In-plant Profiles

California Office of State Publishing Sacramento, Calif. Sometimes when you're big you've got to get smaller to survive. That's what happened in 1996 at the California Office of State Publishing (OSP), the largest state printing operation in the country. That was the year the Sacramento-based operation went non-mandated—when state agencies were no longer required to use the in-plant's services. The result was a significant drop in sales—10 percent over two years—and a corresponding reduction in staff. But the move also reduced some of the privatization challenges being directed at OSP by private sector printers and won the operation a lot of

by Bob Neubauer Even though it's the largest in-plant in the country and produces scores of important government documents, the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), in Washington, D.C., doesn't usually get a lot of national attention. That all changed in September of 1998 when the Starr Report was unleashed on the world. GPO was given the arduous task of disseminating that report to an eager public. The initial report arrived on disk, but supplemental materials consisted of boxes of documents, which had to be shot as camera-ready copy. The resulting products were put on the Internet, on CD-ROMs and on paper—all under the

University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, Calif. University of California-Berkeley Printing Services has a long and distinguished history as the main provider of printed materials for the school. According to George Craig, director of printing services, the university created its first print shop in 1874 in the basement of an early administration building. Up until the 1950s the printing department was combined with the publishing division. When the printing needs of the school became too great, a separate department was born. "It was recognized as an early requirement and has grown since," Craig says of the printing department. Since those days back in

Boeing Printing and Micrographic Services Seattle, Wash. When an in-plant wins Best of Show in the annual IPG/IPMA In-Print contest, it's a sure sign of a top-notch, quality operation. But when a shop takes Best of Show four times in eight years, you know it's got to be one of the best in-plants in the country. That's certainly the truth about Boeing's 111-employee Printing and Micrographic Services department, which won its fourth Best of Show in 1997. Lead by Derek Budworth, the operation has the heavy responsibility of maintaining thousands of active manuals for the aerospace giant's numerous aircraft. It's 65,000-square-foot facility

Spartan Stores Grand Rapids, Mich. Growth would be an understatement when talking about the changes that have taken place at Spartan Stores' in-plant over its 35-year existence. The Midwestern grocery wholesaler, located in Grand Rapids, Mich., began its in-plant with just a one-color duplicator used for printing company bulletins, according to David DeWildt, director of printing and design at Spartan. Since then, Spartan's in-plant has grown into a 36,000-square-foot, full-service print shop, which includes three Heidelberg sheetfed presses, four Goss webs, 43 Macintosh workstations and full binding and copying capabilities. And there are no plans for stopping there, let alone downsizing. DeWildt

Cigna Charleston, S.C. STARTING OUT with several small in-plant facilities at locations across the country, Cigna Printing & Distribution eventually centralized into one main printing shop located in Charleston, S.C. This is where the majority of the insurance company's printing work is done today, although there is one smaller in-plant located in Santa Fe Springs, Calif., and a few copy centers spread throughout the nation. The in-plant serves about 50,000 Cigna employees, according to John Panhorst, who oversees printing in both in-plant locations. The majority of in-house work is black and white, he says. What's the in-plant's secret of survival? "We

When you've been at the same in-plant as long as these folks have, you see a lot of changes. Company loyalty may not be as prevalent as it was 30 years ago, but it's not gone yet. Around the country, scores of in-plants are being run by seasoned managers who, in many cases, started decades ago as press operators at the same shop. Like the craftsmen and women they are, they take pride in what they have built and continue to work towards making it better. To honor some of these long-term managers, IPG conducted a nationwide search. Though we couldn't reach

USAA San Antonio, Texas With a customer base of more than 3.5 million people—a figure that grows every year at a rate of 6 to 8 percent—the USAA in-plant in San Antonio, Texas, is kept busy on a daily basis. This insurance and financial services company's in-plant department was founded about 40 years ago to primarily print business forms and declaration pages for automobile policies. Today, the operation boasts a 40,000-square-foot facility and averages 36,000 jobs per year—a figure that is expected to grow annually, according to Jack Mondin, executive director of publishing output services. Despite this anticipated growth, Mondin put some pressure

Meeting tight deadlines is even tougher when your equipment breaks down. Sometimes selecting the right paper is the key to productivity. When the duplicating department at New York law firm Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson receives a printing request from one of the firm's attorneys, it knows the urgency and quality requirements that come with the request. Whether it's a brief from a bankruptcy case, a subpoena or a client document, the in-plant knows it must produce the material right away—no matter what time of day it is or what day of the week. With constant deadline pressure, the 18-employee in-plant must

Though the publishing industry is infused with digital technologies, the in-plants that serve publishers often run more modest operations. In remote Madawaska, Maine, digital printing technology is about as common as a winter sunbather. "We haven't seen much up here, because we're in a very rural area," says Maurice Morin, in-plant printing manager of the St. John Valley Times. Morin, who oversees five full-time and three part-time employees in this town on the Canadian border, takes this all in stride, however. "Digital technology is something that larger firms can afford to buy. The money's just not here. People here want