Heidelberg

Unisys Plymouth, Mich. It seems only fitting that a pioneering software company like Unisys has one of the country's most cutting-edge in-plants. Having incorporated online book ordering, color management and print-on-demand (POD), Unisys' in-plant has firmly established itself as one of the leading in-plants. It's also one of the largest, with 91 employees and $16.5 million in annual sales. But again, this is only fitting for a company as vast as Unisys. "Unisys is a big company," declares Gregg Gabbana, manager of print-on-demand operations. "It has 37,000 employees and operations in 100 countries. As the company's in-plant, we do the worldwide printing and

Not only does Eastman Chemical Creative Services have sophisticated prepress and printing operations, it handles photography, video, streaming media, CDs—and it even insources. As the largest employer in Tennessee (with 10,000 on its payroll), Eastman Chemical has a large presence in the state, says Mike Thomas, manager of Eastman Chemical Creative Services. That presence is especially felt in eastern Tennessee, where the company's Kingsport facility is located. And it is in eastern Tennessee that this sophisticated in-plant is capitalizing on its parental relationship. By promoting its graphic arts capabilities externally, Creative Services is taking full advantage of Eastman Chemical's manufacturing fame. "The company

Today's digital, high-speed, black-and-white copiers provide advanced capabilities at a fraction of the cost of previous analog workhorse models. by JEFF SMITH The line between office and production equipment continues to become less and less distinct. "Distribute-then-print" has effectively replaced "print-then-distribute" for most applications in most environments. One of the primary causes of this shift in print distribution is the coming of age of digital office copiers, which, along with faster network printers, have provided an effective means to print electronically distributed documents. Today's digital, high-speed, office and production copiers are providing advanced capabilities to in-plants at a fraction of the cost of

Schwab Litho San Francisco Schwab Litho, the printing arm of the financial firm Charles Schwab & Co., is a survivor. When recent company cutbacks brought the most layoffs in Schwab's 30-year history, the in-plant stayed intact—and with good reason. With the third highest sales-per-employee figure of all the in-plants on this year's Top 50, Schwab has made a spot for itself on the corporate landscape at Schwab. "Until the culture goes paper-less, I believe we have a solid future," remarks Mark Geyer, director of the in-plant. Operating on a chargeback system, Schwab Litho doesn't "officially" have an annual budget. However, as a department

by Bob Neubauer After watching the twin towers of the World Trade Center crash to the earth two days ago, I'm finding it a little difficult to write with enthusiasm about the "big news" of Print 01. The tragedy just overshadows it all. I flew back from the trade show in Chicago just a day and a half before New York and Washington were attacked, so I watched the terror unfold from a TV screen in our Philadelphia office. Many Print 01 attendees and vendors, however, were forced to confront the grim news from their hotel rooms, far from home, and were subsequently trapped

Print 01 featured numerous innovations in prepress, offset and bindery technologies. Find out all about them in part two of our show report. &002;by Bob Neubauer Walking the show floor at Print 01 was a printer's dream. Presses were churning out color posters, software was being demonstrated on large screens for small crowds, books were being folded, stitched and trimmed—wherever you looked, something was happening. Though the September 11 attacks brought the show to a halt, show management said about 66,300 people attended overall. Vendors reported a number of sales. Heidelberg's NexPress subsidiary sold more than 70 NexPress 2100 presses, part of

By replacing older stitching and binding equipment with new models, in-plants are bringing new business into their shops. by Bob Neubauer It wasn't the automation. It wasn't the ease of use, either. No, the biggest benefit the Heidelberg ST 90 saddle stitcher brought to Minnesota Life Graphic Services was new business, according to manager Tom Neckvatal. "It opened up the doors for us to do work we couldn't do before," he says. With the ST 90, the in-plant could saddle stitch 96-page books, plus covers. This meant jobs like annual reports, catalogs and manuals were now well within the capabilities of the

To a famous brewer like Anheuser-Busch, quality is crucial. Jon Schroeder makes sure its printed products are equally outstanding. by PAMELA MORTIMER Life at Anheuser-Busch's St. Louis in-plant isn't always a party. Sure, employees get two free cases of beer a month, but those are for take-home use only. You won't see press operators downing cold Budweisers. What you will see is a very clean shop, and a very proud staff. "They are proud of what they do, and I'm genuinely proud of them and represent them that way," remarks Jon Schroeder, supervisor of Graphic Communications for the world's largest brewer. That pride

In-plants are being challenged by the Internet, outsourcing and other forces. At IPMA 2001, managers got lots of advice on how to cope. by Bob Neubauer Years ago, monthly chapter meetings were the most important way for IPMA members to exchange information. But times have changed; people are busier, and they have less time for meetings. So the International Publishing Management Association started looking for new ways to provide value to its members. At the recent IPMA 2001 conference, attendees found out what the association had in mind. International President Carol Doffing-Kraft outlined a major upgrade to IPMA's services that includes

Four Blocks From Terror Jeffrey Allen was hard at work in the New York Stock Exchange's fifth-floor in-plant when terror struck from the skies. Just four blocks away, two hijacked airplanes slammed into the World Trade Center, filling the blue September sky with smoke, fire and fear. "We heard the explosions," Allen recalls. But that was only the beginning. Told to stay in the building, he and his coworkers experienced the double horror of watching the towers collapse on television and feeling the earth shake beneath their feet. "All the dust and the smoke came over here and we couldn't even see