Software - VDP

Held in the sleepy state capital of Harrisburg, Pa., in late April, the 47th annual Association of College and University Printers conference brought together nearly 100 higher-ed in-plant managers from all corners of the country—and from four other countries.

By developing and offering cross-media services, an in-plant can bolster its reputation, revenues, and long-term relevance. Getting into cross-media often isn’t expensive or difficult. For example, Quick Response (QR) codes can be created easily, even using free software. And by enhancing capabilities, an in-plant sells itself to its customers.

Most in-plants need to get busy developing cross-media marketing services, or they run the risk of losing their relevance—and their franchise.

THE GRAPHIC communications industry is in the middle of an evolution to expand services beyond print to include cross-media and marketing. Unfortunately, the in-plant market is largely absent from the move, according to an Info-Trends research study The Evolution of the Cross-Media Marketing Services Provider. The key barrier keeping in-plants from making the transformation is that they don’t understand why or how to offer cross-media marketing services.

IT'S HAPPENING all the time in the commercial printing world. No longer defining themselves simply as print service providers, commercial printers are working hard to transition into marketing service providers. It's a difficult journey, but they see this as one of the few viable ways to grow from a price-driven, commodity operation with shrinking volumes and margins into a lucrative business with high profit potential.

In the summer of 2010, Leslie Rutledge moved from her position at San Diego State University, where she was manager of ReproGraphics, to head up the Graphic Services department at Brown University, in Providence, R.I. "Prior to my arrival, the university had undergone a reorganization, which had to be completed by June 30th," Rutledge says. Targeting redundancy, the university was combining administrative services to achieve greater efficiencies.

JUDGING BY the number of in-plant managers walking the Graph Expo show floor last month, there are quite a few in-plants itching to leave the recession behind and get busy adding equipment. The show gave them plenty to ogle, too, particularly in the inkjet arena.

There was something about the recent In-Plant Printing and Mailing Association (IPMA) conference in Charleston, S.C., that really made it stand out; something more than the great sessions and packed vendor fair; something beyond the fact that Ricoh Americas launched a major color print system there, bringing the event into the national spotlight.

When it comes to variable data jobs, in-plants can add more value by helping with the campaign planning process, says Kodak's Mark Egeling.

In my last article ("Should In-plants Offer VDP and Marketing Services?") I suggested that a better question might be, "Will this increase the value of the in-plant?" The answer, of course, is yes.