Ricoh Corp.

For Gordon Ryan, director of design, printing and fulfillment services for the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA), a career in printing is as much about communication as it is about ink on paper. For the past 31 years, the native Mainer has split his time almost equally between working face-to-face with customers and working the production floor. In fact, the diversity of his experience—partly a product of chance, partly of design—is what won him the job at NYSBA in the first place.

Interesting hot products for in-plants.

About five years ago, the San Joaquin Delta College Publication Center, in Stockton, Calif., retired its offset presses and moved to an all-digital production platform. This consisted of color and monochrome digital devices operated by the in-plant's staff as well as a monochrome digital press available for walk-up traffic.

When the Oblate Missionary Society Inc. (OMSI) installed a Ricoh Pro 900 digital color printer in 2008, the fund-raising arm of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate had no idea that it was the first installation in the country.

For Rochester, N.Y.-based Excellus BlueCross BlueShield (BCBS), the transition to inkjet color production printing in October has been a resounding success. “The cost savings are significant,” reports Catherine Ciardi, corporate director of Document Services.

When will an inkjet production press make its way into your in-plant? The technology is advancing steadily, and a handful of in-plants have already invested in it, but for most managers, inkjet means wide-format, not high volumes and high speeds.

After yesterday's snowstorm buried much of the East Coast, this Valentine's Day began with the sound of snow plows and shovels in IPG's hometown of Philadelphia. Meanwhile, the opposite problem is impacting California, where the ongoing drought has many residents longing for some of our snow.

The Inkjet Summit 2014, organized by nGage Events and Printing Impressions magazine and held April 7-9, at the exclusive Ponte Vedra Inn & Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, is an invitation-only event for senior managers and business executives who want to understand how inkjet technology trends, software, consumables and finishing solutions will impact their businesses.

Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Bank has a robust print and mail operation. "We're a 24/7 shop, and we produce approximately 170 million impressions a year, which equates to 70 million pieces of mail," reports Mark Kearns, vice president, Print & Mail Services. "We produce all of our customer correspondence, from customers' account statements to bank card statements to mortgage notices—all of our products across the enterprise."

As David Weber sees it, one of the most useful services he provides as print supervisor for Pima County, Arizona, is guiding customers back to reality when they come to his in-plant with plans for extravagant printed pieces. He helps them figure out how much color or metallic ink coverage they really need, scaling their projects back to something more affordable—even if that means less revenue for his chargeback-supported shop.