Ricoh Corp.

On a December morning in 2009, Michael White walked into his basement in-plant at Queens College to find that a pipe malfunction had filled his shop with two inches of water. "It was like doomsday. It was pretty bad," recalls White, print shop coordinator.

As demand and customer base was increasing at the Olathe (Kansas) Public School District's Graphic Communications and Printing Department, Erica Derrington, manager, turned to EFI's Digital StoreFront. Customers can now order print jobs digitally thanks to personalized portals where their own individual documents and orders are stored.

Author and award-winning marketer, Sandra Zoratti, who is also a vice president at Ricoh, establishes a persuasive case for data-driven marketing in her new book—“Precision Marketing: Maximizing Revenue Through Relevance.” Zoratti explains how customers say, “Know me or no me!”

Sometimes design is part of an in-plant's responsibilities and sometimes not. But for Valdosta State University's in-plant, providing customers with a little file design help is translating into more business and better turnaround times.

After opening its 19 halls to the public yesterday, drupa 2012 is in full swing right now in Dusseldorf, Germany. IPG's sister publication, Printing Impressions, has two editors walking the show floor. With 1,850 exhibitors from 56 countries showing their wares, our editors have more than their share of work ahead of them. Here are just a few of the reports that have trickled back to IPG.

A year and a half ago, Shana Farrell, Printing Services and Distance Learning Manager at Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton, Wis., organized a recognition event for her staff of six. She invited not only her boss but the college president. There, each employee received individual recognition for his or her hard work and dedication. Afterward, Farrell says, she noticed everyone was working harder and enjoying their jobs more.

At University of Washington Creative Communications, the in-plant's implementation of Lean production practices have been critical to its rapid financial turnaround from a $200,000 deficit to a $300,000 profit—a half-a-million-dollar swing from one fiscal year to the next.

Last week more than 100 graphic arts journalists met in Düsseldorf, Germany, to attend the Official drupa International Media Conference to preview some of the product launches planned for drupa 2012, now less than two months away.

Komori Corp. has signed a global sales agreement with Konica Minolta Business Technologies, the information equipment business unit of Konica Minolta Holdings Inc. As a result, Konica Minolta will supply to Komori the bizhub PRESS series, centered on the bizhub PRESS C8000 digital printing system, in the United States, Europe, Japan and China.

Northern Oklahoma College recently installed not one but three Ricoh Pro digital printers. Customers have fallen in love with the quality color work the in-plant is now able to produce.