Ricoh Corp.

To make itself even more integral to the university's marketing strategy, Cedarville University Postal & Print Services installed a Ricoh Pro C901 Graphic Arts Edition digital color printer.

Cal Poly’s 2012 International Printing Week is just two and a half weeks away. Titled “Expressive Technologies—A Look into the Future of Graphic Communication,” it will be held January 24-27, at the schools San Luis Obispo, Calif., campus.

Like most of the East Coast, Jim Lyons braced for Hurricane Irene last August. Unlike most Easterners, though, his in-plant at the State University of New York (SUNY) at New Paltz is only now recovering from the resulting catastrophe.

In my conversations with managers across the country, one challenge constantly surfaces: justifying the resources (people, budgets and equipment) needed to run an excellent operation. This is one of the biggest challenges that I face too, but over time I've learned ways to be successful in acquiring these necessary resources.

IT'S HAPPENING all the time in the commercial printing world. No longer defining themselves simply as print service providers, commercial printers are working hard to transition into marketing service providers. It's a difficult journey, but they see this as one of the few viable ways to grow from a price-driven, commodity operation with shrinking volumes and margins into a lucrative business with high profit potential.

When SUPDMC attendees weren't networking or attending sessions, they were visiting Vanderbilt University's impressive in-plant.

In September, the National Government Publishing Association met for the 34th time, bringing together government in-plant managers from as far away as Alaska, Vermont, Arizona and Mississippi. Though attendance was lower than usual, the conference was a nonstop festival of knowledge and information, with presentations on lean manufacturing, proving the value of your in-plant and how to re-engineer government mail.

Vendors reported a good amount of interest in bindery equipment at this year's GRAPH EXPO in Chicago. The bindery equipment at the show offered in-plants some great opportunities to expand their services and increase their efficiency.

SUPDMC was not the only event for in-plants last month. Just a week later, the 2011 SGIA Expo came to New Orleans, followed by the Texas Association of College and University Printers (TACUP) conference the following week in Fort Worth. SGIA brought 16,000 people to the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center to view the latest wide-format, screen and digital printing technologies.

IN A CLASSIC "Peanuts" comic strip, Schroeder confronts Charlie Brown with scores of numbers to illustrate the ineptitude of their eternally winless baseball team. He builds quite a case, and when he finally finishes recounting the team's blundering exploits, Charlie Brown offers a curt reply.