EFI, Jetrion Industrial Inkjet Systems

There was something about the recent In-Plant Printing and Mailing Association (IPMA) conference in Charleston, S.C., that really made it stand out; something more than the great sessions and packed vendor fair; something beyond the fact that Ricoh Americas launched a major color print system there, bringing the event into the national spotlight.

It may have looked and felt just like a traditional ACUP conference, but when the Association of College and University Printers met in Dallas in April, it was really a new beginning. This was the association's first meeting as a dues-paying, non-profit organization.

Now in its 18th year, the On Demand Conference and Exposition tried something new this time when it moved south of the Mason-Dixon line to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. Not everyone was happy with the results. Though some exhibits were packed at intervals, others were not so busy. Perhaps the absence of key companies like Xerox, Kodak, Presstek and Standard caused some potential attendees to skip this year's event. Or maybe D.C. was too far for the Northeast day trippers who attended previous years' shows in Philadelphia, Boston and New York.

Before his in-plant's print management information (MIS) system went live last summer, John Meyer says the production environment was more than a little chaotic. With handwritten job tickets, job specs delivered by fax and Excel files to track production, the in-plant was frequently overwhelmed trying to manually input job data or locate individual jobs.

An artist at heart, Frank Oliver has designed a fast, efficient 
in-plant to serve more than a dozen rural New York school districts.

Under a new agreement, Heidelberg USA will distribute EFI’s VUTEk GS2000, GS3200, and GS5000r superwide-format digital printers in the U.S. The deal also include the inks, parts, consumables, accessories and upgrades related to these printers. Heidelberg will also provide customer and technical support for the VUTEk GS series of printers including installation and training.

Cal Poly’s Graphic Communication Department has announced the lineup for its 2011 International Printing Week, set for January 25-28. The theme of the four-day event is “Graphic Communication – The Production of Knowledge.” Sponsored by EFI, EskoArtwork, Kodak, Ricoh and RR Donnelley, the program will include seminars by industry leaders, laboratory dedications, demonstrations, a career fair and a banquet. Industry members are invited to attend the seminars.

AS I'VE talked with in-plant managers at conferences over the years, many of them have extended an "if you're ever in the area" invitation for me to visit their shops. Earlier this year it dawned on me that for a quite a few Pennsylvania in-plants I was already "in the area" more or less, and the only thing stopping me from getting out there and visiting them was my own reluctance to leave the office.

Any in-plant manager lucky enough to be in Chicago last month for Graph Expo got to witness some significant developments in the world of graphic arts. Dubbed “The Inkjet Graph Expo” by some, the show featured more inkjet technology than most in-plant managers had ever seen in one place.

These days, with the future of print being questioned so readily by digital know-it-alls, it’s kind of nice to hear about younger people who are choosing graphic arts careers. It shows that, even in the age of the iPad, some in the younger generation trust that printing will have a place in the digital world for a long time to come.