NGPA Goes Right to the Source

To drive home its conference theme, “Digital in Demand,” the National Government Publishing Association held its most recent meeting in Rochester, N.Y., a stronghold of graphic arts technology.

As the home of Xerox, Kodak and the Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester proved an ideal location. Each of those organizations hosted the NGPA group for half a day, providing seminars, tours and a close look at the latest digital equipment.

The three-day conference drew 34 government attendees from 14 states. Each morning kicked off with educational sessions covering such topics as CTP, shop management software and marketing. The afternoon tours followed.

In a break with tradition, NGPA members spent the very first session updating one another on recent changes in their operations. Several managers reported that their organizations’ IT departments had approached them to discuss transferring printing responsibilities to the in-plant. Richard Beto, of the University of Texas-Austin, noted a few of the difficulties his operation has encountered moving printing from IT.

Two representatives from the Washington State Department of Printing updated the group on their print management program, which involves looking at the printing/copying devices agencies are using and rightsizing them, while moving appropriate work to the in-plant. Vendors that provide copiers for the program must also service the equipment, which has contributed to a 99 percent up-time. Already the program has saved the Department of Ecology $120,000.

Several NGPA members have recently upgraded their equipment:

• Delaware’s Legislative print shop just added two Xerox DocuTech 6115s with Freeflow workflow, a big move for a shop that had been printing everything on offset duplicators.

• The Mississippi Joint Legislative Operations also added Xerox equipment: two 4110s and two 6135s. Director Ronnie Fore estimates the upgrades are saving his state $70,000 a year.

• The University of Texas at Austin just installed Fuji CTP equipment.

• Elsewhere in the Texas capital, the State Senate in-plant recently upgraded its saddle stitcher and added a Canon proofer.

Andy Sherman, of the Government Printing Office, brought up the topic of secure and intelligent documents. Due to provisions in the Real ID Act, he said, governments will be increasingly interested in creating ID cards and other documents that incorporate electronic and other fraud and counterfeit protection features. He advised members to look into applications in their states and equip themselves to provide these secure documents.

Joe Tucker, Ohio State Printer, mentioned the document scanning service his operation has introduced. To help agencies reduce storage costs, he sends a person with a scanner to their locations, so secure documents don’t have to leave the premises. The service is hugely popular, he says.

“We’ve got agencies waiting on us,” Tucker notes, adding that there is enough business for years to come. The $10,000 cost for the scanner and laptop was easily recouped in just a few months.

Off To Kodak

As the morning sessions ended, the group headed off to Kodak’s facility, the first of three afternoon tours. Jim Langley, president of Kodak’s Graphic Communications Group, welcomed them and gave a talk on how the value of printed pages increases with digital technology. Personalized printing and direct mail, he said, are the only reliable ways to reach customers with targeted messages.

“We believe this is a growth industry,” he said.

One of the keys to growth, he added, is having an integrated workflow, something Kodak is providing through its Unified Workflow Solutions. As detailed by Len Christopher, director of integrated solutions, a unified workflow combines a shop’s business, production, color and data workflows and enables jobs to move seamlessly between the offset and digital worlds.

In a discussion on future technologies, Christopher revealed new front-end options for NexPress digital printers, as well as new roll-feeding options.

A tour of Kodak’s manufacturing facilities, showed NGPA members dozens of NexPress 2100 and 2500 printers in various stages of creation. Attendees learned about the company’s research and development efforts and saw equipment demos.

Digital Content Management

Providing attendees with a glimpse of how government information will likely need to be handled in the future, Mike Wash, GPO’s chief technical officer, spoke the next day about GPO’s Digital Content Management System. Nicknamed FDSys (Future Digital System), this project was designed to support GPO’s mission to keep America informed in the digital age.

With government information now expected to be available digitally, GPO has faced challenges ensuring that information is authentic and that the correct version is released. Also, data must be preserved in a form that can be accessed by future generations.

To address these problems, FDSys will automate the collection and dissemination of electronic information from all three branches of the federal government. Electronic markings will indicate the authenticity of data, identifying versions that have been revised. Information will be permanently available electronically, accessible for Web searching, downloading, viewing and printing. At the same time, document masters will be available for printing.

GPO, Wash said, is moving from a “print-centric” to a “content-centric” model, where content is put into a form that can be managed and rendered into different formats for printing, for the Web or for recording onto digital media, like CDs.

Retiring U.S. Public Printer Bruce James was in the room for Wash’s session. When an NGPA member asked him how state printers could work with GPO to print some of the documents it outsources, James noted that GPO’s procurement process allows it to buy printing for a third less than it would cost to print in-house. Aggressive competition in the commercial industry, he said, would make it hard for a state printer to compete.

He noted that GPO has contracted with Fed Ex Kinko’s for big discounts. That prompted Nevada State Printer Kevin Honkomp to reveal that he has been able to obtain GPO rates from Fed Ex Kinko’s, as well.

James’ alma mater, Rochester Institute of Technology, hosted the NGPA group for a tour. The group saw everything from a Goss web press to a room full of HP Indigo digital presses, along with offset, flexo and CTP equipment. In the evening, a reception and dinner were held to honor James as he prepares to leave the GPO after four years as Public Printer. He gave a talk in which he discussed his efforts to reshape GPO using digital technologies. (Full text of talk.)

“I’m so proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish,” he said, praising the dedication of his staff.

CTP in the Digital Age

The final morning of the conference kicked off with Heidelberg’s J