University of California Printing Services Berkeley, Calif. Annual sales/budget: $15,877,189 Full-time employees: 186 Jobs printed per year: 5,000 To satisfy the printing needs of some 140,000 University of California students attending nine campuses across the state, University of California-Berkeley Printing Services has needed to be flexible. According to George Craig, printing services director, there have been many changes over the years, especially with the emergence of digital technology. Craig recalls bringing in photocomposition and computer business management systems in the '80s, before moving to the direct-to-plate processes and computer-controlled presses of today. Through it all, Craig says, his staff has excelled at adapting to the changes.
Heidelberg
A look back at the in-plant world of the early 1990s reveals a lot of the same concerns and predictions that we see today—but a lot of changes, as well. As one pages through issues of In-Plant Reproductions magazine (now called In-Plant Graphics, for those of you who have been asleep) from 1990, the most interesting observation is how similar the topics are to those covered in 1999. Even at the beginning of the decade, in-plant managers were worried about facilities management. Like today, IPR urged them to learn their costs by charging back and to justify themselves to management. And contrary
Allstate Print Communications Center Wheeling, Ill. Operating Budget: $30 million Full-time employees: 361 Part-time employees: 84 Jobs printed per year: 20,000 To keep a huge operation like the Allstate Print Communications Center productive and cost-effective, its management team must meet the challenges of changing technology and staggering workloads—while keeping costs low and bringing top-notch service to customers. "We are very successful at answering our company's printing needs and providing the most cost-effective solutions," explains Bob Tierney, print communication director. "Our cost-effectiveness is clearly our greatest strength." The Allstate Print Communications Center is not only a leader within its company, but also in the printing industry. It has
Boeing Printing & Output Service Seattle Annual sales/budget: $56 million Full-time employees: 330 Jobs printed per year: 240,000 Bill Walker, senior manager of printing operations at Boeing, has seen a lot of changes in his 33 years—and he knows that as soon as one technology is mastered, it's time to prepare for the next. "We've about maxed out the gains in our printing operation," says Walker of the shift from camera ready art to the digital original. "Ten years ago, it was tough to get an electronic original because customers didn't think that way. Today, 95 percent of our originals come to us digitally." That change
Wal-Mart Printing & Mailing Distribution Center Bentonville, Ark. Annual sales: $22,052.310 Operating budget: $22,037,626 Sales minus costs: $10,858,458 Full-time employees: 325 Jobs printed per year: 12,000+ As the largest general merchandiser in the world, Wal-Mart Stores serves more than 100 million customers weekly at its 2,485 stores. In Fortune magazine's latest Fortune 500 list, the 37-year-old company overtook Exxon to become the third largest firm in the U.S. So it's only fitting that a company of this magnitude also has one of the country's top in-plants. Located about a mile from Wal-Mart's Bentonville, Ark., headquarters, Wal-Mart Printing & Mailing Distribution Center (PMDC) boasts 325 employees—or "associates," in the company's
University of Washington Publications Services, Seattle Annual sales: $15.8 million Operating budget: $16.2 million Full-time employees: 162 Part-time employees: 110 Jobs printed per year: 6,500 At 48,000 square feet in size and with 270 full- and part-time employees, University of Washington Publications Services is a monster of a university in-plant. And Acting Director Frank Davis predicts it will only get bigger—in terms of services, if nothing else. Of course, when you're serving a campus of 36,000 students and 18,000 faculty and staff members, it's hard to keep things on a small scale. Take color printing for example: A year ago, the Copy Services division averaged 10,000 to 15,000 color
The latest digital imposition tools are object-independent, page rotating signature refiners—automating even further the territory once governed by the manual stripper. Very soon, the task of manual stripping will seem as foreign a concept to the seasoned graphic arts professional as does the nearly lost art of photo engraving. Current imposition tools perform a flexible and varied set of clever tasks: • Digitally imposing signatures that can be output on a variety of PostScript-compatible devices, like platesetters and imagesetters. • Rotating and viewing any object on any signature. • Creating complete, precise impositions in minutes—seconds—for a variety of layouts and
The University of Kentucky's Karen Willmott watched her responsibilities skyrocket as the university consolidated its services under her umbrella. by CHRIS BAUER The successful reorganization of two departments at the University of Kentucky was a major reason Karen Willmott was chosen as Manager of the Year in 1994. In 1993, while director of publishing services, she took on responsibility for the University Extension Print and Graphic Design Shop and the Public Relations Graphic Design Shop. Though it was no small feat to incorporate three print shops into one, it pales in comparison to what Willmott has tackled since she was named
Safety and efficiency are the key factors to consider when trying to find the best cutter for your in-plant. by CHRIS BAUER THE SAFETY of your in-plant employees must be a priority for you as a manger. Especially vulnerable to injury are operators of paper cutting equipment. So to ensure that no injuries occur in your shop, make sure you bring in equipment that is safe. "Safety has always been number one with Polar," stresses Rob Kuehl, product manager for Heidelberg's Polar Cutting Systems division. He notes that all new Polar customers and operators must go through a safety training program put on
In 1994 the University of Nevada, Las Vegas started outsourcing its large offset work. Now, with the upcoming addition of a new press, it's bringing that work back to save money. Sometimes, on paper, it may seem like outsourcing is a good idea for certain jobs. Unfortunately, it can take years for these jobs to be brought back in-house, once lost to the outside. One in-plant is ready to turn back the clock and regain control and cost savings. "In 1994, after careful study, we got out of the large offset, high-end printing market because it just wasn't cost-effective for us," recalls Paul Kurzynowski,
