Washington DOP Adds NexPress, Gets FSC Certified

A lot has been happening lately at the Washington State Department of Printing. In June, the 130-employee operation installed its first digital press, a Kodak NexPress 3000, accompanied by a Kodak Glossing Unit. Then the Olympia-based in-plant announced it had received its chain of custody certification from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), becoming the first state government in-plant to do so.

Now the in-plant has inked a deal to replace its existing shop management system with the EFI Hagen OA system, with plans to go live in January.

Prior to adding the NexPress 3000, the in-plant’s only digital color device was a Konica Minolta 650.

“We were buying a fair amount of digital work on the outside that we wanted to bring in,” says Jean-Luc Devis, State Printer.

Not only does the NexPress let the in-plant do that, it opens up possibilities for variable data printing. Plus, the shop can now take low-end offset work off of its six-color Komori Lithrone 28P and put it on the NexPress, letting the Komori focus on longer-run work.

At an open house last month, the DOP showed off the NexPress to state agencies, and let them see the type of products it can produce. Devis hopes they will go back and brainstorm new projects.

The in-plant’s FSC certification came as a direct result of the sustainable mindset that is prevalent in the Pacific Northwest, Devis says.

“I think this will resonate with the values of many of our customers and create a bit of a market niche for us as a leader in this area,” says Devis. “It’s another reason to buy from us.”

By getting FSC certified, the in-plant hopes to change the public perception that paper is somehow “bad.”

“Paper is not bad,” Devis insists. “How you harvest it is [potentially] bad. What we’re trying to do is focus on making sure it’s harvested [in a sustainable manner].”

The Department of Printing is looking forward to firing up its new EFI Hagen OA shop management system next month.

“It will allow us to track our jobs and our machinery a little better,” notes Dan Swisher, assistant director. It will also let the department create more meaningful reports, he says.

The integrated Web portal will be another plus. Even though the in-plant was an early adopter of Web ordering through its PRTonline portal, that system required a lot of customer data to be rekeyed. The Hagen OA system will capture those customer keystrokes, saving time.