Mike Llewellyn

Despite a tough few years, airline in-plants use promotion and efficiency to get off the ground. By Mike Llewellyn So the Dow Jones has been holding steady above 10,000. The rate of layoffs nationwide seems to be leveling off. Maybe—let's not speak too soon—but just maybe, the three-year fiscal winter that has kept the country's economy at a plodding pace is showing signs of a thaw. That's good news for every in-plant manager who's been warily eyeing dwindling clicks and the migration of forms work to electronic formats. And it's great news for in-plants fighting through the storm at airlines. It's no secret that

Although most in-plants are still run by men, these managers are helping to pave the way for women to find opportunities in printing. By Mike Llewellyn AT ONE time, the copy center at University of Minnesota Printing Services was underutilized, while the offset presses got all the attention. Then along came digital technology, says Director Dianne Gregory. As digital printing became increasingly cost-effective, it just so happened that the copy center had the required expertise to make it successful. Gregory, who oversaw the copy center at the time, was in the right place to advance along with it. "When I first

Xplor 2003 brought MICR and one-to-one marketing to the forefront in Atlanta. By Mike Llewellyn The exhibitors at Xplor 2003 were upbeat, talking about a market rebound and new ways for the printing industry to gain a foothold as new media proliferates. While attendee figures were down compared with past Xplor conferences, most exhibitors felt that those who had arrived were there to do business. Continuing the show's tradition of education, companies like IBM Printing Systems and Océ set up their booths more like learning centers than equipment showcases. And with a greater focus on transactional printing and variable data, many companies rolled

Dave Schlueter has been intrigued by in-plants since he was in school. So it's no wonder he's made his mark on the industry. By Mike Llewellyn It didn't take long for Dave Schlueter, director of printing at Piper Jaffray, to learn printing would be his trade. When he was young, his dad would occasionally take him to work at Jensens Printing in Minneapolis, and he remembers feeling awestruck by the huge presses. That sense of wonder led him to major in graphic arts at the city's Dunwoody College of Technology, where he also earned an IPMA Student of the Year Award. It wasn't

With an ear for his customers' needs, Randy Stahl and his team have built a tight, efficient in-plant. By Mike Llewellyn Although central Pennsylvania's Messiah College Press recently added a 42˝ Hewlett-Packard 5500 wide-format printer to its lineup, and even though it's been checking out Xerox DocuTech, Canon and Océ printers to beef up its digital services, Manager Randy Stahl says the in-plant's chief talent is its ability to flourish in a tough economic environment. "One of the biggest things is always doing more with less," he says from his office on Messiah's pastoral, 350-acre campus in Grantham, just outside the state capital. What

Seeing big money in their mailing operations, these in-plants have invested aggressively in new equipment. By Mike Llewellyn State of Oregon Publishing and Distribution Program Salem, Ore. Manager: Kay Erickson In-plant Employees: 132 Mailing Employees: 25 Mailing equipment upgrades in past three years: Pitney Bowes Series 8 inserter, Secap V300 dual-head ink-jet system For Program Manager Kay Erickson, the purchase of a Pitney Bowes Series 8 inserter and a Secap V300 dual-head ink-jet system translated to an increase in cost savings and an expansion of the in-plant's business. "The Pitney inserter allows the option of cut sheet or continuous. It has given us backup