A Different Kind of In-plant Awareness

I’ve attended and been a part of in-plant events and conferences the last five years. I’ve seen show and event attendees marvel about how valuable it is to meet and talk with other in-plant managers. And while February was the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association’s (IPMA) in-plant awareness month — an event designed to raise awareness of in-plants inside of their parent organizations — I don’t know that in-plants are doing all that they can to be aware of each other.

The Western New York In-plant Event drew more than 20 in-plant managers and staff from all over New York State.

This kind of in-plant awareness didn’t occur to me until I was part of the recent Western New York In-plant Event here in Rochester. We often assume that in-plants know each other and that they know about resources in the industry like In-plant Graphics and the associations like IPMA and ACUP (the Association of College and University printers). This is an incorrect assumption.

At the Rochester event about 2/3 of attendees were not aware of these resources. At last fall’s Graph Expo I learned about in-plant operations that I had never heard of, and these in-plants did not know about these resources either. New people are entering the in-plant community. These newcomers likely won’t know who their fellow in-plants are or about these resources unless we share these resources with them.

We Can All Raise Awareness

It’s crtical to the future of the in-plant community to take a moment and reach out to other local in-plants. Introduce yourself. Suggest you meet to talk about each of your operations. You never know how you might be able to help each other.

You are a resource, and inviting someone in to show off your shop is a great morale boost for staff. Offer this blog post, In-plant Graphics magazine, association links and other resources that you know to a fellow in-plant manager. Suggest to another in-plant that they attend a meeting, show or conference. Do whatever it takes to raise awareness between you and other in-plants.

Fellow vendor peers, I encourage you, as well, to share these and your own resources with your in-plant contacts. Encourage them to connect with each other and facilitate introductions.

Without awareness of each other, the in-plant community risks overlooking the new ideas, approaches and knowledge that come from meeting each other and that will keep the community vital and relevant. Ensure your future. Share this post today with another in-plant. Let them know that you are aware of them.