Heidelberg

ASU's in-plant internship program reaps rewards for both students and the in-plant. By Caroline Miller Bob Lane has a vision for Arizona State University's Graphic Information Technology Facility (GITF): He believes that someday it will be known as the RIT of the West. Just six months ago, Lane helped merge ASU's academic program with its in-plant to develop a unique partnership. "I was trying to figure out what makes a department important to a university," explains Lane. "It's not enough to add value anymore." So Lane suggested a merger. The graphics program had recently been moved from ASU's main campus to ASU East,

Small-format sheetfed presses now offer many of the features found on larger presses, such as increased speeds, automation and digital controls. by Caroline Miller There was a time when small-format sheetfed presses sat in the shadows. Workhorses, but nothing compared to their fast and flashy 40˝ brothers. Today, small presses are becoming the envy of the larger presses. The small press market has been the subject of intense technological development. As a result, small presses—ranging in size up to 20x29˝—now offer the features found on larger presses, such as increased speeds, makeready automation, networked systems and digital controls. This is great news for

Purchasing a new floor-model folder with automation features can lower your operating costs and improve the quality of your folds. by MARK SMITH WHEN BUSINESS conditions get tight, it's natural to think about hunkering down and waiting for the market to turn around. This may hardly seem like the right time to make a significant investment in new equipment. However, doing just that can provide both short- and long-term benefits. Postpress operations are prime targets for performance improvement, since they traditionally have been labor-intensive and highly mechanical. Folding falls into that category. Purchasing a new floor-model folder with automation features can provide a big

By merging or working closely with their data centers, in-plants are expanding their operations, saving money and ensuring their survival. by SCOTT BURY Across America, businesses and institutions are merging their in-plants into their Information Technology departments' print output organizations. It makes sense. After all, both operations use much of the same equipment: copiers, high-speed laser printers, powerful computer workstations and robust networks. We've taken a look at how three organizations have made such mergers work using different approaches. Georgia Tech: Rethinking Leads To Reorganizing "Contrary to what we in the printing business want to believe, printing is going away," contends Paul

When the City of San Diego's in-plant sees an opportunity, it rushes right in to take advantage of it. The resulting mix of services, both traditional and nontraditional, has kept customers happy. by CAROLINE MILLER Not only is variety the spice of life for the City of San Diego's in-plant. It's also the key to its success. "We've found that we've had to continually reinvent ourselves, and that like all good in-plants we have to always anticipate the needs of our customers before our customers do," says Liam McGuigan, deputy director of the general services department for the City of San Diego. Situated

State of Washington Olympia, Wash. Despite being one of the country's largest in-plants, the State of Washington's Department of Printing behaves much more like a small company in the way it treats its employees. "We're very pro-people," remarks Dan Swisher, assistant director of the Olympia, Wash.-based operation. "We like to grow from within. We like to involve everybody in our operation. And we like everybody to have fun doing it." To show employees how important they are, Swisher says the department's director, George Morton, visits each employee every single day. With 105 employees, that's a tough task, but the payoff is great. Trying

Safeco Redmond, Wash. No matter how harried his workload gets, Larry Jablinske remains the perfect manager: calm, cool and in control. Perhaps that's because Jablinske is assistant director and manager of Publishing Services for SAFECO, an insurance and financial products company whose customers are primarily independent insurance agents and financial advisors. Working with insurance-related products all day is sure to set your mind at ease and make you feel safe, right? Or perhaps Jablinske is merely comforted by the knowledge that his department and its crew of 104 provide quality, value and service largely unmatched by outside vendors. "We save an average of

Kansas Division of Printing Topeka The Division of Printing for the State of Kansas is already a large operation—$7.3 million in sales, 83 full-time employees, three satellite locations—but Director Richard Gonzales would love to see it expand. "We've consolidated [work from in-plants in] the Departments of Health, Revenue and Human Resources, and have assumed a large portion of the work from the Department of Transportation," says Gonzales. "We visited the print shops, researched their jobs and showed them in black and white what it was actually costing them." Those hard figures helped convince the departments to pool their workloads. For example, the division's newest

Disaster recovery was one of the hottest topics at Xplor this year, for understandable reasons. More than 5,700 people from around the world headed to Orlando, Fla., recently to attend the Xplor 2001 Global Electronic Document Systems Conference & Exhibit. Held at the Orange County Convention Center, the 22nd annual Xplor conference drew document and printing professionals, industry consultants and nearly 150 exhibitors. "Despite world events and economic challenges, the electronic document industry will move forward in positive and exciting new ways," noted James Shand, commercial director of edotech Limited, and Xplor International chairman of the board. Directions And Visions In one

University of Missouri Columbia, Mo. Not only is University of Missouri-Columbia Printing Services the largest printer in town, it also recently became the offset printing arm of the town's local government. "The City of Columbia's in-plant closed its offset printing operation, and we set up a meeting to see if we could help them meet their printing needs," says Rick Wise, director of the university's in-plant. "The city is now a regular printing customer for us." This isn't all the in-plant has been up to, however; it's also been converting its Quick Copy operation from "off-the-glass-only" copying to digital printing with electronic access.