IPMA 2023 Highlight: Inkjet at In-plants

With production inkjet becoming increasingly popular among in-plants, two sessions at the recent  In-plant Printing and Mailing Association (IPMA) conference were devoted to inkjet. In the first, Nathan Thole (Iowa State University) and Roger Chamberlain (Cincinnati Insurance Companies) related their inkjet success stories. Thole replaced multiple toner devices and offset presses with a Canon varioPRINT iX3200 and has moved all jobs to it without adding any new finishing.

“Quality is no longer a concern for us,” he said.

Nathan Thole from Iowa State University, and Roger Chamberlain from Cincinnati Insurance Companies talked about their inkjet presses.

He estimates inkjet will bring $1 million in savings over the next decade. Thole noted that evaluating media and making sure it was profiled for the press was an invaluable step. Because the inkjet press is three times faster than the previous toner devices, it has opened up more capacity, so he is looking to bring more outsourced jobs in-house. (Hear Thole tell the full story of Iowa State University’s inkjet journey in a webinar tomorrow, June 22. More info here.)

Chamberlain lauded the ability to stop pre-printing and warehousing policy forms, as was done in the past. With inkjet they are printed on demand, with variable data. He noted the importance of creating a project team that includes shop operators and vendor representatives when preparing to add inkjet. Both lauded the Inkjet Summit for providing them the information and contacts they needed as they prepared to move to inkjet.

Another panel discussion on inkjet was moderated by IPI Editor Bob Neubauer and featured Thole, Danny Kirkland (Encompass Health), and Mike Lincoln (State of Colorado). Each noted that inkjet dramatically increased their productivity, opening up capacity.

The ability to add inexpensive color to previously monochrome documents has been a boon for the State of Colorado’s shop. Inkjet has reduced labor requirements too; ISU went from four operators to two. The panel encouraged their peers to look into inkjet, noting the availability of entry-level cut-sheet devices.