Why PRINTING United is an Invaluable Experience for In-plants
If you ask Wes Troup why attending PRINTING United Expo is well worthwhile for any in-plant manager, his answer is simple: it’s the only trade show in North America that exposes you to all different sectors of the industry under one roof.
Wes Troup
“Number one – and you can’t beat it – it gives you exposure to all different kinds of vendors,” declares Troup, business solutions associate for the World Bank’s printing and interactive media teams. “There’s no North American conference that brings everybody together – especially with emphasis on wide-format production, print, and apparel all in the same place – like PRINTING United.”
Thanks to last year’s Expo, the World Bank acquired a CO2 laser cutter and a small Mimaki UV-flatbed printer. And according to Troup, the laser cutter really has allowed the in-plant to expand its gamut of offerings.
“The laser cutter allows us to get into just about everything, including everything we couldn’t do before,” Troup says. “There's a lot of reclaimed acrylic, so we're using that. And then our Mimaki has allowed us to touch all the branded merchandise we want – pens, key chains, luggage tags, water bottles, tumblers, all that. And we're trying to migrate some of that to the laser as well so that we can offer different options for folks.”
At this year’s Expo, taking place Oct. 22-24 in Orlando, Florida, Troup plans to check out new equipment from Epson. He says he’s been eyeing the equipment for two years thanks to the World Bank’s lengthy procurement process. Seeing it in action at past Expos allowed his team to bring a comprehensive plan to procurement.
The World Bank Group’s in-plant team touring the Ricoh booth at the 2022 Expo.
Aside from equipment, another major benefit of the Expo that Troup appreciates is the educational aspect. He says that especially for in-plants, building knowledge only makes you more valuable to your parent organization.
“Not only are you buying equipment, but you’re also buying knowledge. You're buying the people that then service the equipment and the OEM that comes along with it. So that automatically gives your in-plant a little credibility because you're going with leaders in the market that all show up to PRINTING United,” Troup says.
And because you’re essentially “buying knowledge” Troup believes the Expo is particularly valuable for in-plants because it’s a way to help them secure funding for new equipment.
“We're building the business case on the floor as we walk around sometimes, and that's what you have to do because if you don't have that, if you don't have the pictures of it, if you haven't gone out and physically touched it and looked at it and talked to all the experts, it's tough to get past procurement,” Troup says.
Overall, if you’re a member of the in-plant community who hasn’t attended PRINTING United yet, Troup has some heartfelt advice: “Just do it,” he urges. “The bottom line is, you’re not going to find that knowledge anywhere else. So even if you think it might be expensive upfront, it’s going to save you money in the long run.”
Register today for PRINTING United Expo, taking place Oct. 22-24 in Orlando, Florida.
Bob has served as editor of In-plant Impressions since October of 1994. Prior to that he served for three years as managing editor of Printing Impressions, a commercial printing publication. Mr. Neubauer is very active in the U.S. in-plant industry. He attends all the major in-plant conferences and has visited more than 180 in-plant operations around the world. He has given presentations to numerous in-plant groups in the U.S., Canada and Australia, including the Association of College and University Printers and the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association. He also coordinates the annual In-Print contest, co-sponsored by IPMA and In-plant Impressions.
