IPGeNews_020113
A Wide Variety of Services at ISU
Established 90 years ago to fill the educational mission of faculty, staff and students, Iowa State University Printing & Copy Services is constantly breathing new life into its products and services.
Across the Nation
Commercial printer equipment installations and other news from Printing Impressions’ February 2013 edition, featuring Meredith-Webb Printing and Conquest Bindery.
Association Formed for Small Commercial, Quick Printers
In a month from its initial launch, the newly formed National Print Owners Association (NPOA) has reportedly attracted more than 120 members and is in the process of finalizing plans for its first national conference. The new association is the result of several months of discussions by a group of 19 long-time printing business owners who felt that existing associations were not adequately serving the specific needs of the small commercial printing industry segment.
Bindery Matters
Binding and finishing news briefs from Printing Impressions’ February 2013 edition, featuring Hammer Packaging, McClain Printing, H-E-B Grocery, Rickard Bindery, FedEx, Creative Printing, Braintree Printing, Classic Graphics, Hopkins Printing, Eastwood Litho and E&M Bindery & Finishing.
Bits and Pieces: Clemson's Ashe Vies for Title
The reputation—no, make that the future—of printing in the United States rests squarely on the shoulders of Heather Ashe. She is the industry's only hope…no pressure, Heather. OK, so maybe that's an exaggeration. But the Clemson University student will, in fact, be representing the United States in the Print Media Technology competition during the biennial WorldSkills Competition, to be held in Leipzig, Germany, from July 2-7.
Death at Resolute Paper Mill Under Investigation by OSHA
One worker died and another was injured Jan. 22 following an incident at Resolute Forest Products, a former AbitibiBowater plant, the Rock Hill Herald reported. The two victims were part of a contracted three-man crew who were cleaning a 10x40-ft. fume tank in the plant's power generation area.
Farquharson/Tedesco on Business Development: Learn from A/B Testing Results
Every printed promotional piece your company produces needs analytics—whether through a QR code or just a URL. Otherwise, how the heck will you and your client know if it worked? Imagine if Isaac Newton had failed to record the results of his apple-headache experiment because it was "too much of a hassle."
From Temp to Manager
Moving from California to Iowa is a big change. But in 1988, Lori Fuller was ready for it. "I was kind of tired of California and the fast pace," says Fuller, now manager of Printing Services at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC). Plus, she admits, her boyfriend hailed from the Hawkeye State. So she put the beach behind her, enrolled at Iowa Western Community College and never looked back. Twenty-five years later, now a full-fledged Midwesterner, Fuller oversees an in-plant staff of 16 at UNMC, one of the nation's leading medical centers.
From the Editor: Thinking About Tomorrow
When I ponder the future of in-plants, I generally see it through the eyes of the forward-thinking managers I've met—the ones constantly adding services and contemplating new ways to help their customers.
High-Speed Inkjet Presses: Next Round of Investments
What is striking about the round of installations this year over last, we are hearing about far fewer installation problems and challenges with substrates. We are hearing more about the costs and need to expand post-processing capabilities rather than installation or performance of the presses themselves. Business cases are still strong but, unlike the earliest adopters, those needs were not as acute, so they had the luxury of hanging back and biding their time until that time was right.
Interactive Printing Demo Also a Tribute –Michelson
PI's longtime technology editor, Mark Smith, was a visionary who foresaw how the Internet would redefine the publishing and printing worlds. But, at age 51, Mark lost a six-month battle with mouth cancer on Jan. 21. His goal from day one was to lead our online efforts, including building www.PIworld.com from the ground floor and, subsequently, the launch of our daily e-newsletter.
MIT Adds 'The Right Finishing Equipment'
After being restricted from making any purchases for about two years, Steven Dimond, manager of MIT Copytech at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, knew what his first move would be when the buying ban was lifted. Last year, he made that move when his in-plant installed a Konica Minolta bizhub PRESS C8000 and a Konica Minolta bizhub PRO C6501.
Mobile Technologies: Bringing New Life to Print
Keeping an open mind, recognizing profit potential and identifying a point of entry was all the fodder that Quad/Graphics needed to embark on its mobile technologies platform, Interactive Print Solutions (IPS). Actually, it was a direct result of QIC (Quad Idea Catapult)—the company's innovation process management framework—vetting the technologies and creating IPS as a vehicle toward delivering mobile technologies to customers. It helps that Quad/Graphics CEO Joel Quadracci not only gave the endeavor his full blessing, but acts as an evangelist for the mobile technologies.
Money Matters: 2013 In-plant Salary Survey
The economy may be climbing slowly back, but the salaries of in-plant managers have shown only minimal improvement over the past two years. According to our biennial salary survey, managers' salaries have risen less than half a percent since our 2011 survey. The number who received no pay raise dropped from 40 percent in 2011 to about 29 percent this year.
Nieman Printing Agrees to Pay Employees Back Wages
Nieman Printing has paid $96,335 in overtime back wages to 101 employees following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (USDL), which found that the company violated the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Civil money penalties assessed total an additional $26,000, the USDL said.
On the Road: Customer Interaction Takes Center Stage at EFI Connect
EFI proved that "what happens in Vegas doesn't have to stay in Vegas," especially for the roughly 800 attendees who could select from more than 150 breakout and training sessions at the EFI Connect users' group meeting held here Jan. 15-18 at the Wynn Las Vegas. Sessions covered MIS/ERP software, Web-to-print systems, industrial inkjet printers and Fiery technology.
Printer News
Commercial printer company and personnel news from Printing Impressions’ February 2013 edition, featuring Webcrafters Inc., Fry Communications, Worth Higgins & Associates, Gill-line Inc., Proforma, Evergreen Printing and GLS Cos.
Prison In-plant Goes High Tech
Like many prison in-plants, the Ventura County Sheriff's Office Print Shop was getting by for years using older equipment. Its one- and two-color offset presses and an old friction-fed collator/booklet maker worked well enough, but they didn't exactly give inmate operators the skills that would make modern digital printing operations want to hire them upon their release.
Staying a Cut Above The Rest
Mark McCarty, Printing Services Manager at Missouri State University, needed more automation and reliability in his in-plant's bindery. The Springfield, Mo., shop had gone through some cuts, reducing the staff from five full-time employees to just two full-timers.
Supplier News
Commercial printing industry supplier company and personnel news from Printing Impressions’ February 2013 edition, featuring Xerox Corp., Appleton Coated, Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., DocuSource, C&W Pressroom Products, Central Ink, Xingraphics, MBO America, Roland DGA, Navitor Inc., Glunz & Jensen, NELA Ternes Register Group, Duplo USA, Eltosch America, DeVries, manroland sheetfed, Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), xpedx, Printing Research Inc., Presstek Inc., Graphic Innovators and Pitney Bowes.
Upfront
Commercial Printing Industry News Briefs from Printing Impressions’ February 2013 edition, including items on Colorfx, Quad/Graphics, Impact Color, Toof Commercial Printing, RR Donnelley (RRD), Murray Printing, Vertis and Xeikon NV.
Without Reform, USPS Set to Accelerate Cost Reductions
Citing the fact that the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) cannot wait indefinitely for legislation, the board of governors has directed management to accelerate the restructuring of Postal Service operations to further reduce costs in order to strengthen its finances. Specifically, the board approved restructuring initiatives and instructed the USPS to revise its 2012 five-year comprehensive plan to account for current financial and liquidity conditions.
