In-plant Profiles

Gerlinde Williams was waitressing when a chance encounter set her on the path to eventually run the state of Oklahoma's in-plant. By MIKE LLEWELLYN To say that Gerlinde Williams has come a long way would be a big understatement. Thirty years ago, the future Administrator of Central Printing for the State of Oklahoma was working as a waitress in a hotel restaurant, having just arrived in the United States from Germany. She didn't realize it at the time, but one of her regular customers quietly noticed she worked twice as hard as her fellow employees. "They would be talking, having a cigarette, whatever,

James Mason visited the Federal Reserve Bank on a school trip. He's been at the bank ever since. by Mike Llewellyn During his senior year of high school, James Mason's class toured the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank. When the trip concluded at the bank's in-plant, the guide asked if anyone in the group thought they might like to work with that equipment. Mason was the only one in the group with a raised hand. "I graduated on a Thursday," he says. "On Friday they offered me a job." Today, Mason is the award-winning operational supervisor of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Print

Numerous recent upgrades and service enhancements show why the Washington Department of Printing is one of the top 10 in-plants in the country. by Bob Neubauer When you sit down at the table in George Morton's office at the Washington State Department of Printing, you get the feeling there's nobody else he'd rather be talking to. His welcoming smile and direct eye contact make it clear that he really cares about the people he's with. Perhaps that's why Morton, director of the Department of Printing for the past four years, is so popular among his 160 employees—he's concerned about them. In fact, he visits

Running one of the country's largest in-plants is tough work, but Craig Sedgwick manages to do it well—while winning prizes for quality. by Bob Neubauer When an in-plant wins seven In-Print awards—including three first place prizes—it's clear the shop has an awful lot of talent inside its walls. That feat was accomplished this year by the 350-employee in-plant for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in Salt Lake City. Though the man behind the in-plant, Plant Manager Craig Sedgwick, would credit his employees' dedication and hard work, his own dedication to them and to the in-plant has certainly played a big

When the demand for color printing grew, Ace Reprographics took action. It installed CTP, color proofing and a new five-color press. Up until last January, whenever Ace Hardware Reprographics produced four-color offset work, the 80-employee in-plant had to print it on a two-color MAN Roland press. As the amount of four-color work increased, the operation started getting overwhelmed. "One of our biggest programs just continued to grow," says Rick Salinas, production manager, referring to Ace Hardware's two-year-old Helpful Hardware Club. Membership in this preferred customer program soared to three million, straining the in-plant's ability to continue producing quality promotional pieces for the program

A lifelong printer, Tony Torone not only loves his trade, but he loves the fact that his work is helping paralyzed veterans. by W. Eric Martin Tony Torone loves his job as manager of the Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association's in-plant. He gets along great with his employees, he knows he's giving his clients—and his clients' clients—valuable service, and he works only 10 minutes from the house he shares with his wife of 32 years. He's spent more than 40 years in the printing industry, and he would do it all over again in a second. Jealous yet? Torone's love of printing is infectious—which makes

The International Publishing Management Association has honored several in-plants with awards: • Portland General Electric was named this year's Management Award winner. • First National Bank of Omaha has earned the Mail Center of the Year title. • The University of Nevada-Las Vegas won top honors for In-house Promotional Excellence. Awards will be presented in June at the IPMA 2002 conference, in Atlanta.

IPMA's former international president, Carol Kraft, has been hired as the association's new COO. She says the group must be ready to change in order to survive. by Bob Neubauer It's taken almost three years but the International Publishing Management Association has a new chief operating officer at last. And the biggest surprise to many may be how familiar she is. Fresh from her very recent retirement from Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Minnesota, former IPMA International President Carol Kraft has been appointed IPMA's full-time COO. She fills the position last held by IPMA Executive Director Larry Aaron, who left IPMA in 1999. The

Mike George has brought many changes to Villanova University Graphic Services over the past three years—replacing analog copiers in campus departments with connected, multifunctional devices, adding direct-to-plate services—but the biggest impact on the in-plant's future will likely be the introduction of T/R Systems' Digital StoreFront. "There had been a lot of concern on the students' part because we weren't offering students a place to print. They had to go to Kinko's," says George, director of Graphic Services. "We had pushed [the teachers' syllabi] out to the Web over the past two years and told students they could print it out themselves—but the university wanted

In-plants serving non-profit organizations are passionate about their organizations' missions. by Cheryl Adams What's the biggest difference between corporate in-plants and those of non-profit organizations? Besides the obvious (lower salaries and fewer funds for new equipment), there's one very unique and powerful distinction: dedication to the mission. Corporate in-plants contribute to the bottom line of their parent companies' profitability. Non-profit in-plants contribute to the greater good of mankind. "I want to be known as a peacemaker. I want to give someone a helping hand and give them a better chance in life. I want to build rather than destroy," declares Mike Chapman, manager of