Wide They Do It?

Do you need a wide-format ink-jet printer? How do you know? And how do you get your organization to buy one—and then use it? Here are a few tips.

HAS THIS happened to you? Someone comes to your in-plant with a disk or print-out and asks if you can make posters. Although you'd love say that you can, you know your shop doesn't have the capabilities. The client now has to outsource the project, and isn't happy about it. It's the third time this week this has happened.

A wide-format ink-jet printer would have come in handy right then. The problem is you don't have one.

Many in-plant managers face this situation. Demand for wide-format color printing is at an all-time high. Because of advances in technology, it's easier to do—and much more readily available. Also, people are finding increasingly more uses for it.

In-plant managers who don't have a wide-format ink-jet printer face three questions on this subject:

1. How do I know we need one?

2. How do I convince my superiors we need one?

3. How do I market it to my organization so customers use it and justify its existence?

One good way to find the answers to these questions is to talk to people who have gone through the process already. Here are a few informed opinions.

1. How Do I Know We Need One?

For Cindy Lee, determining that her in-plant needed one was a simple matter of supply and demand. There was heavy demand—and she had no supply.

"I knew there was a need," recalls Lee, coordinator of graphic arts for Jackson Public Schools, in Jackson, Miss. "Students and schools were all asking for printing for posters." To handle the jobs, Lee had to outsource them to commercial printers outside her district.

Lee realized that the district could save a lot of money doing it in-house. She convinced her superiors, and a year and a half ago her shop purchased a Hewlett-Packard 2500.

"Any time you can save a district or city money, you should do that," she remarks.

2. How Do I Justify It?

Do your research. Just as Lee did, the key to selling the idea to your superiors rests squarely on the eternal bottom-line. Convince them it will save them money. Then show them lots of facts that support your claim. Furthermore, once you have the machine, remind them how much you're saving.

"It was an easy sell," notes Robert Wamsher, manager of print services at Hershey Foods. Previously, he had to outsource many poster jobs every week. He pitched the idea of purchasing a wide-format printer to management, where it got enthusiastic approval.

The shop purchased an Encad NovaJet Pro a year and a half ago, and the savings have been astounding.

"We've reduced our costs by 60 percent," he reports. Those are the types of numbers management wants to see.

Of course, having a wide-format printer in-house doesn't just save money. It saves time. Michael Kalstein, manager of reprographics and mail service at the University of California, Sacramento, notes the importance of saving time, and how that can translate into saving money.

"The major savings is not so much in the realm of (dollars) but in time and travel," he notes. "Going off-campus...was time-consuming and not cost-effective. Now, we can generate and deliver product within a couple of hours."

3. How Do I Market It?

Different in-plants have different ways of marketing their wide-format printers to their organizations. What follows are some examples of in-plant managers who have done it effectively:

Superior Uniform Group

Seminole, Fla.

Advertising Manager: Dave Van Wormer

System: Hewlett-Packard 650

Types of jobs: Trade show posters, signage, oversized graphics, plotting out computer networks.

Jobs per week: Varies as needed.

Marketing tips: Van Wormer made it a point to tell his CEO how much money the wide-format printer was saving the company. "That made him very happy," he recalls. "He even cracked a smile." Van Wormer reports that what his company used to outsource for $300, he can produce in-house for roughly $56. Those types of savings definitely get you noticed.

After setting up the wide-format printer, the in-plant sent an inter-office memo announcing its capabilities. Van Wormer also placed about 12 posters on the walls in the front of the office to remind people of the work his shop can do. "We took different ads...mostly from our catalogs and hung them up," he reports.

The printer is networked so it can be used from six different work stations in the in-plant's catalog, advertising and computer departments.

Phillips Petroleum

Bartlesville, Okla.

Manager of Reprographics: Paul Atkisson

Systems: Two ColorSpan, One Epson

Types of jobs: Back-lit exhibit materials, posters, maps, photo quality prints.

Jobs per week: 25-30+

Marketing tips: "We have contacts within different departments that work with us all the time," Atkisson states. The in-plant has customer meetings on a regular basis, and keeps its contacts informed daily. If the in-plant obtains a new piece of equipment, its contact is notified immediately. Atkisson reports that he deals with about seven regular users within the company.

Again, letting the company know that it is saving money is key. "We estimate that we save 40-50 percent of what they charge commercially," he claims. "If they didn't understand or appreciate that, I don't think we'd be here."

The wide-format printers and their capabilities are also mentioned on the company's internal Web page.

Hershey Foods

Hershey, Pa.

Manager of Print Services: Robert W. Wamsher

System: Encad NovaJet Pro

Types of jobs: Advertising posters, advertisements placed on boards around hockey rinks, backdrops for TV commercials.

Jobs per week: 40

Marketing tips: "We have, on the Internet, a Web page that lists all the capabilities of our shop," Wamsher reports.

However, he admits that word-of-mouth is still the most effective method for in-house marketing of his printer. "That's probably the best way," he states.

When the in-plant first got the wide-format printer, it ran off several color banners and showed them around. "It's impressive for a shop to make such beautiful things for its company," he remarks.

Jackson Public Schools

Jackson, Miss.

Coordinator of Graphic Arts: Cindy S. Lee

System: Hewlett-Packard 2500

Types of jobs: Banners and posters for school functions.

Jobs per week: 5

Marketing Tips: When she purchased the wide-format printer, Lee says there was already a need for it in the district.

"Ten years ago it was really difficult to get anything," she states. "Now, it's so easy everyone wants it."

Demand was so high that marketing never became an issue. Simple word-of-mouth worked just fine for her.

"When we got the machine, I told a few people, and now we have a lot of work to do," she reports. "Word has gotten out and they love it."

Dollar Tree Stores

Chesapeake, Va.

Graphic Arts Manager: Jeff Edney

System: Hewlett-Packard DesignJet 1055 CM

Types of jobs: Proofing jobs for position and content, printing signs, indoor banners, posters and vinyl signs.

Jobs per week: 15-20 proofing; 2-4 other.

Marketing tips: Edney claims the in-plant has only recently started telling people about it. But his shop is planning to hold an open house where he and his staff will explain the capabilities of each piece of equipment.

"We will probably run some posters out to give away, to help attract people," he says. "Much like they do at the trade shows, although we probably have to pick something to print other than Swedish bikini girls."

California State University, Sacramento

Michael T. Kalstein: Manager, Reprographics and Mail Services

System: Hewlett-Packard 2500

Types of jobs: Signage for special events and activities, posters.

Jobs per week: Varies as needed.

Marketing tips: Kalstein purchased the wide-format printer mostly because another department asked for it.

"Our Transportation and Parking Services had the need for signage for special events and activities that regularly occur on campus," he explains. Most of the large-format print jobs are for this purpose. However, Kalstein does note that other departments are starting to use it more.

For Kalstein and his staff, marketing the wide-format printer to the rest of the university came slowly. "Our mistake was to rely exclusively on the internal RIP, which came with the machine and greatly limited the quality of the product we could produce," he reports. "In February we acquired a T/R Systems Micropress Cluster Printing set-up and included the wide-format printer in the system. Since then, our quality and RIP time have improved considerably."

This enables Kalstein to market the machine more wholeheartedly. "We participated in a University-wide vendor fair and were gratified to note the number of inquiries in regard to our wide-format capabilities...we expect the volume to go up considerably in the next few months." he says.

by JOE RANOIA