Canon U.S.A.

For Years, the in-plant at Steelcase Inc. received jobs in a variety of disjoined ways: e-mail, FTP and even physical drop-offs. Back in 2006, only about 40 percent of jobs were submitted electronically to the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based in-plant, mostly via e-mail. This had begun to take its toll on the productivity of the five-employee shop.

Canon U.S.A. has established Canon Information and Imaging Solutions, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary dedicated to expanding Canon's overall solutions business. With an initial focus on accelerating the growth of existing Canon office solutions, the new company will allow Canon to build out its business solutions infrastructure to deliver solutions comprised of software, middleware and services.  

Bloomsburg University Printing Services is a busy in-plant, printing everything from letterhead and labels to invitations, marketing brochures and programs for sporting events and concerts. The shop prints all of the Bloomsburg, Pa.-based college's materials, since there are few outside printers in this rural area. To help it in this task, the in-plant recently installed a Lanier C720s Pro color printer.

Now in its 18th year, the On Demand Conference and Exposition tried something new this time when it moved south of the Mason-Dixon line to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. Not everyone was happy with the results. Though some exhibits were packed at intervals, others were not so busy. Perhaps the absence of key companies like Xerox, Kodak, Presstek and Standard caused some potential attendees to skip this year's event. Or maybe D.C. was too far for the Northeast day trippers who attended previous years' shows in Philadelphia, Boston and New York.

Last week, the On Demand Conference and Exposition completed its 2011 run at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. The venue itself ended up being part of the story because it contributed to the event feeling more like a conference with an exhibit hall, rather than a trade show with an education track

Our core business isn't necessarily printing, it's educating students," declares Bill King, Supervisor of Printing and Publishing at Mesa Public Schools. "We ask ourselves, 'How can we shape our operation to mirror the core values of the school district?' "

Océ, a Canon company, has sponsored a new study titled "In-Plant Printing: Bringing Value to Colleges and Universities"

BACK IN 1996 or so, at the On Demand Show in New York City, there was a pleasant reception at an artsy gallery with great munchies, a bunch of gorgeous fashion models and a plethora of digital print visionaries, illuminati, vendor execs, and assorted hangers-on. It was the launch of PODi—the Print On Demand Initiative.

Two new videos on the IPG site show scenes from Editor Bob Neubauer's recent trip to Minneapolis. There, he toured the University of St. Thomas' in-plant, then met with several in-plant managers at a Canon open house.

An artist at heart, Frank Oliver has designed a fast, efficient 
in-plant to serve more than a dozen rural New York school districts.