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School district in-plants provide valuable support to their schools, allowing teachers to focus on student achievement. By Bob Neubauer Public school has changed a lot since you were a kid. I don't just mean the addition of computers into the classroom nor the lax dress codes that would make your eyes pop. These days, many schools are specializing in specific subjects and allowing students to choose schools based on their own interests. For example, at Pinellas County Schools, in Largo, Fla., the district's 145 schools focus on such diverse topics as marine science, health care, computers and the arts. Students can pick

A look at some of the latest workflow solutions. By Mark Smith The digital revolution was already on its way to making "workflow" a catch-all term in prepress, when the rise of computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) extended its use to the entire print production process. As a result, an ever-wider array of products can now be called "digital workflow solutions." For our purposes, the definition is being limited to the evolution of what used to be called prepress systems. Vendors have responded to this trend with a shift toward marketing workflow solution brands as much as specific products. Modularity and flexibility are at

By uniting data center and in-plant printing services under one roof, organizations are discovering extreme workflow solutions. By Maggie DeWitt With today's emphasis on doing business better, faster and more cost-effectively, it was inevitable that management would see the wisdom of merging in-plant printing services with data centers. For those who have not done so already, there is good news and bad news. The bad news is, with each day that goes by, your parent organization is squandering resources, losing operating efficiency and wasting money. The good news is, the task is not as daunting as you might think, and the two departments

Both digital duplicators and color copiers have made major strides to meet changing customer demands. Which is right for you?

In-plant managers got a chance to see the technologies they've been reading about at the recent Graph Expo show. For the many in-plant managers in attendance, the recent Graph Expo and Converting Expo 2004 show in Chicago was a graphic arts fantasy land. "I felt like a kid in a candy store," observes Mike Renn, of Mellon Corporate Publishing, in Philadelphia. "I went to take a look at the latest direct-to-plate systems and software management packages and came away with numerous options." Attendance this year was pretty healthy, he adds: "I had to wedge myself between bodies to check out the latest gear." Other managers agreed. "I

The three largest state government in-plants are all on the West Coast. Despite budget cuts and calls for privatization, they continue to thrive--but changes are afoot. By Erik Cagle Don't let the calendar fool you. It may not read 1849, but tremendous wealth is still being mined in the largely untapped western portion of our country. Instead of prospectors dredging local waterways for gold nuggets, though, government in-plants are reaping a fortune by producing print and communications-related products for their respective agencies. Look at the figures. Each of the three West Coast states cracked the top 10 list on the In-Plant Graphics Top

Finding the high-speed/high-volume printer that provides the maximum productivity and cost savings for your in-plant is not easy. Here's some help. By Michael Fego There are many printer/copier manufacturers, but relatively few offer high-speed/high-volume models. Since "high-speed" and "high-volume" can be somewhat relative terms, let's first define what constitutes a high-speed printer. Most experts consider devices with print/copy speeds of 70 pages per minute (ppm) or more to be high-speed devices. For the purpose of this article, we will use this definition. Manufacturers offering products with speeds between 70 and 90 ppm include Konica Minolta, Kyocera Mita, Sharp, Xerox, Canon, Ricoh and

The demand for black-and-white printing continues in an increasingly colorful world. By Gretchen Peck Digital color printing has been stealing the spotlight from black-and-white in recent years. But the black-and-white technology developers have had no fear; they realize it's still, very much, a black-and-white world out there. According to Paul Preo, business line manager of distributed printers for IBM Printing Systems, recent data indicates that as much as 75 percent of the work managed by in-plants is of the black-and-white kind. "Monochrome is still a lot less expensive and now offers excellent quality," he notes. "Today's digital monochrome technology boasts the strongest image

Jennifer Bowers has excelled in printing from Colorado to New York. Now she's putting her experience to good use at Florida State University. By Joe Ranoia Printing is in Jennifer Bowers' blood. Her father taught the subject at Purdue University. "I'm a university brat," she quips. "Probably that connection got me interested in graphics." Bowers took that connection and turned it into an accomplished career, finally landing in Tallahassee as director of Printing and Mailing Services at Florida State University. Bowers, 45, grew up in South Bend, Ind., before moving to Colorado. While in high school she took a job at a small

In part two of our variable data printing coverage, Vic Barkin explains how your in-plant can move into this lucrative business. By Vic Nathan Barkin During the American Revolution, every rifle was what today we would refer to as a customized model. A master craftsman produced each lock, stock and barrel individually. No two were exactly alike. Finding the optimum load for each rifle meant that a rifleman had to test the accuracy of different powder volumes, patch thicknesses and ball size combinations to ensure, when the time came to hit his mark, he could trust his tool to do the job. Marketing