Ricoh Corp.

About 30 in-plant managers met in Auburn, Ala., in October for the 35th annual Southeastern University Printing and Digital Managers Conference (SUPDMC). It was hosted by Glenda Miley, manager of Auburn University's CopyCat operation, who put together an informative, interactive and fun agenda that kept all attendees involved.

As you hang up the phone, you're engrossed in thought. This offer from a potential vendor, like similar ones before it, was tempting: they'd like to audit all the printers and MFPs in your organization to give you the picture of what you're really spending for printing. Of course, they'll do all this work for free, and of course, they'll make recommendations that will save your organization some serious cash.

In October, the Texas Association of College and University Printers (TACUP) joined forces with the Southwest Association of College and University Mail Services (SWACUMS) for a conference at the University of Houston (UH).

AS I'VE talked with in-plant managers at conferences over the years, many of them have extended an "if you're ever in the area" invitation for me to visit their shops. Earlier this year it dawned on me that for a quite a few Pennsylvania in-plants I was already "in the area" more or less, and the only thing stopping me from getting out there and visiting them was my own reluctance to leave the office.

Though viewed as just a "copy shop" for years, Elon University Printing Services decided it was time to change that perception. In September, the in-plant installed the 90-page-per-minute, Ricoh Pro C900 digital color production system. “My goal was to get as much of that back on campus as possible,” says Manager Wesley Grigg.

For three days this week, IPG Editor Bob Neubauer traveled around Central Pennsylvania, visiting in-plants and talking with managers about their future plans. He provided daily updates of his travels on IPG’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/inplant) along with photos of the shops he visited.

After a thorough review of its document output devices, Fox Valley Technical College replaced all of its Xerox equipment with Ricoh and Kodak devices, including a new NexPress SE2500.

Any in-plant manager lucky enough to be in Chicago last month for Graph Expo got to witness some significant developments in the world of graphic arts. Dubbed “The Inkjet Graph Expo” by some, the show featured more inkjet technology than most in-plant managers had ever seen in one place.

Finding in-plant managers who were born in the '70s was harder than I thought it would be. For one thing, some people get very cagey when it comes to revealing their age.

These days, with the future of print being questioned so readily by digital know-it-alls, it’s kind of nice to hear about younger people who are choosing graphic arts careers. It shows that, even in the age of the iPad, some in the younger generation trust that printing will have a place in the digital world for a long time to come.