In-plant Profiles

GALLUP PRIDES itself on its reputation for delivering "relevant, timely and visionary research on what people around the world think." To deliver much of that information, the 75-year-old organization depends on its 32-employee in-plant facility in Omaha, Neb.

AS A high-school student in Parma, Ohio, Rita Puljer had little interest in college as a stepping stone to a fast-track career. Ultimately, she wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, a very demanding (and rewarding) vocation, but one that doesn't require a degree, references or an elaborate résumé. Still, after graduation, Puljer needed an income.

WHILE VISITING Portland General Electric's Print & Mail Services operation last month, I had the good fortune to sit in on the in-plant's Monday morning staff meeting. As expected, they went over the daily workload and discussed some quality improvement ideas, but what impressed me most was when they paused to thank one another.

It's every in-plant manager's worse fear. You put in a request for new equipment, then find out your upper management is planning to outsource you. That was the situation Mike Schrader found himself in two years ago. His in-plant at Mercury Marine, a leading manufacturer of recreational marine propulsion engines, had just completed a request for proposal (RFP) to upgrade its digital equipment.

WHEN MARK Dixon inherited the lead role at the University of Oregon's Printing and Mailing Services in December from long-time Director J.R. Gaddis, he started by taking a back-to-basics approach and stamping it with his own progressive twist.

Lehigh University Printing and Mailing Services just installed a Ricoh Pro C900 color production system. It is being used to produce a variety of posters, flyers and postcards for the university, as well as signage, playbooks, parking passes and more for the Philadelphia Eagles training camp.

IT'S CONFERENCE season again, which means that in between writing and editing articles for this issue, I've been dashing off to in-plant events around the country. In the past two weeks I've been to two in-plant meetings (plus the On Demand Show) and talked with dozens of managers about what's happening in their shops.

AT AGE 13, Jim Sabulski was already looking for a job. “I set out to work because I liked being able to buy what I wanted,” declares Sabulski, now manager of Print and Mail Services for Misericordia University, in Dallas, Pa. “I didn’t like having to ask my parents for money.”

ANY IN-PLANT manager who has attended the Association of College and University Printers (ACUP) conference in the past 12 years, has certainly heard the Scottish brogue of Andrew Scott ringing through the air.

University of North Texas Print & Mail Services is one of the most quality-conscious in-plants in the country. Since 2004, the in-plant has won an impressive 38 In-Print awards, earning it great respect across the 36,000-student university.