In-plant Profiles

Sweet Home Alabama
July 1, 1999

Jim Thorne, of The Colonial BancGroup, has doubled the size of his in-plant, brought in new equipment and shown his company he can save it money. Fresh out of the Navy and looking to take an architectural drafting course at Patterson State Technical College, Jim Thorne was disappointed to learn that the class was full. So he took a graphic arts class instead. From taking that class, Thorne says, printing "got in my blood." Thorne worked in various print shops in the Montgomery, Ala., area during the day and took classes at night, earning a degree in graphic arts. He was then hired to

No Rest For The Best
June 1, 1999

Customer-oriented, technology-focused and always looking for ways to save the university money, Mike Loyd has worked hard to build LSU Graphic Services into a leading in-plant. Ralph Gossard routinely makes key business decisions using hard facts, so it isn't often he renders judgement based upon a gut feeling. But four years ago, Gossard—the associate vice chancellor for administrative services at Louisiana State University—decided to take a gamble when he selected Mike Loyd as LSU's Director of Graphic Services. "Mike did not really have the large weight of experience you would normally look for," says Gossard. "But I knew him well enough to know he

The Magic Of Print-on-demand
May 1, 1999

When the Texas Agricultural Extension Service cleaned out its warehouse several years ago, it recycled 36 tons of paper. Thanks to on-demand printing, those days are gone for good. Ralph Piper's print shop is famous within the Texas Agricultural Extension Service for performing magic. In one case, the communications unit, which supports the Extension Service, was responsible for creating a manual on drought response in 36 hours for a federal government conference. Input was accepted and compiled electronically from extension services and experts all over the country. The 300-page file was transmitted to the print shop Thursday night. The shop created 500

New System Saves Time
May 1, 1999

Like many in-plants, Central Michigan University Printing Services used to do all of its estimates by hand. But over the past year-and-a-half, the 15-employee Mt. Pleasant, Mich., in-plant has been phasing in the Programmed Solutions Print Management System. Today, estimating is a whole new ball game. "Now we can build a template and then when we get the call for an estimate that's very similar, we can just call up the template and modify it," explains Rhonda Kohler, director. "You can have similar estimates in minutes." Now, she says, order-entry clerks are able to do standard estimates themselves, whereas in the past Kohler

Nerves Of Steel
May 1, 1999

In 1994 Tony Loster took on the challenge of reviving an out-of-date in-plant. Today, print quality and business are soaring—and he's not done yet. BORN IN California and raised in the Chicago area, Tony Loster, director of print production at The American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) in-plant in Rosemont, Ill., came from humble beginnings in the printing industry. "I went to work for my brother-in-law who was at a company that set type," recalls Loster of his first job out of high school. "I started out delivering type." From there Loster did some proofing and various other jobs, before getting his hand into

All In The Family
April 1, 1999

J.T. and John Sarantakos have made in-plants a family business. Back in the '60s, when John "J.T." Sarantakos was teaching high school printing in Harvey, Ill., he used to bring his young sons in to help out in the in-plant after school and in the summer. They would handle small tasks, like hand-collating jobs from piles laid out on a table—and Sarantakos worked out a sophisticated incentive plan. "When they got to the end of the table they picked up a nickel or a dime and stuck it in a bowl," he recalls. "They got an instant reward." For one of those boys, however,

Deans Of Duplication
April 1, 1999

Though college and university in-plants take on many different sizes, shapes and functions, the same basic issues affect them all. Visit any two college or university in-plants and you're apt to encounter two remarkably different operations. If you're in Seattle, walk into the University of Washington's vast in-plant, and you'll see big offset presses, high-speed digital printers and sophisticated mailing equipment all cranking away. Stop into Philadelphia's Temple University, on the other hand, and you won't see any offset presses at all, just copiers. Saunter down to Austin and you'll find two unaffiliated in-plants at the University of Texas: UT Copy

Practicing What They Preach
March 1, 1999

In-plants serving printing equipment manufacturers not only produce printed work, but also lend a hand in planning equipment improvements. Back In 1997, A.B.Dick came up with a plan. The Niles, Ill.-based company wanted to resurrect its in-plant and use it both to showcase its products and test its new equipment. With that goal in mind, Greg Zanoni was picked to serve as corporate demonstration floor and print shop manager. Now, two years later, Zanoni's in-plant produces about 98 percent of A.B.Dick's printed work, including all of its business stationery and marketing materials. What's more, the 3,900-square-foot in-plant doubles as a demonstration center where

From Vacation To Vocation
March 1, 1999

Dwight Loeding has rebuilt Orlando Regional Healthcare System's in-plant into an efficient, service-oriented success. When most people go to Florida on vacation they come home with a tan. Dwight Loeding came home with a new job. In 1990 he and his wife were enjoying the Florida sunshine on vacation from their home in Michigan when they noticed an ad in the Orlando Sentinel. The Orlando Regional Healthcare System needed someone to overhaul its faltering in-plant. Armed with some high school printing experience and a business administration degree, Loeding decided to check it out. Clad in his vacation shorts, he interviewed for the position.

'A Natural Manager'
February 1, 1999

This month IPG talks to Larry Williams, at Fireman's Fund, who entered the printing industry by chance and has loved it ever since. Fresh out of Sonoma State University, armed with degrees in geography and business management, Larry Williams had no idea what he was getting himself into when he walked into a copy shop back in 1979. "I went into a print shop to get my resume printed," Williams recalls. "They had a typesetting machine but they didn't have a typesetter, and I said, 'well, I need a job. If you give me the manual I can learn how to run that machine.'