UK In-plant Conference Draws International Crowd

The University Print Managers’ Group, a UK-based association of in-plant managers, gathered an international audience for its conference in June, including attendees from U.S. and Australian in-plant associations.

Jennifer Bowers, president of the U.S.-based Association of College and University Printers (ACUP), along with David Harrison and Martin Booth from the Network of In-house Print Professionals Australasia (NIPPA, www.nippa.com.au), joined 65 attendees from in-plants all over the UK for the three-day affair, which took place in Bournemouth, on the south coast of England.

Speakers offered ideas to help in-plants become both indispensable and respected at their institutions. To combat increasing competition, one speaker urged in-plants to be “dramatically and demonstrably different.”

NIPPA representatives Harrison and Booth offered 10 guiding rules to help managers be more innovative. They also discussed how they were able to double the size of NIPPA and increase its influence Down Under.

ACUP’s Bowers, from Florida State University, talked about changing employee work habits to enhance productivity and customer satisfaction. Duncan Hurst, of Heriot-Watt University, discussed his experiences implementing new procedures at his in-plant to improve customer relationships, order processing, printing and more. Similarly, Rebecca Hanlon, of the University of Wales Institute, related the changes at her in-plant, including a new name and new services. One session focused on the University of Surrey’s decision to bring its printing in-house.

Informal group discussions centered on topics like diversification into new services, electronic job submission and changes taking place in universities.

Next year’s UPMG Conference will take place May 31 to June 3 at the Marine Hotel, in Troon, Ayrshire (southwest of Glasgow). More information: www.upmg.ac.uk