Epson America

University of North Texas Print & Mail Services is one of the most quality-conscious in-plants in the country. Since 2004, the in-plant has won an impressive 38 In-Print awards, earning it great respect across the 36,000-student university.

FOR THE in-plant at the Research and Curriculum Unit (RCU) at Mississippi State University, there's always something new to learn about printing—and something new to print about learning.

When University Printing Services at Texas Tech University made the decision to step beyond two-color production and into high-quality offset printing a few years ago, the Lubbock-based in-plant  chose a six-color ROLAND 300 perfector press with aqueous coating, from manroland. As word spread, more work flowed in and the in-plant pushed that press to its limits. Now, nearly six years and 48 million impressions later, Printing Services is preparing to add a second ROLAND 300.

LOCATED ABOUT four miles from the state capitol building in Santa Fe, N.M., the state's Printing & Graphic Services operation has been serving New Mexico for a quarter century. For most of that time, the shop has focused on black-and-white reproduction of business cards, letterhead and forms. High-quality color work, however, was eluding it, and as the demand for this work increased, the in-plant found itself losing business.

When the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) asked staff and students to rate the service they were getting from university departments in 2008, the results were enlightening. Both faculty and students complained about the level of service being offered in all business services and financial departments. That included UNMC's 21-employee Printing Services department.

New York was decked out for Christmas when IPG Editor Bob Neubauer went there to visit four in-plants: NBC, Metropolitan Museum of Art, AXA Equitable and the NY Presbyterian Hospital.

Central Michigan University Printing Services has installed a Fuji Javelin 8300 thermal CTP system running Fuji Brillia and Ecomaxx-T processless thermal plates.

The University of Houston’s Printing and Postal Service department celebrated its 60th anniversary last month, an event that honored not only the in-plant’s longevity but its recent advancements as well. Over the past 12 months, the 30-employee shop has added several major pieces of offset and digital printing equipment, gearing itself up for a very busy 2010.

WHEN ZENYATTA shot from the back of the pack to the lead in the final stretch to claim her 13th straight win in last month's Lady's Secret Stakes, the thousands of fans in the stands at Santa Anita Park, in Arcadia, Calif., weren't the only ones cheering. Underneath the grandstand, with the sound of a Goss Community web press churning away behind them, the crew of Santa Anita's in-plant was crowded around a TV monitor, watching the $300,000, nail-biter of a race unfold.

TO BE FAIR, the sorry state of the economy made it almost impossible for PRINT 09 to be a rousing success. Show floor traffic was so slow on the opening day (Friday), it was speculated that someone forgot to flip the sign in the front window at McCormick Place from "closed" to "open for business." And one had to question the logic of conducting a long, weekend-wraparound show on the first week of pro football season, when no one (it was presumed) would be coming to Chicago, let alone spending.