In-plant Profiles

In 1994 the University of Nevada, Las Vegas started outsourcing its large offset work. Now, with the upcoming addition of a new press, it's bringing that work back to save money. Sometimes, on paper, it may seem like outsourcing is a good idea for certain jobs. Unfortunately, it can take years for these jobs to be brought back in-house, once lost to the outside. One in-plant is ready to turn back the clock and regain control and cost savings. "In 1994, after careful study, we got out of the large offset, high-end printing market because it just wasn't cost-effective for us," recalls Paul Kurzynowski,

Ron Campbell wanted to serve even more students and faculty, but his in-plant was on the edge of campus. So he started a satellite copy center. Tucked away in a corner of the Australian Defense Force Academy down in Canberra, Australia, the nation's capital, is the Academy's Document Production Center. Managed by Ron Campbell, the center prints an exhaustive range of documents, including administration forms, certificates, faculty stationery, minutes, agendas, various academy publications, books and lecture material. Campbell saw an opportunity to be on hand for staff and students' printing needs, but being located on the edge of the campus, he

Book publisher Health Communications struck it rich with the book "Chicken Soup for the Soul." Now its in-plant has its work cut out for it. If the staff of book publisher Health Communications Inc. (HCI) believes in the curative powers of chicken soup, it's not without good reason. Five years ago the Deerfield Beach, Fla.-based company was struggling to survive as a publisher of pamphlets and books dealing with drug and alcohol treatment. Then company president and co-founder Peter Vegso read a manuscript that made him cry, and he decided to publish it, not knowing it had been rejected by 33 other publishers. That

Once copying and printing was brought in-house, the Manatee County Sheriff's Office was able to take advantage of the low cost of color. Sidney Ettedgui of the Manatee County, Florida, Sheriff's Office certainly has his hands full. As a crime prevention practitioner he is often speaking to community groups and planning programs to deter crime. As if that weren't enough, though, he is also responsible for managing all internal and external documents for the 1,005-person sheriff's department, which includes more than 356 law enforcement officials. With officers constantly filing crime and incident reports, document management is a priority. About five years ago Ettedgui

Starting as a linotype operator in a hot metal shop, Richard Gonzales moved steadily upward to become director of the Kansas Division of Printing. As a kid growing up in Topeka, Kan., Richard Gonzales got some sage advice from his father. "My dad told me to learn a trade," recalls Gonzales, director of the Division of Printing for the Kansas Department of Administration. In those days, he says, the city's Hispanic citizens had limited options, and his father naturally wanted the best for him. So Gonzales did some thinking. "I was in high school and they had a printing class, and I took it—and

Jim Thorne, of The Colonial BancGroup, has doubled the size of his in-plant, brought in new equipment and shown his company he can save it money. Fresh out of the Navy and looking to take an architectural drafting course at Patterson State Technical College, Jim Thorne was disappointed to learn that the class was full. So he took a graphic arts class instead. From taking that class, Thorne says, printing "got in my blood." Thorne worked in various print shops in the Montgomery, Ala., area during the day and took classes at night, earning a degree in graphic arts. He was then hired to

Customer-oriented, technology-focused and always looking for ways to save the university money, Mike Loyd has worked hard to build LSU Graphic Services into a leading in-plant. Ralph Gossard routinely makes key business decisions using hard facts, so it isn't often he renders judgement based upon a gut feeling. But four years ago, Gossard—the associate vice chancellor for administrative services at Louisiana State University—decided to take a gamble when he selected Mike Loyd as LSU's Director of Graphic Services. "Mike did not really have the large weight of experience you would normally look for," says Gossard. "But I knew him well enough to know he

When the Texas Agricultural Extension Service cleaned out its warehouse several years ago, it recycled 36 tons of paper. Thanks to on-demand printing, those days are gone for good. Ralph Piper's print shop is famous within the Texas Agricultural Extension Service for performing magic. In one case, the communications unit, which supports the Extension Service, was responsible for creating a manual on drought response in 36 hours for a federal government conference. Input was accepted and compiled electronically from extension services and experts all over the country. The 300-page file was transmitted to the print shop Thursday night. The shop created 500

Like many in-plants, Central Michigan University Printing Services used to do all of its estimates by hand. But over the past year-and-a-half, the 15-employee Mt. Pleasant, Mich., in-plant has been phasing in the Programmed Solutions Print Management System. Today, estimating is a whole new ball game. "Now we can build a template and then when we get the call for an estimate that's very similar, we can just call up the template and modify it," explains Rhonda Kohler, director. "You can have similar estimates in minutes." Now, she says, order-entry clerks are able to do standard estimates themselves, whereas in the past Kohler

In 1994 Tony Loster took on the challenge of reviving an out-of-date in-plant. Today, print quality and business are soaring—and he's not done yet. BORN IN California and raised in the Chicago area, Tony Loster, director of print production at The American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) in-plant in Rosemont, Ill., came from humble beginnings in the printing industry. "I went to work for my brother-in-law who was at a company that set type," recalls Loster of his first job out of high school. "I started out delivering type." From there Loster did some proofing and various other jobs, before getting his hand into