FAQs

What’s an in-plant, anyway?
How many in-plants are there?
What is In-Plant Impressions?
Who reads it?
What’s in it?
How do we select the in-plants that we profile?
If you interview me, can I see my quotes before publication?
Can I contribute an article?
What happened to In-plant Reproductions?

What’s an in-plant?

An in-plant is an in-house reproduction department operated within an organization, be it a company, a government office or a university.

An in-plant must employ at least one full-time person who is responsible for taking in jobs from customers within the organization, printing or copying them, and coordinating their delivery. If customers operate the equipment, then this is not an in-plant. In addition, a true in-plant includes more than just a single duplicating device. In fact, it should include some prepress and bindery equipment, as well. The majority of the in-plant’s work must serve the internal needs of the organization, though a percentage of its work can come from outside the organization.

The manager of the in-plant must be in charge of managing his or her budget, planning for the future and charging customers for services. The manager should also coordinate the purchasing of outside printing after assessing whether or not the job can be printed in-house. The manager should coordinate the distribution of these products, as well.

Because they don’t compete directly with other in-plants or commercial printers, in-plants can produce work much more inexpensively than commercial printers, saving their organizations money.

How many in-plants are there?

It’s nearly impossible to count the exact number of in-plants in the country, as many of them are small, one-person shops. To give you some idea, though, In-Plant Impressions, the only magazine serving the in-plant market, goes out to more than 13,000 in-plants in the U.S.

What is In-plant Impressions?

In-plant Impressions is the only graphic arts magazine in the world written specifically for in-plants. Based in Philadelphia, IPI has been published since 1951 and focuses on helping in-plant managers increase productivity and stay competitive. Articles cover successful in-plants, new graphic arts technologies and other prepress, printing, bindery and mailing issues. IPI Editor Bob Neubauer has been involved with the in-plant industry since 1994.

Who reads it?

In-plant Impressions is read by about 13,000 graphic arts professionals in the United States. The majority of these readers are in-plant managers working for manufacturing firms. Banking, finance, insurance and real estate in-plants comprise the next largest audience segment. After that, educational institutions, professional services groups (legal, medical, architectural, hotels, etc.) and publishing companies make up a large chunk of our readership.

What’s in it?

In-plant Impressions is full of well-researched articles designed to help managers of in-house reproduction departments increase productivity, save money and stay competitive in an increasingly competitive world. Articles fall into several broad categories:

Management stories – These articles offer tips to managers on issues such as reporting to upper management, merging with their organization’s data center, defeating facilities management firms and providing customer satisfaction.

Profiles of successful in-plantsIPI interviews the managers of prospering in-plants to find out what they’re doing right, what equipment they’re using and what their thoughts are on the future.

New technology – We take an in-depth look at the latest graphic arts equipment, talking to manufacturers to discover what the best features are and what changes may be reshaping the equipment in the future.

Industry researchIPI surveys readers to find out about their equipment, services and more. We also focus on in-plants in specific segments of the market, such as colleges and universities or the health care industry.

Industry News – The latest information about in-plant activities, such as new equipment purchases, in-plant expansions, awards and conferences.

Hot Products – A look at interesting graphic arts equipment and software.

How do we select the in-plants that we profile?

Many ways. Sometimes in-plants call, fax or e-mail the editor to boast of their accomplishments. Sometimes the editor looks at the survey forms returned to us by cooperative in-plants. Sometimes vendors tell us which in-plants have recently purchased their equipment and we then contact the in-plants.

If you interview me, can I see the story before publication?

Because In-plant Impressions is a news magazine, and we have deadlines, it will not always be possible for us to allow the people we interview to see their quotes and comments prior to publication. When you agree to be interviewed by us, you agree to allow us to quote you in the magazine. We agree to quote you accurately. (More info?)

Can I contribute an article?

IPI gets unsolicited articles frequently. Those that are well written and touch on a topic important to readers are given strong consideration for publication, though space does not permit us to use as many as we would like. Our best advice is to contact the editor via fax or e-mail with your idea, including a rough outline. If the editor is interested, you will be asked to write the story. (More info?)

What happened to In-plant Graphics?

Some of you remember when IPI was called In-plant Graphics. It was only in January 2019 that we changed the name. The old title has a long and detailed history, but the name basically came to life in 1996 and stayed alive for 23 long years.