Heidelberg

Digital color printing has improved tremendously in recent years. It's time for in-plants to focus on the benefits it can offer them. DON'T LOOK now, but digital color printing is poised to become the darling of the in-plant world. Faster, cheaper and more reliable than ever—and boasting improved print quality—digital color printing is finally living up to the hype it once received. Despite all the hoopla, however, one of the biggest strikes against it, marketing reps will tell you, has long been lack of awareness in the marketplace. And then along came Heidelberg. Ever since Drupa, where the offset king announced that

While digital solutions seem to be the answer to more and more problems, for many in-plants imagesetters are still the best bet. IF YOU think everybody's gone digital— think again. While it is indisputable that computer-to-plate (CTP) solutions are the wave of the future, right now there is still some productivity left to be squeezed out of analog-based technology (read imagesetters). Granted, CTP devices can be fantastic additions for in-plants who already use digitally based systems, but if you aren't already digital—watch out. Building the infrastructure, persuading clients to provide digital files, learning how to imposition on a digital device and learning

Offset may be the darling of today's printers, but it wasn't always. IPG has watched its progress for 50 years. HOW PRACTICAL is offset lithography for the in-plant shop? Twenty-five years after the defeat of letterpress, this question appeared in our March 1976 issue (then called Reproductions Review And Methods) in response to rising competition from the burgeoning copier industry. The answer then, and now, is the same: offset is very practical for in-plants. But this wasn't always so clear. For 50 years IPG has been covering offset lithography and bringing news of its advancements to our readers. The magazine owes

Cigna Printing and Distribution Charleston, S.C. If there's one thing John Panhorst doesn't want to do, it's get his hands dirty. Not that Panhorst, assistant vice-president of printing in Cigna's Printing and Distribution department, has a problem with working; he just knows that the in-plant runs a lot more smoothly and efficiently if people don't get in the way of the machines. "We've got our systems so automated that when an order comes in to ship 500 books, the whole thing drops into the demand print queue automatically," he says. "We don't interface with it at all, and frequently we put those

Amway Ada, Michigan. Amway—the little business that could—went from a basement office in 1959 to an estimated $5 billion in retail sales 40 years later. But to long-term employees like Mike King, director of paper products, Amway's success is no accident; it's a manifestation of the pure entrepreneurial spirit of Amway's two creators, Rich DeVos and Jay Van Andel. "In the beginning, everybody thought they were nutso," says King, with a chuckle. "They would drive somewhere to meet 150 people for a demonstration and three people would show up, but they were committed to their idea and they stuck with it." DeVos and Van

Texas Department of Health and Human Services Austin, Texas After years of fighting to keep his in-plant alive, Robert McDaniel has finally been able to spend some time focusing solely on improving his shop. Six years ago, the Texas Council on Competitive Government consolidated 31 state print shops in Travis County, in central Texas, into a mere nine shops. These in-plants, which lack right of first refusal, were also mandated to operate on a full cost recovery basis and forbidden from printing for any type of commercial operation. The result? They were left fighting each other and commercial print shops in a limited pool

Best Buy Minneapolis, Minn. When a business is able to grow from $160,000 in sales to over $7 million in less than a decade some people might attribute the success to a midnight deal with the devil—or at the very least a trade for some magic beans. But for Rick Fiebiger, director of Best Buy's 83-employee Print Solutions Group, all it took was focus and attention. "You really need to run your operation like you would if you were a commercial printer," declares Fiebiger. "You've got to earn the business, you have to provide top-notch service and you have to measure your contributions

In part two of our Graph Expo report, we detail the latest advances in prepress, e-commerce, bindery and consumables. The recent Graph Expo show in Chicago drew more than 45,000 industry professionals to McCormick Place. Last month IPG took you there as we detailed many of the technologies on display, including direct imaging and digital printing innovations. But with nearly 575 exhibitors at the four-day event, we couldn't cover it all in one issue. So this month we're presenting even more Graph Expo highlights. Prepress Group Logic exhibited MassTransit, version 3.6, its high-speed digital file transfer and remote proofing software. MassTransit

Penn State University State College, Pa. Penn State Document Services faces a problem common to in-plants that lack the right of first refusal. If a department or professor needs a print job and they expect it to cost less than $5,000, they don't need to get bids on it. "They can just go to the print shop down the street because it's on the way home or their cousin's best friend works there, or whatever," laments Michael Pierick, director of Document Services. "We have to compete for every job, so we need to be concerned that every product and service line we provide

Do you need new equipment? Keep records, do research and network. Only then can you get what you need. "SHOW ME the money!" A single, colorful line might work for a football star in a movie (Jerry Maguire), but an in-plant manager requesting funds for a new purchase must work like a galley slave to be shown something other than the door. The justification process must start before you even know you need equipment. It must be a daily task involving obsessive record keeping and reams of research. It must not go on in secret. Rather, the higher-ups should be kept