Hewlett-Packard

Wide-format printers bring a new dimension to your in-plant and allow you to offer customers jobs that are larger than life. IMAGINE GIVING your customers the option of making anything they want into a poster. Now think about the cost savings you could pass onto them by doing it in-house—not to mention the increased exposure and business for your shop. Many in-plant managers already have made this a reality, and are reaping the benefits of providing wide-format printing in-house. "In addition to the cost savings from not having to outsource, the in-plant gains greater control over the final print," says Kelli Ramirez, director of

With on-demand digital printing on the rise, vendors are offering better digital gear at more reasonable prices. These days, warehousing is just not as popular as it used to be. Now that customers know they can get short runs printed cost-effectively, that's what they want. The makers of digital printing equipment are wise to this, and they are continually upgrading their offerings—and making them more affordable for small shops. "They are starting to show the corporate user and the in-plant user that there are more affordable ways to get short-run documents—especially unique documents—into the hands of the users," says Stan Bradshaw, president

Though college and university in-plants take on many different sizes, shapes and functions, the same basic issues affect them all. Visit any two college or university in-plants and you're apt to encounter two remarkably different operations. If you're in Seattle, walk into the University of Washington's vast in-plant, and you'll see big offset presses, high-speed digital printers and sophisticated mailing equipment all cranking away. Stop into Philadelphia's Temple University, on the other hand, and you won't see any offset presses at all, just copiers. Saunter down to Austin and you'll find two unaffiliated in-plants at the University of Texas: UT Copy

Thinking about getting a wide-format ink-jet printer? Worried it won't draw enough business? Find out how other managers did it. Have you considered buying a wide-format ink-jet printer for your in-plant, but worried that you wouldn't attract enough business to justify it? Or perhaps you have one but it's just not getting used often enough. Well fear not. IPG talked to managers from around the country to find out how they market their capabilities to their customers. And for several managers, these devices have almost sold themselves. "We actually sold several jobs off of it before we got the machine here, so we were

The leaders of the digital graphic arts industry converged in Boston recently to display their latest wares. Seybold returned to Boston this year after a two-year stint in New York—and what a homecoming it was. All the leaders of the digital graphic arts industry were on hand to show off their new technologies. Adobe, naturally, took a lead position at the show, as the father of PDF. Adobe President John Warnock and CEO Charles Geschke laid out their collective version of publishing for both print and the Internet during the exposition's opening keynote. Both Adobe executives stressed that publishers in the near future

University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, Calif. University of California-Berkeley Printing Services has a long and distinguished history as the main provider of printed materials for the school. According to George Craig, director of printing services, the university created its first print shop in 1874 in the basement of an early administration building. Up until the 1950s the printing department was combined with the publishing division. When the printing needs of the school became too great, a separate department was born. "It was recognized as an early requirement and has grown since," Craig says of the printing department. Since those days back in

Wide-format ink-jet printers are bringing a lot of new business into in-plants. Find out how you can profit from "supersizing" your prints. WIDE FORMAT printing can be a tricky business. On the one hand, you have a terrific opportunity to provide a new service to your customers. But on the other, how many of your customers know the benefits of printing bigger? To generate enough business to keep a wide-format color ink-jet printer busy you've got to market your capabilities—and that's exactly what in-plants who have bought the devices are doing. For example, at Eastman Chemical Creative Services, in Kingsport, Tenn., the

The show was built around a trio of themes: personalization, the Internet and outsourcing. This last theme, however, may have proved a bit overbearing. As Barbara Pellow put it in the opening minutes of the 1998 On Demand Digital Printing & Publishing Strategy Conference and Exposition, "The digital opportunity isn't coming; it's here, it's today and it's now." Certainly that was not headline news to printers, who have been hearing about—and practicing—printing on demand for years. Nevertheless, more than 18,700 people jammed the Javits Convention Center in New York recently to learn about the latest print-on-demand developments. Pello's consulting firm, CAP Ventures, the

Australian in-plant managers joined with quick printers for the first conference of its kind in Australia. Some things are the same everywhere. One can travel halfway around the world, for example, and still hear about the importance of good service and good communication in a printing operation. Those two themes popped up repeatedly at Pacific Print Congress 98, held recently in Melbourne, Australia. Speakers, both American and Australian, stressed that, in a sea of competition, customers are looking for vendors they can trust; vendors who will go that extra step for them. "Become consultants to these people, not just order takers,"

Already one of the country's largest in-plants, Louisiana State University's Graphic and Mailing Services just got bigger, with a new facility and expanded capabilities. Louisiana State University's Graphic and Mailing Services never need worry about a shortage of customers. The Baton Rouge-based in-plant exists on a campus full of faculty and staff who are obligated to use its copying, printing and mailing services. Still, Michael K. Loyd, director, is not content with a captive customer base. He wants to be the university's preferred—not mandatory—printer. "Although departments must come to us, we would like to be their printer of choice," he says. "We want