Despite the hit his in-plant took from COVID, Ken Johnson loves the career he started in high school and never tires of looking for new ways to improve his operation.
Ken Johnson
What was once a fairly low-volume print shop when it opened at Ball State University 30 years ago, has turned into a bustling operation. When Ken Johnson, director of Printing Services at the Muncie, Ind., school, saw that he could barely squeeze any more equipment into his in-plant’s 3,200-square-foot space, he knew it was time for a new facility.
While I was touring the University of St. Thomas' in-plant in St. Paul, Minn., last month, Director John Barron revealed some wonderful news. In September, the board of trustees at the private, Catholic liberal arts school granted his in-plant the right of first refusal (RoFR) for all university printing—the holy grail for in-plants everywhere.
Thanks to two back-to-back installations, Ball State University Printing Services is producing work faster and at a lower cost. By Bob Neubauer For 10 long years Ken Johnson and his crew at Ball State University Printing Services have been slowly building an equipment reserve fund. Now payoff time has come. Over the past couple of months, the Muncie, Ind., in-plant has used its savings to make two major installations that will completely overhaul the 11-employee operation. First the shop installed a six-page thermal Screen (U.S.A.) PlateRite 4100 platesetter. Then, in April, it added a four-color Heidelberg Printmaster 52 perfector. The new capabilities will