In-plant Profiles

One clear trend among the religion-based in-plants contacted by IPG is a move away from offset and toward digital printing. Three different in-plants have shut down their presses, while another started a digital in-plant from scratch. “Most of our runs are short run,” explains Lynn Baskerville, director of print operations for the Central Community Church in Wichita, Kan. The shop recently silenced its two-color Ryobi and is using a new Konica Minolta LD-5100 color printer to produce newsletters, letterhead and other products. “We get [the newsletter] out a day and a half quicker now,” remarks Baskerville. “Color’s consistent all the way through the run.” Turnaround time was

BORN AND raised in Newton, Mass., Bruce MacDonald was jokingly referred to as the “token Presbyterian” when he started his job as a printer with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston (RCAB). In 1984, it was a big deal for a Protestant to be working for the Catholic church. Today, employees’ religious persuasions are quite varied. Back then, MacDonald was preparing to get married and buy a house with the woman he has been happily sharing his life with for the past 23 years, and he needed more job stability. Financial difficulties at Barker Press, a small shop in the city of Watertown, where he

CONSIDERING THE role the Bible played in the invention of the printing press, it’s not surprising that religious institutions still hold the printing process in such high esteem. In fact, some of the largest in-plant operations are maintained by religious organizations. To name just a few: • The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), has a massive Printing Division in Salt Lake City with 400 employees. • More than 340 Jehovah’s Witnesses, all volunteers, work at the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society’s Wallkill, N.Y., Printery, with over 1,000 volunteers in its 18 printing facilities worldwide. • Pacific Press Publishing Association, the

NORMAN HOWARD sums up the feelings of most faith-based in-plant managers in just one sentence: “I just feel like I’m serving God here doing what I’m doing,” says Howard, director of printing for the Catholic Diocese of Richmond, Va. It’s a sentiment shared by countless in-plant managers at religious organizations—and one that drives them to put forth their best efforts in the service of their faith. “It’s not just a job; I’m working for the Lord,” echoes Trout Davis, print shop manager at Grace Baptist Church, in Santa Clarita, Calif. The devotion of in-plant managers like these has certainly been a blessing for the churches and

Here’s how Gary Boyd, manager of Printing & Copy Services at Iowa State University, handled a common in-plant problem: Problem: Keeping all employees informed as to what’s happening within the department and abreast of new issues and developments. Solution: Frequent informal meetings with all employees during which we cover current issues and respond to questions. In addition, we provide a monthly Dashboard report to all employees that includes graphs and charts to show important data on how well the shop is doing. These charts show information like the financial performance, percentage of jobs delivered on or ahead of schedule, the overall customer rating, employee satisfaction rating,

If you happen to be driving around in Tucson, Ariz., and a school bus passes you sporting a large color banner, there’s a good chance you’re looking at the work of Michael Ortiz’s in-plant. The 10-employee print shop at the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) has been putting its new Epson Stylus Pro 9800 to good use printing signage for the district’s buses, as well as vinyl banners for its 110 schools. “We can do that cheaper than the commercial shops,” says Ortiz, Print Shop manager, “and I can make this available to other school districts also. It’s a revenue source for us, but it

North Carolina Correction Enterprises had one major concern with the tower collator in its Quick Copy facility. “It never ran for any length of time without problems,” reports Jesse Mitchell, Quick Copy plant manager. “It was easier to manually collate.” With 50 female inmates working two shifts, the in-plant certainly had the labor for this. But the manual method was time consuming, and the tax-supported state agencies that send work to the shop were demanding faster turnaround. So the in-plant recently upgraded to a 12-station flat-sheet Setmaster Series 3 Compact collator with a Series 3 bookletmaker. It has made a world of difference. In the past, folding,

While many small in-plants only dream of adding a large digital color press, Printing Services at Georgia Perimeter College made that dream happen four years ago when the five-employee shop installed an HP Indigo 1000. Though Associate Director Barbara Lindsay originally thought she would justify the press based on the variable data printing opportunities it would create, so far the digital press’s on-demand color capabilities are what have made it such a success at the Clarkston, Ga., college. “Our business cards and our letterhead were all three-color,” she says. “This was relatively expensive to have printed outside.” With the HP

When Jim Sabulski, manager of Printing and Mailing Services at College Misericordia in Dallas, Pa., asked to bring non-college work in house, he was given the O.K.—as long as the clients were other non-profit institutions. Misericordia lies between two school districts, so Sabulski reached out to them and started bringing in work. What’s more, Sabulski and one of the school districts are developing a training program in graphic arts for middle and high school students. “As soon as we start teaching printing, we can apply for grants that help us with equipment or space,” he says. “We also develop potential College Misericordia students.

There aren’t too many private athletic clubs that have their own in-plants. But for nearly 17 years now, John Ashby has been serving as the one-man print shop for the Washington Athletic Club, a 17,840-member club in downtown Seattle. Using a two-color Ryobi 512, he produces more than a million impressions a year, handling about 80 percent of WAC’s printing. This includes four-color jobs, like the 28-page “menu of services” he recently printed. He single-handedly cranked out 2,500 of the 4x5.5˝ pieces, each with an 80-lb. cover. “That job took me a little while,” he recalls. Ashby prints three membership mailings a