In-plant Profiles

At George Fox University, producing course packs has always required a lot of time spent manually punching and coil binding pages. A recent installation, however, is destined to change everything.

Medifast, a portion-controlled, weight management program, is quickly becoming a leader in a competitive market. And according to Kent Hunter, supervisor at the company's Ridgely, Md.-based in-plant, MDC Printing, the various in-house services the shop provides are a key to the company's success. "The way this place is growing is incredible. The budget is open for the print shop and the management is very supportive."

Two-color printing had never been a problem for Tuomey Healthcare System’s two-employee Print Shop. Its Riso MZ790 digital duplicator did a great job printing two-color flyers, envelopes and other items needed by the Sumter, S.C.-based hospital. But Graphic Artist Lisa Reardon was ready to move beyond just two colors. “We’ve always wanted to do full color,” she says.

in July, the in-plant for the City of Henderson, Nev., installed a new Xerox iGen4 digital color press. The shop traded in its Xerox DocuColor 250, along with a Xerox DocuColor 5252 and a DocuTech 6135, keeping its lease costs for the iGen4 the same. So far the iGen4 has done an excellent job printing promotional materials for the Department of Cultural Arts and Tourism. The cost savings have been noticeable.

When Poppy Forbes upgraded her in-plant to bring it into the world of digital printing, it didn't take her long to realize that the shop's bindery would also need some improvements. Forbes, print shop manager at the in-plant serving Boulder County, Colo., added a Canon imageRUNNER 7105 black-and-white copier and a Canon imagePRESS C7000VP digital press in 2008. A year later, the government in-plant installed a Duplo System 5000 collating system and a Duplo DC-615 slitter/cutter/creaser.

Santee Cooper is South Carolina's state-owned electric and water utility and the state's largest power producer. The ultimate source of electricity for 2 million South Carolinians, Santee Cooper is dedicated to providing low-cost, reliable and environmentally protective power and water for the benefit of all South Carolina.

Tina Gray saw the end of a lease agreement for an older Duplo saddle stitcher as an opportunity to bring more automated technology into her in-plant. Gray, print shop manager of the in-plant serving the Oklahoma Department of Human Services in Oklahoma City, decided last spring to install a four-tower Standard Horizon VAC collator system in-line with a Standard Horizon StitchLiner 5500 saddle stitching system with integrated three-knife trimming.

Cutting printed jobs with a 20-year-old cutter was making life difficult for the in-plant employees at George Mason University, in Fairfax, Va.

A FEW years back, Parma City School District's in-plant faced a dilemma. The 13,000-student district, just south of Cleveland, wanted spot color on some of its documents, but the in-plant's equipment could not cost effectively provide it. Its Xerox DocuColor 8000 was up to the task, but page costs for spot color would be high. Likewise, inking up the shop's two-color presses would be expensive for short runs.

University of Alabama's director of Printing Services Bill May has served the Crimison Tide with pride for more than 23 years.