NexPress to Double as Educational Tool

When the lease on his in-plant’s Xerox DocuColor 2045 was nearing its end, Joe Geffre started shopping around. Not only did he want the quality printing (and variable data capabilities) that a more modern device would provide, he knew that the students in his school’s graphic arts program would benefit from using state-of-the-art technology—and his shop’s 13-year-old Xeikon digital press was becoming more antiquated by the day.

“We wanted to make sure that the kids are trained on the latest and greatest,” says Geffre, director of Mail and Document Services at Pennsylvania College of Technology, in Williamsport, Pa. His 10-employee print and mail operation doubles as a student lab, with undergrads sharing the shop’s Heidelberg, Ryobi and A.B.Dick presses, as well as its bindery gear, to produce school projects.

Seeking a replacement machine, Geffre researched Xerox, Kodak, HP and Xeikon equipment. The Kodak NexPress 2100 plus stood out.

“To me, the Kodak was the beefier machine,” he says. “I liked having the fifth station [and] being able to coat on the fly.” He also liked that the press has a blanket cylinder, which will allow the use of true laid paper.

He sent his production manager to Rochester, home of both Xerox and Kodak, and to trade shows; he came back with the same opinion.

So the in-plant installed a NexPress 2100 plus in July, along with a Kodak Digimaster 125 EX for black-and-white work.

Geffre is excited about the print-on-demand opportunities the new gear will open up; marketing campaigns can be tested with small initial runs, and individual schools can tailor recruitment brochures with their own curriculum information. The move to shorter runs will allow the in-plant to bring work back in-house that was being printed in large runs by outside printers. The printing of personalized recruitment materials is not far off.

Geffre says the college is expanding its graphic arts program as a result of adding the NexPress 2100 plus.

“We’re developing a whole new curriculum around digital printing,” he says. This will complement the program’s current focus on offset, flexo and screen printing.

The in-plant’s first job on the NexPress was a photo-filled memory book for a library-sponsored art show. The library wanted just 45 copies of the 50-page book.

“They just were blown away with the quality that they were getting off of the NexPress,” Geffre says. “They were able to have...near-offset quality and get it turned around in a cost-effective way.”

Located in north central Pennsylvania, the college is a special mission affiliate of the Pennsylvania State University, which lies about 65 miles southwest. Coincidentally, Penn State is about to add its own digital press: a Xerox iGen3.