IPG Visits New In-plant at Schneider Electric

On Monday, IPG Editor Bob Neubauer spent the morning touring the new in-plant facility at Schneider Electric in Smyrna, Tenn., about 30 minutes from Nashville. The spacious 6,100-square-foot plant is an in-plant manager's dream, with windows, high ceilings, an arsenal of wide-format and digital color printers and plenty of room to maneuver between the equipment.

Schneider Electric's production floor, with its four Canon imagePRESS C10000VP digital color presses.

It's a far cry from the in-plant's previous cramped quarters, said Kris Tanner, manager of the Solutions Support Group, which includes the Print On Demand operation.

"You couldn't pass each other walking around in that place," he said. By contrast, in the new facility, ""There's six feet between each machine."

Terrence Harrison shows off one of the in-plant's wide-format printers.

The in-plant combined its move into the new facility with an equipment upgrade that brought in four Canon imagePRESS C10000VP digital color presses. It uses these to print a variety of training materials, workbooks and marketing materials for Schneider Electric, which specializes in energy management and automation.

Some of the branding projects carried out by the in-plant.

In another room, an array of wide-format printers was producing posters, vinyl letters, window decals, trade show materials and more. A large open space in the room is awaiting the arrival of a flatbed wide-format printer so the in-plant can print on PVC. Examples of the in-plant's wall graphics decorate the facility, including the shop's website URL, in large vinyl letters: SchneiderPrintOnDemand.com.

One of the in-plant's newest business ventures is providing branding materials for new and existing Schneider offices. Tanner himself has traveled to offices in Denver, El Paso and other locations to install Schneider-branded wall graphics that transform the appearance of these facilities. These graphics were often procured from outside printers in the past, until Tanner demonstrated the savings that could be gained by printing them in-house.

Key Operator Brian Evans (left) goes over a proof with Production Supervisor John Key.

"It's minimal investment, and we could really save them some money," he points out.

Schneider Print On Demand is a great example of a relatively new in-plant that adapted its product offerings as company needs have changed. Tanner is always looking for new types of work the in-plant can offer and has successfully added several new lines of business.

Watch for a video of the in-plant in the weeks ahead as well as a feature story in an upcoming issue.