In-plant Profiles

Winter was just settling in at the University of Cincinnati's campus back in January of 2012 when the sneak attack came. Agents from the facilities management (FM) arm of a popular print equipment vendor set up a meeting with the university's financial committee. With no one from the in-plant present, they began dishing out promises of cost savings if the university allowed the FM to handle its printing.

California State Printer Jerry Hill spent Ben Franklin's 308th birthday hosting an open house at the Office of State Publishing (OSP) to promote the in-plant's newly expanded facilities and upgraded capabilities.

As supervisor of the printing and publishing department of the largest school district in Arizona, Bill King believes in communication, responsiveness and an unwavering commitment to quality work. His style helped earn Mesa Public Schools' in-plant a 99 percent customer satisfaction rating last year.

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.