Konica Minolta Business Solutions

In September, the 70-employee state printing and mailing operation installed a 42˝ Océ ColorWave 650 and greatly expanded its wide-format business, focusing on larger-sized posters and banners than the shop’s previous 24˝ Canon imagePrograf W6400 could produce.

While Imaging Services, the in-plant for the University of Colorado-Boulder, has been dedicated to offering high-quality, full-service printing to its campus since 1923, the shop has never worked smarter than it does today.

Here's something you probably didn't know: there is an in-plant in the Empire State Building. It's not in the basement either; it's way up on the 34th floor, where the view of lower Manhattan is spectacular.

One of the biggest challenges in-plant departments face is remaining relevant within the parent organization. Regardless of the industry vertical, in-plant managers are constantly looking for ways to demonstrate their value and contribute to the overall success of the organization.

It’s been a busy autumn for in-plants around the country. For the second year in a row, the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association has held fall regional meetings, bringing dozens of managers together for a day of networking and education. Recent meetings have taken place in Denver, Muncie, Ind., El Reno, Okla., Sacramento and Nashville, in addition to the gatherings in Harrisburg, Pa., and Baton Rouge, La., already documented in IPG.

Though most of the high-quality newsletters, annual reports and recruitment material for Burlington County College is printed on its in-plant’s four-color Ryobi 524GE, the six-employee operation still produces a good deal of short-run work on its digital printers. Those devices recently got an upgrade, which has improved the quality and consistency of the Pemberton, N.J., shop’s digitally printed pieces.

This year, three models from Konica Minolta earned recognition during the Buyers Laboratory (BLI) annual PRO awards. The awards acknowledge the best-in-class devices in BLI’s production field tests. The winners included the bizhub PRESS C1100, 1052 and 2250P digital printers.

As Mark Baker sees it, providing prompt, painless service is imperative at his company.

"Our brands enjoy being able to get something done immediately," says the manager of Office Services for Wolverine Worldwide, a footwear and apparel manufacturer based in Rockford, Mich.

With equipment specs, pictures and video all available online, why should an in-plant manager bother going to Graph Expo any more? Those who made the trip to Chicago last month have lots of good reasons.

When a business has been successful for as long as The Okonite Company, a strong sense of pride develops among management and employees. Since 1878, the Ramsey, N.J., company has been manufacturing wire and cable, bringing light to iconic locations like the Statue of Liberty and One World Trade Center. Its earliest customers included Samuel Morse and Thomas Edison.