Triple Upgrade in Pasadena

By Bob Neubauer

For Eladio Fernandez, the best thing about his in-plant’s new Canon imagePRESS V1000 is not the excellent color quality output, it’s the in-line finishing. Instead of trimming printed book pages on a Challenge cutter then running them through a booklet maker, the in-plant can now print and finish those books completely in-line. And with 800 or so 80-page books being produced each week in the summer, that’s a big deal.

“It’s going to automate more of my process,” remarks Fernandez, supervisor of Office Services at Pasadena City College, in Pasadena, California.

The imagePRESS V1000, with its in-line Plockmatic SDD square fold bookletmaker and two-knife trimmer, is one of three new digital printers the in-plant installed in July. It also added two Canon black-and-white devices: a varioPRINT 6220 Titan and a varioPRINT DP 115.

Manny Del Rio runs the new Canon imagePRESS V1000 at Pasadena City College.

“It was time to upgrade,” says Fernandez, noting that the 6220 replaced a 15-year-old Océ VarioPrint 6250. Both monochrome printers will stay busy printing course packs, tests, and handouts for the 99-year-old public community college.

Fernandez is especially pleased that all three printers are using the Canon PRISMAsync controller platform, making it easier for operators to manage and run jobs through multiple presses.

“Everything’s running off the same software now,” he says. “My operators are happy with that.”

With five full-time and three part-time employees reporting to him, plus two student workers during the school year, Fernandez was looking for a way to keep more work in-house. The V1000’s ability to handle long sheets up to 13x51" will let the shop print long runs of banners, work that used to be outsourced.

“We’ll be able to keep that kind of work in-house,” he says.

Though the in-plant has an HP Latex 365 wide-format printer, it can’t handle large volumes of banners, he says. His next project, he adds, is to upgrade that printer.

“We’re outgrowing that one,” he says.

Fernandez is pleased with the V1000’s ability to run full-bleed 11x17" jobs. He’s also impressed with the machine’s quality and color consistency, which he says is apparent on long-run jobs.
Having newer equipment in the shop also has another advantage.

“We’re going to have more up-time,” he says. “More production time.”

The 15-year-old printer that got replaced was sometimes down for a full week, waiting for parts.

“The techs were happy to see it go,” he says.

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Bob Neubauer Author's page

Bob has served as editor of In-plant Impressions since October of 1994. Prior to that he served for three years as managing editor of Printing Impressions, a commercial printing publication. Mr. Neubauer is very active in the U.S. in-plant industry. He attends all the major in-plant conferences and has visited more than 180 in-plant operations around the world. He has given presentations to numerous in-plant groups in the U.S., Canada and Australia, including the Association of College and University Printers and the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association. He also coordinates the annual In-Print contest, co-sponsored by IPMA and In-plant Impressions.