IT MAY not be a popular topic among in-plants, but sending work to outside printers is often a necessary part of an in-plant manager's job. After all, in-plants can't possibly print everything in-house. Still, some managers don't like to admit that. "At some industry conferences, it has been like hypocrisy talking about print procurement," admits Joe Tucker, administrator of State Printing and Mail Services for the state of Ohio.
The State of Ohio Printing and Mail Services held a ribbon cutting ceremony last month to officially open its new 9,000-square-foot printing center. The new center is in the heart of downtown Columbus, near the majority of state agency customers. In addition to moving into this new facility, Ohio’s printing operation recently added two new Heidelberg Printmaster QM-46 presses, a Konica Minolta C6500 color imaging system, a Halm Super Jet Plus XL envelope press and two additional Canon imageRUNNER Pro 7110s. “We are making great strides in centralizing print production for Ohio’s government,” says Joe Tucker, state printing administrator, “and in doing so
On July 1 the Ohio Office of State Printing doubled in size to 89 staff positions after the state’s mainframe printing operation was moved from the IT department to State Printing and Mail Services. The mainframe operation, with an annual production volume of over 88 million impressions, will now report to State Printer Joe Tucker. As of the first of this month, Tucker has also taken over the operations of a large fulfillment operation run by the Department of Job and Family Services. This 28-employee operation has seven large inserting machines and does an average of 44 million pieces of mail annually.
WHENEVER WE at IPG hear about a new in-plant opening its doors, we try to publicize this fact. It shows that yet another company, school or organization has realized the benefits of in-house printing. But what if that organization already has an in-plant? Is opening another one really such a bright idea? After all, the new shop will be competing with the existing one for the organization’s work. This is a tricky issue. IPG does not want to play favorites, supporting only one of an organization’s in-plants. We want to help all in-plants succeed. Yet in some cases, when a new copy shop is formed simply
Think your main competition is that copy center down the street? Think again. The humble desktop ink-jet or laser printer may be hurting your business even more. By Linda Formichelli Your in-plant may be quick and cost effective, but a desktop printer is...well, it's right there. It's convenient. Being able to print to a machine that's mere inches away from the computer—instead of having to walk projects over to the in-plant and then wait for them—is appealing to many customers. It's also a big waste of money. Vic Barkin, manager of Northern Arizona University Printing and Reproduction Services, tells the story of
Government in-plants from around the country gathered in Des Moines to learn from each other and develop their digital strategies. By Bob Neubauer Perhaps the highlight of the recent National State Publishing Association (NSPA) conference—the part that may have hit home hardest for the 27 government attendees—was when fellow NSPA member Raúl Guevara took the floor with an energetic presentation detailing how his department's strategic business plan saved $839,133 for the Kansas Department of Transportation. By analyzing his operation's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and calculating its savings, Guevara, bureau chief of KDOT's Bureau of Support Services, strengthened and improved his department. "We
