Xerox Corp.

When someone in the Hemet Unified School District approached Reprographics Manager Karl Melzer and asked him if his in-plant could produce yearbooks, he took a look at the sample yearbook presented to him. He was appalled by what he saw. He promised that his shop could produce a better product. Last month he made good on his word.

Ohio State University's in-plant is a heavyweight among its peers. In-Plant Graphics' December 2009 survey of the largest in-plants in North America lists Ohio State's UniPrint operation as the number-one revenue-producing ($18 million) university shop and as having the fourth-most employees (81).

On the heels of the Ipex trade show in the UK last month, the European Digital Press Association has picked what it calls the best products of the year introduced in the European market.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison has been having great success providing variable data printing (VDP) with its Xerox iGen3. Now, thanks to a recent upgrade to an iGen4, the 42-employee in-plant will be able to provide that personalized printing at even better quality levels. In December, the operation installed an iGen4 digital color press. Operations Manager Geoff Larson has been very impressed with the results.

AS A high-school student in Parma, Ohio, Rita Puljer had little interest in college as a stepping stone to a fast-track career. Ultimately, she wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, a very demanding (and rewarding) vocation, but one that doesn't require a degree, references or an elaborate résumé. Still, after graduation, Puljer needed an income.

IT WAS a reunion well worth waiting for. Two years after its last conference in Florida, the Association of College and University Printers (ACUP) finally met again in April in Charlotte, N.C., bringing old friends and newcomers together for an enjoyable and enlightening event.

There are dozens of viable Web-to-print solutions, and trying to figure out which is the best fit for your shop can be a daunting task. The first step is to determine what you want to accomplish with a print e-commerce offering.

The Ipex 2010 show, in Birmingham, UK, is in full swing right now. Many vendors are showing off new technology at the show, a lot of which uses ink-jet. For example, Xerox is previewing its high-speed production ink-jet technology, designed to produce high impact color on low cost papers. It is showing an ink-jet device using 56 durable piezo-electric, drop-on-demand print heads with more than 49,000 nozzles jetting nearly two billion ink drops per second. The printer produces more than 2,000 color images per minute.

Manatee School District is using a Web-to-print solution to get teachers to send jobs to the in-plant rather than copying them themselves.

It’s been a busy week for In-Plant Graphics. On Monday and Tuesday, IPG Editor Bob Neubauer visited four Oregon in-plants: Portland General Electric, State Publishing & Distribution, the University of Oregon and Oregon State University. He talked with each management team, met employees and toured each operation.