In-plant Profiles

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

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,

Though it has just seven employees, Northeast Wisconsin Technical College Printing Services installed a new HP Indigo 3050 digital press last August. How? By agreeing to use it for both academic and production purposes. “The educational tie-in was the primary reason we got this press,” testifies John M. Reinders, applied print technology instructor. “It was purchased by our academic program with the understanding that we would use the press. Without this connection with our printing program we would not have this device on our floor.” When the press isn’t being used to prepare students for digital print careers, it is busy producing full-color printing for the