In-plant Profiles

At investment banking firms like U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray, confidentiality is a major concern—surpassed only by deadline pressure. IN THE world of high finance, you often have to move quickly to secure the best rate or make the smartest investment for your clients. For in-plants at these power brokerage firms, the pressure is on to get the documents customers need into their hands quickly and confidentially. At U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray, an investment banking firm dealing in stocks, securities and mutual funds, confidentiality is a major concern for the in-plant. Convenience copiers have been put in all departments to avoid intermingling of reports between

Nevada State Printer Don Bailey emphasizes training, while making himself accessible to all his in-plant employees. This dedication earned him the industry's top honor. by CHRIS BAUER ALWAYS READY to pass the credit for accomplishments off to his staff and organization as a whole, Nevada State Printer Don Bailey is characteristically humble when asked about winning IPG's Manager of the Year award. "What it did was bring some real recognition to the Nevada State Printing Department itself more than to me," Bailey says. He reports that after he won the award, the department received a proclamation during a legislative session and was praised by

Marian Wascher was headed for a career in business. Then printing caught her fancy. Her shop is now an in-plant model. Unlike many in-plant managers, Marian Wascher did not fall in love with printing at an early age. In fact, when she was growing up in West Point, Nebraska, printing may well have been the furthest thing from her mind. A self-described "organizer," she studied business administration and accounting, without taking even one printing class. In the end, though, this has not mattered one bit. After seven years as manager of First Printing, the in-plant for First National Bank of Omaha, Wascher has earned

Dedication to his organization, great customer service and a plan for the future all helped West Barton become Manager of the Year. by CHRIS BAUER DEDICATING MORE than three decades of his life to printing at Brigham Young University, West Barton is not only a well-known figure on the BYU campus, but also all around the in-plant community. He recalls that this air of recognition expanded after In-Plant Graphics named him Manager of the Year in 1996. "People tended to recognize me more and ask more questions," Barton says, remembering working extensively with his peers and being used as a sort of "educational stepping

Ralph Sperrazza has been at the forefront of the digital revolution and has brought new technologies and techniques to the in-plant at Pitney Bowes. by CHRIS BAUER ATTENDING THE 1990 IPMA conference, Ralph Sperrazza recalls walking through and seeing a table covered with copies of the May 1990 issue of the then IN-PLANT Reproductions magazine with his picture on the cover. He sums up that experience with one word: "Amazing." "Ten years goes by very fast," admits Sperrazza, 1990 Manger of the Year, who is general manager of the document services division for Pitney Bowes, of Stamford, Conn. He remembers getting a warm response

The management team at The Principal Financial Group worked together to improve their in-plant and were rewarded with being named Managers of the Year. by CHRIS BAUER WHEN REMEMBERING some of the dominant teams of the 1990s, a few come quickly to mind. The Chicago Bulls in basketball. The Dallas Cowboys in football. The Atlanta Braves in baseball. But when thinking of the in-plant world, one team stands out: The team from The Principal Financial Group, winners of the Manager of the Year award in 1995. Consisting of Dick Croll, Diane Goodson and Mel Zischler, this team is the only group of managers from

Bank in-plants face big changes as banks continue to merge and expand. With bank mergers on the rise, and online banking changing the way people deal with their banks, the in-plants that serve these institutions are undergoing alterations of their own. Print volume is increasing and work is migrating from forms to marketing pieces. Digital job delivery is becoming more common, as is on-demand printing. In Memphis, Tenn., Mike Sprayberry, print shop manager for First Tennessee Bank, is about to add a Xerox DocuTech 6135 so he can store jobs digitally and reduce the amount of work that is warehoused. "We've got several

Texas Christian University's in-plant has opened a new copy center after years of studies, surveys and cost-justification reports. by CHRIS BAUER STUDENTS ARRIVING for the fall semester at Texas Christian University, home of the Horned Frogs, found a new facility in the lower level of the Student Center. A much needed 800-square-foot copy center, dubbed Frog Prints, was added over the summer hiatus—just down the hall from the newly remodeled, 3,500-square-foot print shop. "TCU did not have a retail copy center where students or staff could get copying services," reports Glen Bradford, manager of Printing Services in Fort Worth, Texas. "With Frog Prints, the

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,

Mike Chapman, print manager for Habitat for Humanity International, has moved his in-plant into a new facility that's three times as large. LOOKING FOR work straight out of high school, Mike Chapman consulted a friend whose father was a manager for a local Atlanta print shop. He took an entry-level position there, and immediately knew that he had made the right decision. "Once I got printing in my blood I knew I wanted to be a printer," recalls Chapman, now print manager for Habitat for Humanity International. But in between his first job and his current one, he did a bit of traveling.