In-plant Profiles

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

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,

Sometimes you can’t get money for upgrades no matter how badly you need them—and sometimes you get a license to spend. Rocky Reynolds, reprographics supervisor at the Citrus College in-plant in Glendora, Calif., says he kept hearing requests from higher-ups for a more professional and business-oriented look to all of the campus’ publications, even for flyers and brochures. “We were sending a lot of work off-campus to get that look, even with a Xerox 2060 for color work,” he says. After investigating available digital presses, the in-plant, which has just three full-time and two part-time employees, installed a Xerox iGen3. “We’re

Deliveries from the Visual Communications department at Lake Forest College, in Illinois, are handled in style, thanks to the vintage 1964 golf cart that the department purchased two years ago. “We had nothing but hand trucks to make deliveries,” says Leslie Taylor, director. “We’re trying to have more of a presence on campus. In the hood of the cart is a cooler, so when we deliver in the summer, we offer cold pop or water to whoever’s getting the job.” As part of its outreach program, the Visual Communications department—which is located in a large building that once served as a dog kennel—has

The in-plant for the Bethel, Wash., public school system turned out more than 44.6 million impressions in 2006, most of them in the form of booklets. “We average between 20-25,000 booklets a day,” reports Diane Karl, print shop manager. The in-plant initially adopted the booklet format in order to help students. “If students can do their general work in the same fashion as the tests they have to take for an assessment of scholastic learning, they’ll be more proficient when they take the tests,” says Karl. “It’s cost effective for us to make the booklets and easy for our students to use.

WHEN SOUTHERN Illinois University Printing/Duplicating Service installed a new Screen FT 3050 imagesetter in 1998, it was a big step forward. Gone were the days of shooting film. After nine years, though, time took its toll on the FT 3050. “It was a good machine. We were happy with it,” remarks Dennis Maze, superintendent of the 22-employee operation, in Carbondale, Ill. “But we had some problems with it a little over a year ago.” Error messages and the need for parts left the machine out of commission for days at a time—once for a full week. “So that’s when we decided to start

In early 2005, the in-plant at Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland, Ohio, underwent a radical reorganization due to the adoption of “5S,” a Japanese system for maintaining a healthy work environment. The shop removed dozens of dumpsters of unneeded materials, painted and repaired the workspace, then organized the equipment efficiently and placed visual aids everywhere. In-plant manager Warren Hauser says the adoption of 5S “completely redesigned the shop. We now have a much more streamlined and logical way of doing business.” The shop plans to bring in a Xerox 8000 digital press soon, which will require layout changes. The most recent addition to

Allen Palovik’s tenure at Knott’s Berry Farm Amusement Park, in Buena Park, Calif., resembles a ride on a roller coaster. It’s filled with ups and downs but keeps moving forward. Thirty-three years ago, as a high school student, Palovik took a job at the amusement park. He never left. Now, as supervisor of Reprographics, Palovik, sits back at his desk while the loud roar of the renowned Ghost Rider roller coaster shakes his office, and reflects on his time at Knott’s Berry Farm with fond memories and a deep appreciation of his place in the park’s rich history. Palovik was born and raised in Buena Park,