An Extreme Makeover in Georgia

The snowstorm that shut down the University of West Georgia (UWG) and much of nearby Atlanta in January was nothing compared to the gale that nearly blew away UWG's in-plant a few years ago.

Back in 2009, UWG administration floated a plan to shutter the school's Department of Publications and Printing and reallocate funding. The idea was to begin contracting for printing services with outside vendors.

Fortunately for the Carrolton, Ga.-based in-plant, Mark Reeves, associate vice president for auxiliary services, had other visions for the shop, which, at the time, had annual revenues of around $230,000.

"I remember the day [Reeves] came over here and we sat down and he said if we could turn things around, we could become an auxiliary," recalls Sally Roberts, director of UWG Publications and Printing. "I didn't even blink and said, 'yes that is what we want to do.' Mark really stuck his neck out, but he thought we could do it. And we did."

Fast forward to 2013, and the shop's annual revenue figure ballooned to $730,000.

"Previously, we were never allowed to make a profit," Roberts explains. "That had never been a goal. We were supposed to fly under the radar and just print what the university needed. I always said that we could do better."

Roberts believes that the in-plant's resurgence was the result of research that showed having an in-house printing operation could be an advantage for the school, coupled with the fact that, within a year of reorganizing as an auxiliary service, the shop was making large strides in generating new sources of revenue.

"The university gave us the opportunity, and we took it and ran with it," she says.

Expanded Facility

Roberts notes that a remodel and expansion of the in-plant's facility increased the shop from 7,500 square feet to just over 9,000 square feet. Much of the new space was added in the large-format and sign production areas, but the offset shop, quick copy area and front office also were expanded.

"Our old metal building is now transformed into a modern brick and glass facility that the university can be proud of, and we're thrilled with the additional space and the improvements to workflow that the update has given us," Roberts says, noting that the shop is located in the middle of recent residence hall and dining facility building projects. This has increased daily walk-in traffic from just one or two students in past years to 30 or 40 per day.

"We've added a computer work station in the lobby for the convenience of students who want to prepare and send a print job to one of our print devices," Roberts says. "This was done in partnership with IT, who helped by providing the equipment and assisting us to keep it updated and running well. This is one of our many new partnerships on campus."

The in-plant employs nine full-time workers, as well as four student assistants who help out in the quick copy area and in the front office. Roberts points out that staff members are often invited to speak at campus events, like new faculty orientation, to familiarize on-campus clients with the services available to them through the print shop and the copy service, called Your On-Campus Copy Center.

Getting the Word Out

"I do a lot of speaking to student, faculty and staff groups—anyone who will give me a place on their meeting agenda, basically—to bring updates about new products and services, and just let them know what options are available to them," Roberts explains. "This is especially important in the fall, with new faculty and new students on campus."

Roberts says that the shop makes good use of its banner and sign-making equipment to market its services on campus. Ten-foot banners and small yard signs on H-frames are especially good for making the campus community aware of what the shop is capable of producing, she contends.

"Our quick copy manager is frequently invited to speak to classes about how to prepare student materials to be printed in book or magazine form, and professors bring in classes to observe our operations and explain various aspects of printing to different groups of students," Roberts adds. "Of course we print price lists, product brochures, bookmarks, note pads and other promotional materials to get the message out on campus."

But the addition of new products and services over the past three or four years has been the key to the shop's success in more than doubling revenue, Roberts admits.

"At first we did this with existing equipment, but as new services required new equipment, we've had support for bringing in new things," Roberts notes. "Last year we added a creaser for sharper folds and to minimize cracking when binding full-color covers on copy jobs. We also replaced a large-format printer after wearing out our first one."

Later this year, the shop will move to a computer-to-plate workflow. (New CTP equipment was due to arrive on March 3.) Roberts also has a plan to add a new laminator and a cutter to the large-format operation to create self-stick wall art and Fathead-type poster cutouts for athletic events. The shop currently uses a Canon imagePROGRAF IPF8300 wide-format printer and an Epson Stylus Pro 7900 proof printer.

"Some of our clients are excited about the prospect of being able to get a life-sized cut-out of the university's 'Wolfie' mascot," Roberts points out.

The in-plant works closely with the university communications and marketing department, which designs most of the official university publications. The in-plant provides design services for students, campus groups and outside entities. All prepress, and most bindery work, is done in-house.

Insourcing from Other Universities

Roberts notes that the in-plant insources work from other institutions in Georgia's university system. Most are offset jobs like catalogs, student planners, literary and alumni magazines and books.

"This is an area we are expanding as we grow, and we really enjoy the connection this allows us with our sister universities in the system," she says.

Color has replaced black-and-white as the standard for print jobs at the university, and many new ideas have made their way into the shop's regular production schedule, Roberts says, including commencement announcements, student presentations and post cards. The in-plant also now prints signage used on buses in the campus shuttle system, as well as yard signs, magnets and bumper stickers.

Offset work is produced on a five-color Komori L528C (with an aqueous coater) and a two-color Ryobi 3302H. On the toner side, the in-plant utilizes Xerox 700, Xerox DocuColor 8080 and Xerox Docu­Color 240 color devices, along with a Xerox 125 black-and-white machine, all with in-line binding capabilities.

The In-plant Advantage

Roberts maintains that the university now sees the advantage of having on-campus, low-cost printing, copying, bindery and creative services within walking distance of the academic buildings.

"The staff is familiar with the needs and preferences of the individuals and the departments we print for," Roberts says. "Those advantages speed the process and minimize errors or miscommunication. Partnerships have developed, and printing projects are a team effort among familiar team members. We value our clients, and they value our services."

Roberts says that she has provided the administration with numerous reports comparing prices and showing the shop's convenience and efficiency. Her goal for the shop is to become fully self-sufficient and to see revenue exceed costs with no noticeable increase in pricing.

"We've grown so fast in recent years, and we're always on the lookout for new opportunities to keep moving forward," Roberts says. "We believe the opportunities are endless. We just have to keep finding the print products the campus wants and continue making new and better versions of them available to the campus."

An unexpected snag temporarily stopped the shop's momentum in its tracks this winter. A pair of snow and ice storms shut down campus for a total of five days.

"Snow just doesn't happen here in Georgia," Roberts says with a laugh. "It's the strangest thing I have seen in my 20 years here. We don't have snow plows or salt so we were just shut down."

When the campus reopened, the in-plant went into catch-up mode. Some employees stayed late into the evening hours to finish up pending jobs. But the shop did not miss any deadlines, Roberts proudly ­concludes.