SUPDMC Conference

SITUATED ON the banks of the Cape Fear River, Wilmington, N.C., is rich in both history and great food. It was also home to the 2005 Southeastern University Printing and Duplicating Managers Conference (SUPDMC), held in October.

Hosted by Don Harty, manager of Printing Services at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, and Roland Falana, general manager of Office Products & Services at Duke University, this year's conference was also rich in education and entertainment.

With approximately 60 in-plant representatives and 16 vendors in attendance, the conference focused on the changing face of printing. Sessions covered document management, in-plant closings (and how to prevent them), how to make change positive and a roundtable discussion on digital printing.

Doug Lee, from IKON Office Solutions' Raleigh office, began the sessions with his presentation on "Document Management Strategy." He pointed out the important areas needed for a successful document management system. Beginning with a digital storefront for customers, Lee suggested ways to capture documents into your system, archiving these documents for easy retrieval and utilizing text-searchable PDF files.

Roundtable: Digital Printing

With digital color printing on everyone's mind, three in-plant managers fielded questions during a roundtable discussion about why their in-plant chose its particular digital press.

On the panel were:

• Mike Loyd, of Louisiana State University, which operates two Kodak NexPress 2100s.

• Duane Fitch, of the University of Illinois, which runs a Xerox iGen3.

• Conference host Roland Falana, of Duke University, which has an HP-Indigo press.

The discussion covered the process involved with choosing a digital press, the changes needed within the facility and the steps taken to convince upper management of the benefits. The short-run market and variable data capabilities were the deciding factors for most of the participants.

Are You In Danger of Closing?

This session provided attendees with a plan of action that could be tailored to individual shop needs. Presented by Bob Davis, director of Reprographic & Imaging Services, Yale University's internal provider of design, Web, print, copy and mail services, the session gave attendees clear instructions on how to create a plan of action to protect their in-plants. Questions such as these, he said, need to be asked during an in-plant evaluation:

• Do you have adequate customer service staff?

• Do you provide ongoing training for your customer service staff?

• Do operations meet the daily needs of customers?

• Do you have a way of tracking projects, turnaround times, waste, inventory, re-do's and equipment utilization?

• Do you provide a scheduling system or process? How is it used?

• Is there a formal workflow?

• Are efficiency measurements being utilized properly?

• What is the level of employee expertise and commitment?

• Are you effectively utilizing installed technology?

• Is management using financial numbers to make decisions?

• Are you monitoring your P & L?

• Are you monitoring your key indicators (labor, equipment utilization, overtime, waste and re-do's)?

• Is there a cohesive management team?

• Is there a plan in place to meet the challenges of the future?

• Where does the customer fit into the equation?

• Is the shop providing the right services and quality at the right price?

• How well prepared is the university management to deal with change?

• Does senior management appreciate the value of your operation?

• Is senior management committed to supporting necessary changes?

During this session, Davis provided attendees with solid information to possess during the evaluation and planning process. A few of his comments are noted below:

• Learn the lessons presented to you. Talk to customers constantly and openly and meet with the ones that are satisfied and the ones that are dissatisfied. Revitalize your customer service approach.

• Retrain, Reassign, Replace: Assess the impact of each employee on the customer. Fix any customer touch point problems now (quotes, order entry, billing, etc.).

• Insist on real, useful numbers from your financial group and then use them. Develop an approach that values investment in the future.

• Invest in staff to plan and manage change.

• Set strategic priorities with your management team and your boss. Engage in a formal redesign process. Include shop floor employees in the implementation and execution. Communicate changes to employees and customers.

• Embrace change. Gain credibility. Focus your service offerings. You can't be everything to every person.

• It is O.K. to outsource projects.

Leading Change

Liz Grimes, director of Staff Development & Employee Relations at UNCW, presented a session called "Leading Change." Quoting Ken Blanchard, motivational speaker and author of "One Minute Manager," Grimes led attendees through the "Seven Dynamics of Change" utilizing applicable examples for the print industry. The key to this session was to remember to change one thing at a time. Lead your staff completely through the first change before moving on to the next.

The vendor exhibits at SUPDMC included demonstrations of digital devices and finishing equipment, and an oversize printing demonstration in which posters were printed for the attendees.

Hosts Falana and Harty provided a digitally informative conference that enhanced the attendees' knowledge of advances in the printing market. In addition to the great sessions, SUPDMC offered a tour of the UNCW printing facility and an HP Indigo demonstration.

Day three of the conference was spent in Durham, N.C., on the Duke University campus. Attendees had lunch on the Terrace on the Green at the Washington Duke Inn Hotel, followed by a tour of Duke University Postal Operations, the Duke Chapel, the Sarah P. Duke Gardens, the University Store and the Duke University Copy Center. Conference participants also visited a Xerox iGen3 site while in Durham.

SUPDMC wasn't all business, though. Attendees also enjoyed a deep sea fishing trip, a riverboat dinner cruise and a poolside dinner and dance.

-- By Penni Istre

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SUPDMC 2006 will take place October 8-12 in Memphis, Tenn., and will be jointly hosted by the University of Memphis and the University of Mississippi.