Xerox Corp.

One of the biggest challenges an in-plant can face is shifting to an all-digital workflow. But most of the time, say these managers, it's worth it. By Mike Llewellyn Over the course of his 30 years in printing, Dan Dore, operations supervisor at Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), has seen it all. He was there for the rise of offset lithography. He saw the advent of digital printing. And now he's guiding his in-plant into an all-digital workflow. By the end of this year, all of the federally funded in-plant's offset equipment will be sent off to government surplus, and the shop

Thanks to its cutting-edge expertise in variable printing, mailing and fulfillment, ING's Document Management Center gives the company a strategic advantage over competition. By Bob Neubauer Tim Steenhoek knew his in-plant had turned a corner the day it completed its largest variable data print job ever. Using a single Xerox printer and only one operator per shift, ING's Des Moines-based Document Management Center (DMC) output 4.5 million mail-ready pieces in just one month. Such a feat shows how far the 73-employee in-plant has come on its journey into the world of on-demand, variable printing. But DMC's expertise in customized printing, along with

Whether they're on-screen or in your hand, today's proofs are more accurate than ever. By Mike Llewellyn FEW AREAS of imaging technology have seen the advances and diversification that have accompanied proofing. Hard-copy proofs have given way, at least partially, to "soft" proofs available for viewing in real time, over the Internet, on your customers' computer screens. On-screen densitometers can check the color accuracy of your computer screen. Those hard-copy proofs that remain are being produced with advanced ink-jet technology, mimicking an offset press to create a proof that's accurate down to a halftone dot. Patrick Floody, marketing manager for Creo, explains that while

With high-speed, black-and-white printers designed to bear the brunt of an in-plant's workload, managers want to see how fast the machines cut costs. By Mike Llewellyn JIM ALLEN, the newly appointed manager of Printing Services at New York City's Fashion Institute of Technology, runs a pair of Océ 2600s to handle flyers, instructional packets for professors and countless other nuts-and-bolts projects that come into the in-plant every day. With black-and-white printing accounting for 85 percent of the in-plant's workload, the 2600s have become the backbone of the FIT shop. "They're definitely workhorses," says Allen. "They do almost all of the work." That's how many

With so many paper distributors vying for attention, here's how to make sure your in-plant gets the best price and service possible. By Mike Llewellyn IF THERE'S one thing Nalan Giannukos gets plenty of, it's visits from salespeople representing paper distributors. As manager of the 18-employee Printing Services department at the University of Houston, he has worked hard to narrow down his list of dealers for the three to four paper deliveries the Texas in-plant brings in each week. For the moment, Giannukos gets most of his in-plant's paper from distributors Bosworth and xpedx. He's happy with the service he gets from these two

Perfect registration. Faster makereadies. Lower costs. In-plants with direct imaging presses boast of these benefits and more. by Bob Neubauer AT THE University of Texas at Austin a few years ago, the administration started to fall in love with color. Alumni invitations and other projects were increasingly being designed in four-color process, then farmed out to local printers when they proved too complicated for the in-plant's aging two-color presses. To save the school money and give it more control over the final product, Printing Services started looking into digital color, with the administration's blessing. In the end, the in-plant settled on a Heidelberg Quickmaster

A beautiful beachside location and the chance to mingle with university printing peers lured more than 80 in-plant managers to ACUP 2003. By Bob Neubauer It was hard to avoid catching some of Keith Walker's overflowing enthusiasm at the recent Association of College and University Printers' (ACUP) conference down in Wrightsville Beach, N.C. Walker, assistant director of Printing Services at Wake Forest University's School of Medicine, had spent the better part of two years planning ACUP 2003—and he spent much of the four-day conference making sure everything went right. At times he seemed to be everywhere at once. But despite the stress, his

Saddle stitcher manufacturers say time is of the essence in their business, and they're looking to save it on makeready, training, production and, of course, ROI. by Mike Llewellyn "IN-PLANTS, LIKE every business, are being challenged to do more with less," says Mark Hunt, director of marketing for Standard Finishing Systems. But unlike other businesses, Hunt believes, in-plants have a more reliable stream of internal work feeding them. To vendors of finishing equipment, this makes in-plants the ideal customers in slow economic times. "In-plants are extremely important," Hunt continues. "In-plants have always been important, but especially in difficult times because they have their own

What's all this about digital? To a lot of managers, offset is still the biggest wave of the future. by Mike Llewellyn IT SEEMS like all anyone can talk about lately is variable data printing. Equipment manufacturers, conference speakers and even in-plant managers have been loudly praising its virtues. But does that mean the sound of cranking offset presses is soon to fade into memory? Not if you ask Tom Neckvatal, manager of Minnesota Life Insurance Printing Services. His operation is proof that when the going gets tough, the tough run offset. The print runs streaming out of the 54-employee in-plant's offset press area

With U.S. forces still deployed in Iraq, the CIA's intelligence data is more crucial to national security than ever. The agency relies on its in-plant to publish this top-secret information. by Bob Neubauer Long before the first U.S. troops began their march toward Baghdad, President Bush turned to the CIA for the latest intelligence information on Iraq. The Central Intelligence Agency, in turn, relied on its office of Imaging & Publishing Support (IPS) to print this classified information quickly and accurately. In the same vein, when the country was preparing to enter Afghanistan in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, IPS