The Top Ten

Here's what's been happening lately at the10 in-plants that top the list.

By Bob Neubauer

1.

This was a year of major change for the Government Printing Office. In January, Bruce James took over as Public Printer and set about reshaping the 142-year-old operation as an electronic information distribution organization. Under his direction, GPO reached a compact with the President's Office of Management and Budget, which had challenged GPO's right to handle executive branch printing and procurement. A test program with the Department of Labor allows that department to select printers outside the GPO procurement process.

GPO also reduced its staff this year in a buyout that should save $21 million a year, and it closed 13 bookstores nationwide, leaving only one, in its main building. The GPO Access Web site reached a milestone in 2003 by making more than 250,000 titles available online. In its print shop, GPO is soon to add CTP equipment for its smaller presses.

2.

The Allstate Print Communication Center started off the year by accepting NAPL's William K. Marrinan Hall of Fame award, the highest honor in the NAPL Management Plus program. This crowned a seven-year streak of earning NAPL Gold Awards.

In 2003 APCC also assumed responsibility for the in-plant of the former American Heritage Life Insurance Co., which Allstate purchased four years ago. The 34,000-square-foot facility in Jacksonville, Fla., employs 18 people and includes a direct-to-plate system, two four-color Heidelbergs, a Xerox DocuTech and other equipment. Its Fulfillment Center has been moved into Allstate's Wheeling, Ill., facility and five fulfillment employees are being trained in printing to help the operation expand with a second print shift in 2004.

During 2003 Allstate purchased a Rimage AutoStar CD-ROM recorder and a Kodak Approval XP4 proofing system. Next year the operation plans to replace one of its 28˝ presses, and it is also looking at a new management system.

3.

California's budget crises greatly impacted the Office of State Publishing. With programs being cut back, eliminated or combined, state agencies now hesitate before buying printing. This has reduced print orders by 35 percent. Though OSP has not downsized yet, discussions have taken place to answer any scenarios that could arise. Current staff is still needed for the major projects OSP normally experiences at this time of the year.

OPS has identified its core competencies through a formal business plan and is moving forward with equipment purchases while preparing for the end of the budget crisis. It is in the process of replacing its five-color Heidelberg Speedmaster with a six-color Speedmaster, to be online at the end of December. (Read more about California OSP elsewhere on this site.)

4.

The Wal-Mart Printing and Mailing Distribution Center saw some decreases in work in 2003, which has impacted sales. Hiring has been slow, with temporary workers being utilized while business is monitored for growth. In 2003, the in-plant redistributed its copier equipment to better accommodate the needs of customers, and it installed a new 13˝ Mark Andy flexographic press. It also entered the business of producing labels for internal customers. The center is looking at the possibility of a new press for next year but is still evaluating the need.

5.

New to the Top 50, the Graphics Division of State Use Industries, in Jessup, Md., functions as a training program for the 310 inmates employed in its six plants. In the past year the division has seen a tremendous increase in demand for four-color and two-over-two printing. To help accommodate this, a four-up imagesetter was recently purchased, speeding up makereadies. The operation increased its focus on fulfillment, mailing and distribution this year, and will continue to do so.

6.

The Washington State Department of Printing saw a reduction of staff in 2003, though it has recently started rehiring. The department is putting faith in the Internet as a cost-effective way to do business and make services and products available to a wider audience. Online orders through the Department of Printing Fulfillment storefront (the General Store) surpassed 11 million items in October 2003. This storefront allows customers to print, store and distribute items without incurring warehouse costs.

The department is also developing an e-procurement system, PRTonline, to let customers order from a catalog, submit native files from their desktops, view PDF proofs and select job specifications online.

On the hardware side, the department installed a Lotem 800 II Quantum platesetter last month. The in-plant plans to look at new digital equipment in 2004 and also target its mailing and variable print areas for growth.

7.

Though Oregon's Publishing & Distribution department remained relatively stable in 2003, state budget cuts had their impact; agency customers had less money to spend on printing and copying. When the governor banned the purchase of color printing for a few months, the in-plant saw a dramatic decrease in color copying, though this business is but a small piece of the product mix. Still, a hiring freeze for much of 2003 has made the department quite conservative about replacing vacated positions.

To identify opportunities for additional business, the department is working with the state's mainframe data centers. The department is also looking into serving as the state's agent for managing all document output, from local desktop printing, to copier or multi-function device, to high-volume printing, as well as equipment purchases, maintenance, supply ordering and distribution of print to the appropriate device.

In 2003 the operation installed an Océ PageStream 744 Plus twin-engine continuous digital printer with an in-line Stralfors unwinder, cutter/stacker and Ibis stitcher. This was to help process daily printing for the legislature.

8.

Because of California budget problems, customers of the University of California-Berkeley's in-plant have taken a minimum 10 percent budget cut in 2003 and anticipate an additional 20 percent cut next fiscal year. Many traditional print jobs are now being posted on the Web. Even while dealing with this business loss, the in-plant is in the process of moving its operation from its campus home of 64 years to a location two miles away. The in-plant has developed a business plan and placed a purchase order with Heidelberg for a new four-color Speedmaster 102 with coater, a two-color Quickmaster and a new saddle stitcher, all to arrive at the new plant in January, after which the move will begin.

The in-plant also purchased its first web press, which will not only open up new markets but improve productivity on current jobs. Another purchase, a second ink-jet addressing machine, will be devoted to in-line addressing on the folder or stitcher.

9.

Despite downsizing staff through attrition and closing two copy centers in a move towards centralization of production facilities, University of Washington Publications Services did plenty of expanding in other areas. The in-plant installed a Mitsubishi direct-to-plate polyester platemaker for its small presses, with possible expansion to larger presses, and added a Xerox 2045 and a DocuColor 12. It also bolstered Mailing Services with two new Pitney Bowes mail machines for metering and new tabbing equipment. More than 100 digital, multi-function, walk-up copiers were also installed, and the print-for-pay system in the libraries and computing labs was expanded using Pharos software.

Process improvement teams are working to reduce billing cycle times, improve the matching of estimates with production costs and reengineer the departmental walk-up copier program. Services and forms have been put online, and Web design services for clients were expanded to include streaming video.

The in-plant created and promoted its Creative Consultant Network for clients, which includes over 150 pre-qualified designers, writers, photographers, illustrators and editors. In 2004 the in-plant plans to increase its marketing efforts and replace its ink-jet addressing system. It also hopes to add direct-to-plate equipment for larger-format printing and digital color for short run printing.

10.

John Hancock Document Solutions Group edged up one notch this year to join the top 10. Based in Hyde Park, Mass., the in-plant prints and mails millions of pages each year to the financial services company's clients. Newly responsible for document storage, scanning and electronic archiving, the in-plant boosted its sales by 26.6 percent this year, making it one of the strongest climbers on the list. Insourcing revenue increased nearly tenfold in 2003. (See the full story elsewhere on this site.)