There From The Beginning

Paul Molfino started the in-plant at UC-Santa Cruz soon after the university opened in 1965. As the school has grown, so has his operation.

by Bob Neubauer

Poised on a hillside overlooking the Monterey Bay, some 90 miles south of San Francisco, the University of California-Santa Cruz has come a long way since it opened in 1965. The land that once held a cattle ranch and a quarry now teems with over 12,000 students.

Witnessing much of that growth has been Paul Molfino, the employee with the longest career of service at UC-Santa Cruz. When he was hired 37 years ago to start the school's printing and mailing operation, reminders of the land's ranching days were still strong.

"My first office for printing was in the paymaster's office of the original cow ranch," Molfino says.

But the in-plant is no cow-town operation any longer. Molfino has worked tirelessly to build that fledgling in-plant into something he could be proud of when he retires, which he hints may not be far away. Now called IPMTS (Imaging, Printing, Mail, Temporary Services), his operation boasts more than 45 employees and a $7.5 million budget, $2.5 million of which covers printing. He not only oversees printing, mailing and the university's copier program, he is in charge of services like hiring temporary employees and fingerprinting.

Early Love Of Printing

Molfino's love of printing stretches back to high school, when his teacher in a vocational print shop, Carl Hansen, impressed him with his love of the craft. Molfino took that interest with him into the army, where he was trained as a press operator. As a sergeant—and press foreman—he printed classified materials in printing plants in Germany.

Shortly before the U.S. got involved in Vietnam, Molfino left the army and returned to Santa Cruz to look for work.

"The job market wasn't that great," he recalls.

He applied for a job stocking shelves with the university, but when officials learned of his printing experience, they asked him to start a print and mail operation—by himself. He took the job.

"I would do printing, go deliver mail, come back, do printing..." he remembers.

As the campus grew, he gave up the mail responsibilities and concentrated on printing. Within five years, though, mail services was back in his lap, and he hired someone to help with printing.

As time went by, other services came under his supervision, like graphic design, copy centers, temporary services and fingerprinting (of employees in sensitive areas and education majors who need background checks).

Fortunately, Molfino says, because the in-plant has always been self-supporting, he was able to hire employees whenever he needed them to handle the new services. Thus the shop gradually grew. Being self-supporting also gave him the funds to expand the shop's equipment arsenal. But though IPMTS long ago left its digs in the old ranch paymaster's office, Molfino still faces the same limitation most in-plant managers face: Not enough space.

"As the shop grows, the space does not," he says. "We have had tremendous growing pains. It's a very compact shop."

Even so, the in-plant was recently able to add a new four-color, automated Ryobi 524 press, with a built-in densitometer.

Insourcing Increases Revenues

One way IPMTS increases its revenues is by insourcing non-profit work related to the university's mission of education and research. This accounts for about $170,000 a year, Molfino says.

Molfino is proud of the in-plant's online ordering capabilities. Faculty and staff can order paper through the IPMTS Web site for next-day delivery. Customers can also order printing via the site. But because Molfino was concerned about people ordering jobs they can't pay for, the in-plant designed the site so that after a customer submits an order, the computer e-mails that customer's business office, asking if the customer has the funds to pay. Only a positive reply will enable the job to get printed.

Looking back on his 37 years at the in-plant, Molfino is pleased with what he sees.

"I'm proud of what I've created," he says. "I'm proud of what my staff's done." He's especially happy with the support he gets at UC-Santa Cruz.

"I report directly to a vice chancellor who appreciates me, which is a nice feeling," he says.

Molfino does a lot to earn that appreciation. He regularly attends the staff meetings of his customers to learn of their concerns. Customer satisfaction ranks high in the units he oversees.

An avid hot rod builder, with a wall of awards for his efforts, Molfino looks forward to building another hot rod when he retires. But he's also going to miss his in-plant.

"I just like what I'm doing," he says. "It's a great place to work."