Michael Pierick

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

Though most headlines are taken up by digital imaging equipment these days, offset vendors say they are still making a great impression. To print its heavy load of two-color, 11x17˝ work, Penn State Document Services traditionally used a 40˝ press. Director Michael Pierick, however, felt this was not the most cost-effective way to handle these jobs. To keep prices competitive, he knew he needed some new equipment. But despite the lure of digital devices, he decided to stick with offset equipment. "There was a clear benefit to us with respect to buying an offset device," says Pierick, who bought a two-color A.B.Dick 9995 last

The 33rd annual Big Ten Printing Managers' Conference took place at Penn State recently, luring university in-plant managers from across the country. University in-plants are perhaps the most social of the in-plant industry segments, judging by the number of times their managers get together at conferences. In addition to the major Association of College and University Printers (ACUP) conference held each spring, two more sizeable gatherings take place in the fall: • The Southeastern University Printing and Duplicating Managers Conference (SUPDMC), which was hosted this year by Catherine Armitage at North Carolina State University. • The Big Ten Printing Managers' Conference, held at