Making Work a Snap(shot)
WHEN YOUR boss asks you to take on a new task, do you try to figure out how to avoid adding to your workload...or how to do the task the best way possible?
Ed Eagan, managing director of the Instructional Services Center for the Valley Stream Central High School District, falls into the latter category. This is why the in-plant installed a photo ID system to create ID badges for 4,500 students and 500+ staff members in his Valley Stream, N.Y., district.
The six-employee in-plant’s first efforts used one of the original Apple digital cameras that could hold only eight photos. The quality has since improved, and the system is now in its third phase, using sophisticated security ID software.
“Photo ID expands the scope of the in-plant operation beyond just printing,” remarks Eagan. “It also makes available another cost-saving function to the district.”
In addition to producing photo IDs, the in-plant handles design, printing, copying and bindery.
“Our next step will be direct-to-plate,” says Eagan, who also serves as records management officer for the school district. In that role he has obtained state grants for more than $100,000 over the years.
Records management involves storing, microfilming and digitizing student records, school board minutes and other district records.
“We have 2,100 cubic feet of records, and a retention schedule that allows us to destroy a few hundred cubic feet of records every few years,” he says.
When New York State came looking for financial records during recent mandated state audits, Eagan and crew were able to deliver what was needed.
Initially, Eagan says, the in-plant did a million copies a year on an analog copier; now it’s up to 12 million using multiple digital copiers.
On the offset side, the shop produces a variety of items, including business cards, programs, district forms, catalogs and journals.
One special project is the school district’s annual calendar, which includes a five-color cover. This is printed on the in-plant’s one-color Davidson 701 press.
“Each year it gets more complex,” Eagan says. IPG
—By W. Eric Martin
