Rochester Software Associates

Fujifilm will show the J Press 720 inkjet press. Heidelberg will present Prinect Digital Workflow Integration. New features for the Kodak NexPress platform will be shown.

Don't tell the Blue Valley School District of Overland Park, Kan., that the digital age is cutting into the need for hard copy documents. Its Printing Services operation has been humming away all summer, delivering on as many as 40,000 job orders to satisfy about 3,100 teachers at 35 schools.

Just two months away, Graph Expo is shaping up to be an in-plant manager’s dream. The country’s largest graphic arts trade show is putting a lot of emphasis on the in-plant market this year, with sessions, users’ groups and networking opportunities focused exclusively on in-plants.

A number of sessions focusing on in-plants are planned for this October's Graph Expo show in Chicago. Perhaps the most exciting one is a panel of four in-plant managers who will talk about why their operations are successful.

The Graphic Arts Show Co. (GASC), producer of GRAPH EXPO, is introducing an expanded In-Plant Education Track for this year’s event, scheduled to run Oct. 7-10, 2012, at Chicago's McCormick Place. By partnering with exhibitors such as Rochester Software Associates (RSA), a variety of the key associations, industry publications and in-plants themselves, GASC has created a dynamic set of offerings for this year’s show.

With the implementation of Web-to-print and an automated hardcopy workflow, Blue Valley School District's in-plant in Overland Park, Kansas, was able to grow its volume 600 percent—without adding staff.

Graph Expo is debuting an in-plant educational track at the Chicago show this year, with sessions covering topics like rebranding, growth strategies, in-plant ingenuity and multi-channel offerings. One session will feature a panel of managers from successful in-plants. The session organizer, Rochester Software Associates, is giving in-plants an opportunity to pick who they would like to be on that “dream team” panel.

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.

in 2008, Yale University decided to begin construction of a new Yale School of Management. Yale Printing & Publishing Services was located in a building that was scheduled for demolition. To determine whether outsourcing made sense, the university did a complete financial review of the in-plant. The study revealed that it would be more costly to close the shop and outsource than to move it.

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