Heidelberg

The in-plant aboard the Queen Mary 2 ocean liner has a heavy workload. But the fringe benefits are sure nice. By Mark Michelson William Neugebauer plans out his print shop's workload—and the required paper and consumables needed—well in advance. Four months in advance, to be precise. As chief printer in charge of the in-plant on board the new Queen Mary 2 ocean liner, the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) graduate carefully coordinates the shipment of supplies to faraway ports where the vessel docks. "A ship is not very ideal for printing," he notes. Chemicals slosh around in the plate processor while the Queen Mary

Here is one in-plant production manager's take on recent technology introductions and how they address trends in the in-plant market. By Heath Cajandig In this industry, vendors are continuously trying to gear up the hype machine to tout a new vision for the future. Over time, it is hard not to be skeptical of any claim. Every now and then, though, a product actually does come along that perfectly sums up the current and future state of the industry. This past January, one of these products arrived: The Xerox DocuTech 100 series copier/printer. For Xerox it helps solidify a digital future for the company; for

Variable Data Printing has become a buzz word. But how do you sell it to customers? What does it take to provide VDP? And how can your department profit from it? By Vic Nathan Barkin When taking aim with a rifle, the smaller the target you aim for, the more likely you are to hit that target. The very same concept can be applied to personalized variable data printing. The VDP process is much more than just printing with new technology, though; it's a fundamental change in how printing is perceived, utilized and produced. A musket in the time of the American Revolution

In-plants that have added digital color printing capabilities are thriving—and the call for more on-demand color work is only getting louder. By Cheryl Adams ACE Hardware certainly has a loyal customer base. "We have 6.2 million customers in our ACE Helpful Hardware Club," maintains Rick Salinas, production manager at the company's in-plant in Downers Grove, Ill. He says the club—which awards customers points, and eventually store credit, for purchases—is the "second largest customer-loyalty program in the country." The company's in-plant has played a major part in creating that loyalty, chiefly through the huge number of personalized color marketing materials it produces. In 1998

Despite a tough few years, airline in-plants use promotion and efficiency to get off the ground. By Mike Llewellyn So the Dow Jones has been holding steady above 10,000. The rate of layoffs nationwide seems to be leveling off. Maybe—let's not speak too soon—but just maybe, the three-year fiscal winter that has kept the country's economy at a plodding pace is showing signs of a thaw. That's good news for every in-plant manager who's been warily eyeing dwindling clicks and the migration of forms work to electronic formats. And it's great news for in-plants fighting through the storm at airlines. It's no secret that

Large-press automation is now available on almost every model of medium- and small-format offset press. By Chris Bauer When it comes to automation, small- and medium-format sheetfed presses (up to 23x29˝) have just as many bells and whistles as the large presses—but for a lot less money. "The main features required by today's press buyer [are based on] automation," notes Mike Dighton, vice president of Hamada of America. "Auto plate loading, blanket washers, color consoles, including CIP3/4, are almost always asked for by our customers. The automation carries into prepress, as well." Hamada's new Impulse 452P is a 14x20˝ perfector. The Impulse runs at

Printing Services at the New England Journal of Medicine produces a host of materials designed to educate medical professionals. By Mike Llewellyn Jim Collins took over as manager of Printing Services for the Massachusetts Medical Society, publishers of The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), two years ago. He says anybody would be hard-pressed to find a more beautiful in-plant in which to work. Nestled in the mountains of Waltham, Mass., the in-plant is lit by the sun pouring in from towering, eight-foot windows. The New England Journal of Medicine, says Collins, is the oldest continuous medical publication in the world. And it's the

City government in-plants have to be fast, flexible and politically savvy. By Mike Llewellyn IT WASN'T too long ago that brush fires were gorging themselves on Southern California scrub and turning the nation's attention to the seemingly endless struggle firefighters had set before them. As the nightly news broadcast eerie aerial shots of glowing fire lines snaking their way across mountainsides, in downtown San Diego, uncomfortably near the blazes, Mayor Dick Murphy put in a call to the city manager's office. If the mayor and other city leaders were to decide how to address the wildfires, they had to work from the same report.

By building an in-plant from scratch, Lufkin Independent School District is both preparing students for employment and saving money. By Bob Neubauer When the Lufkin Independent School District decided to create an in-plant at its Lufkin, Texas-based high school, it went all out. First it hired Brian Crews, who had spent the previous 10 years running the in-plant and graphic arts instructional program for the Gladewater School District, an hour and a half away. Then it installed new prepress, offset and finishing gear worth close to $600,000, including computer-to-plate (CTP) equipment and two-color presses. "They told me to put together my Christmas list

Xplor 2003 brought MICR and one-to-one marketing to the forefront in Atlanta. By Mike Llewellyn The exhibitors at Xplor 2003 were upbeat, talking about a market rebound and new ways for the printing industry to gain a foothold as new media proliferates. While attendee figures were down compared with past Xplor conferences, most exhibitors felt that those who had arrived were there to do business. Continuing the show's tradition of education, companies like IBM Printing Systems and Océ set up their booths more like learning centers than equipment showcases. And with a greater focus on transactional printing and variable data, many companies rolled