In-plant Profiles

When Regional Health Printing Services moved into its new facility on the eastern edge of Rapid City, S.D., in October, the in-plant got more than just larger quarters; it gained a much smoother workflow, which has been paying dividends in increased productivity.

Keith Hopson's career began the day he got his pink slip. He was running the four-employee in-plant for Hydrotex at the time. The company’s new president, a former executive at Mary Kay, implemented some changes that resulted in a handful of layoffs. Hopson was one of the casualties. Rather than retreat into despair, though, he took some initiative.

With a centuries-old reputation for quality, efficiency and cost control, D'Addario naturally needs to keep a close eye on all of its package design and print advertising. To enable this, the Farmingdale, N.Y., company operates a busy in-house ad agency and in-plant printing division.

Not long ago, the CEO, COO and CFO of HealthSouth—one of the nation's leading providers of physical rehabilitation—visited the organization's Print Solutions facility, located 15 miles from its Birmingham, Ala., headquarters. The occasion was to celebrate the shop's acquisition of an HP Indigo 7600 digital press and an EFI Rastek wide-format printer.

"I wanted to be a graphic designer when I started out," reflects Karen Meyers, business manager of Printing Services at Michigan Farm Bureau. Enthralled by a high school graphic arts course, the Grand Rapids, Mich., native enrolled at Central Michigan University, where she majored in industrial supervision and management with a graphics concentration. While at CMU, Meyers took an internship with The Planning and Zoning Center where she helped lay out newsletters during school breaks.

Location may not be everything, but being situated inside Parkview Health's headquarters has certainly helped Printing and Postal Services secure its position as Parkview's primary provider of print and related services. What has enabled the in-plant to thrive, though, has been its consistent ability to reduce costs, raise quality and add value for Parkview, an 8,700-employee, not-for-profit community-based health system serving northeastern Indiana and Ohio.

Autumn should prove to be an exciting season at the Wisconsin Department of Administration’s Bureau of Publishing and Distribution. The all-digital, 60-employee shop, located in the state capital of Madison, is moving into a new facility this month. And, as temperatures outside begin to drop and leaves start to fall, the in-plant will be busy enhancing its new digs with fresh equipment and other improvements to help customers fulfill their printing and mailing needs.

Having grown up around printing, Doug Weatherly has found it to be a natural fit. His father co-owned a print shop, at which his mother was involved in taking orders, working with customers and handling finances.

Insurance is all about planning ahead. As the in-plant for one of the largest health insurers in the United States, Highmark's Corporate Printing Services (CPS) operation recently executed well-planned facilities and technology upgrades that leave it extremely well-positioned for the future.

It was his first job in printing. The sole press operator for a classified ad magazine publisher, Paul Bethel was alone in the pressroom on that fateful day in 1983, running an old five-unit Harris web press.