The Changing In-plant

As times have changed, so have the types of customers that seek out in-plants. This has caused many shops to update the services they provide.

By Bob Neubauer

We've all watched traditional print work migrate to the Web or to CD-ROM. With that work has gone some of the traditional in-plant customers. At the same time, other corporate changes have brought in new types of customers, giving the in-plant of 2005 a much different look than the in-plant of 1975.

Many managers have adapted by altering the types of services they offer to better suit 21st-century clients. IPG spoke with a number of these managers to get their stories.

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Jim Leake

Senior Graphic Services Specialist

NBME

Philadelphia

"Our customer base has changed recently in a couple of ways. One change is that more staff members are now our direct customers. At one time our customer base consisted mostly of the production manager, a graphic designer and a small group of regular customers who had their standard jobs that needed to be fulfilled year after year.

"The second change is very recent and is due to the introduction of all digital printers, which for the first time includes a high-end color machine. We now offer assistance in prepress areas, such as font problems, that we never had to deal with before. Also, as color work has moved from offset to a toner-based environment, we now have to educate staff on factors such as not placing toner directly on a fold.

"The end result is that we are providing a lot more customer service at the conception of someone's job, plus the fact that we have a much more diverse group of customers."

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Bob Hulett

Manager

Central Printing Services

Beckman Coulter

Fullerton, Calif.

"Over 15 years I've seen the tides change significantly. Before PCs were commonplace...and connected to the Internet, it seemed everyone wanted to be in the printing business. As a result, quick printers appeared on every street corner, which enabled our clients to seek out alternatives. The competition was fierce between internal/external sources, which escalated the viability of in-house printing services.

"This led to a change in our charter and the type of printing we ultimately wanted to offer to our corporate clients: processes that couldn't be obtained on every street corner. Since then, we've become technical solutions providers on every front, including flexo, offset, digital and CD duplication. An integrated approach with workflows, quality systems, process controls and logistics has proven beneficial to our internal clients and their suppliers, as well.

"As a result of this strategy, our business offerings now fit the critical needs of the corporation. In essence, we've pruned the traditional customers in order to gain new clients from product development, engineering, manufacturing and the supply chain continuum, with side benefits of gaining new customers and business from OEM suppliers. It has been a win-win situation for all.

"The corporate changes reflect the need to eliminate non-value added activities. This has challenged the infrastructure to reduce costs and change the way we do business. Our customers don't have the resources to micro manage suppliers from input to output. This is where we've set the benchmark in terms of offering the total systems approach...an offering our external competition would be hard pressed to make available at a substantial cost savings."

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Amanda Rackliff

Manager of Purchasing

Communications and Printing Services

Continental Airlines

Houston, Texas

"Due to the financial strain on the company, more co-workers are realizing the true benefit of keeping as much production in-house as possible. Our controller's group is now more likely to question expenditures for printing that was produced outside, than they were two to three years ago. It is not uncommon for a controller to contact me to ask if a particular piece could have been produced in-house. And, if so, what would the cost be?

"This has had a very positive response for Continental Airlines Printing Services. We have not lost too many customers, and are gaining new ones every month.

"Our customers are not print specialists, so they look to us for money-saving ideas. This is one of the biggest positive changes.

"Additionally, Continental Airlines initiated a paperless environment three years ago. While the number of job orders did decrease...the continual need for printed materials such as flight manuals, bid packets, business forms and placards remained. This more than justified the need to keep the in-plant in operation."

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Wes Friesen

Manager of Billing & Remittance Services

Portland General Electric

Portland, Ore.

"We are keeping our traditional customers. But we are increasing volumes and drawing new customers as we have broadened our services.

"For example, we brought short-run color copying/printing in-house a few years ago and volumes have been growing well every year as people realize we can provide color cheaper than any external printers. We have also expanded our services to include such items as CD burning, DVD burning, scanning and some forms of engraving.

"Customers expect high quality and fast turnaround times, even more so than in the past. People are busier than ever and need to have their projects completed quickly and accurately. We have made customer service a priority and are generally meeting customer expectations."

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Al Schmidutz

Manager of Printing Services

Steelcase Corp.

Grand Rapids, Mich.

"Our customers are more savvy in creating properly distilled PDFs. When I first started to recommend and prefer PDF, I got a little push back because it placed more of the document integrity upstream. However, over the last four years I've noticed fewer errors or issues working with client-distilled PDFs.

"Also, we've have had an easier time recapturing outsourced print, in particular because of the economy and the health of our industry. Customers have a voracious appetite for cost savings and they are more budget conscience than ever. Although I don't have the sales staff to give them the warm and fuzzy attention, they do know that we can provide quality printing, outstanding service and at a price point that nobody can touch. So, the result has been that the quality and complexity of our work has increased."

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Jon Schroeder

Supervisor, Graphic Communications

Anheuser-Busch

St. Louis

"We have found that our work mix has changed, but the customers are primarily the same. The work coming in is almost completely digital. The digital changes have eliminated many things that we used to print, like forms, newsletters and announcements. They are now communicated by fax and e-mail.

"But digital changes have brought us new work as well. There is now a much higher demand for color copies and wide-format ink-jet. We use ink-jet for proofing, and we're finding a growing market for signs and banners."

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Rustin Myers

Senior Printing Services Manager

Grocers Supply Co.

Houston, Texas

"My company is in the wholesale grocery distribution business. Our company, as well as our customers, are battling ever-changing social and economic demographics and increased competition. Accordingly, we find ourselves looking for ways to use our present equipment, expertise and services to develop new revenue streams. I have certainly noticed a growing acceptance of this strategy that was not there a few years ago. Not so long ago there was significant resistance to going outside our core business for revenue.

"Money talks period. It's the interdepartmental language. If you can show that you can add some hard dollars to the bottom line you become a part of the team in a much more tangible way."

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Tim Hoffstedder

Printing Manager

Western & Southern Financial Group

Cincinnati

"Our company has grown tremendously over the past few years and our customers' demands have grown also. Quality has always been an issue but more so now because of the competition in the financial services business. We had to update our equipment to not only meet the quality demands, but also deliver a final product the next day and in some cases the same day.

"Another change has been to print less but more often. It seems like a few years ago we would print 10 to 12 months of an item but it is now common to print the same item three to four times a year to reduce waste and update items as required."