Inkjet Propels CHRISTUS Health In-plant Into a New Era of Efficiency

It’s the speed of inkjet that has stunned Del Shankle the most.

“What it would take … three or four days [to print], we get done in a day,” says the system director for enterprise print and brand services at CHRISTUS Health, a Catholic-sponsored nonprofit health care provider.

The 15-employee Print Services operation installed a Canon varioPRINT iX3200 cut-sheet inkjet press in October, along with a host of Standard stitching, folding and cutting equipment, and hit the ground running. Jobs that once crawled through three toner presses now sprint through one inkjet device. A recent order for 100,000 direct mail pieces during open enrollment season is a prime example.

Standing with the new Canon varioPRINT iX3200 cut-sheet inkjet press at CHRISTUS Health Print Services are (from left) Payton Davis, Kirsten Noyola, and Edgar Flores.

“100,000 direct mails on three pieces of equipment may take a day and a half to get done,” observes Shankle. “100,000 pieces of direct mail on this iX, four-up on a 13x19” sheet, took 45 minutes. It has dramatically changed what we can do.”

The Tyler, Texas-based in-plant has been using the inkjet press for all kinds of jobs: marketing pieces, letters, personalized booklets, even Christmas cards. It has opened up more print-on-demand business. For example, book printing was outsourced in the past because the in-plant couldn’t handle large orders of 20,000 books.

Del Shankle

“Now that we have the IX, they can order what they need,” Shankle says. “What we found in healthcare is that things change fairly regularly, and having an on-demand process really does save the organization money because now they're not trashing books that had incorrect information. We're actually printing what they need, when they need it, with the right information. So, in the long term, we are saving more money.”

Adding the Canon varioPRINT iX3200 required structural changes to Print Services’ 14,200-sq.-ft. facility, Shankle says.

“We walled off a percentage of the floor space,” he says, to create a climate-controlled room. The iX was installed there along with a Ricoh C9210, a Canon imagePRESS V1000, and an iJet envelope printer. Paper and envelopes are stored there too so when they are loaded into the machines, they are already acclimated.

The new Standard finishing equipment has been installed in a separate finishing room. It includes a Standard Horizon iCE StitchLiner Mark IV saddlestitcher, SMSL-100 SmartSlitter sheet cutter/creaser, CRF-362 creaser/folder, and RD-N4055DM die cutting system.

The in-plant is also implementing a JDF workflow to automate job data communication from MIS to production. JDF data will automatically configure connected equipment, reducing touchpoints and setup time. This end-to-end automation will minimize errors, accelerate turnaround, and boost overall productivity.

The famously high uptime of inkjet presses gives Shankle few concerns about service, and his team has been trained to perform self maintenance. A stocked parts locker ensures they can address most issues immediately, and when additional support is needed, a call to the service center provides quick remote assistance.

In-plant managers Danny Kirkland (left) and Del Shankle talk during a break at the Inkjet Summit.

Transitioning from toner to inkjet was a big decision, but Shankle says attending the Inkjet Summit helped him tremendously. It educated him about inkjet, put him in touch with inkjet users, and showed him the variety of inkjet options available.

“The Inkjet Summit really gave me the tools to make a decision,” he says. “It exposed me to all vendors who had technology in that space and gave me the education to ask even the harder questions.”

Now that it’s up and running, he expected the Canon varioPRINT iX3200 to bring great improvements to the in-plant and to CHRISTUS Health.

“Canon was the right fit for our operation, and I think moving forward it honestly is going to revolutionize how we serve our patients,” he says.

Print Services also recently installed a Canon Colorado M Series wide-format printer and a second Colex SXC1717 automated cutter to relieve bottlenecks in its busy wide-format operation. The in-plant has grown significantly in the past five years, adding services and increasing its value to CHRISTUS Health. It was honored by the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association for three years in a row for its progress. In 2022 it won the IPMA Organizational Impact Award; in 2023 it took the In-House Promotional Excellence Award; and in 2024 it earned the Innovation Award.

“We are invested in continuing to make ourselves better so that we can better serve our patients,” Shankle says. “Our team is very much so tied to the mission of our organization … which is to extend the healing ministry of Jesus Christ. And all of our … associates come to work every day knowing that we're working for something far greater than ourselves, and it is what motivates us.”