sixth Avenue. I navigated a long, subterranean passageway to find Horace Galea in his three-person shop. A nice guy who has been with Equitable's in-plant for 47 years and two moves, Horace showed off his Xerox color and monochrome printers, noting that requests for color printing are on the rise. We reminisced about the New York in-plant scene of yesteryear.
Then I was off again, this time on a very long walk up to 70th Street, where New York Presbyterian Hospital has an in-plant. Again I wandered along dimly lit basement corridors (something I'm used to by now) to find Dennis Nanton in his four-employee in-plant. Though the shop has some older Multi presses, it also boasts a digital print area featuring Xerox and Ikon printers. Nanton said he was hoping to get a spiral binder to accommodate doctors' requests for lay-flat manuals.
My last stop was at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I had visited here once before, but the shop has added a new four-color Ryobi press since then, and I wanted to see it. In between breaks to ink up the press for a long run of museum floor plans, Pressroom Supervisor Paul Ortiz chatted with me about the advantages of the press and the state of the printing industry.
I have to say it was a great day, meeting these managers and learning a little about each of their operations. Though they may all share the same city, their shops and the products they produce were thoroughly different. It's nice to see this diversity for myself once in a while, and meet the humble managers behind these in-plants. After all, these are the unsung heros of the in-plant industry, and it's my job, at least the way I see it, to bring a little recognition to folks like this for a job well done. (Watch a video of my New York shop tours by clicking the video tab above the photos.)
- Companies:
- Xerox Corp.
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.
