More about the inner workings of university in-plants

I want to be the first to point out an error in the third paragraph of the printed version of my January column for PrintAction, "Inside University In-plants": https://www.box.com/s/ems8x9hnrrvjnmob0kag

In the text, where Chris Panagopoulos, Manager, Publishing and Printing Operations at York University, describes conditions when he began working at York in 2008, he says:  "Back then we were printing between 30- to 40-million course kits annually".  However, the text should have read:  "30- to 40-million impressions annually".

Additionally, referring to the article’s sixth paragraph, Mr. Panagopoulos informs me that although 75 percent of his customers chose to submit hard copies of exams for printing in high-security delivery bags, they also have the option of submitting exams via a secure FTP site or password-protected e-mail.

(You'll notice that the text has been corrected accordingly at the above digital link.)  

Another point of interest is that, in quantifying his Publishing Department’s mammoth responsibility for copyrights, Mr. Panagopoulos tells me that each of the up-to-2,000 copy-right protected items they handle may consist of as many as 30 different articles, periodicals, or business cases—each requiring permission and payment for reproduction rights.

Finally, because I especially regret that with the printed article we didn't have enough space to include portraits of Heather Hersemeyer, President of CUPMAC (College and University Print Management Association of Canada, left) and Peter Klit, Secretary/Treasurer of CUPMAC (right), both of whom were so generous in providing information about both their association and their own in-plant operations, I have included their photos in this post.

In case you’re wondering, the editors of PrintAction decided to bring you another article about the esoteric world of in-plant printers based on the large amount of interest we tracked on LinkedIn and other social media platforms to our June-2012 profile of a hospital in-plant:  “Running a Healthy In-plant”  https://www.box.com/s/8zck29hd7by8drozefid

We trust that  these and other articles are meeting your need for information on the latest industry and economic news and emerging technology and trends.

But if not, just let us know.

More evidence of flourishing in-plants

Further to my last post, more in-plant news from south of the border (meaning the Canadian border) includes a recent resurgence from the brink of extinction by the Association of College and University Printers (ACUP).  Their late-April conference in Pennsylvania attracted nearly 100 higher-ed in-plant managers from all over the U.S.A., as well as from Australia, New Zealand, the U.K., and Canada. 

http://www.inplantgraphics.com/article/acup-2012-was-a-huge-success-in-harrisburg-pa-with-100-in-plant-managers/1#

And recently in British Columbia, the in-house print facility of Simon Fraser University, called Document Solutions (or “Docsol” in campus lingo), installed an HP Indigo 7500 press, rated for a monthly production of up to 3.5-million colour pages or 6.5-million monochrome pages.  The academic in-plant provides marketing collateral and printed materials for an organization comprising an estimated 35,000 students, 950 faculty, and related services.  The university's main campus is in Burnaby (about 20 km from Vancouver), with satellite campuses in Vancouver and Surrey.

Lilian Ding, Director of Document Solutions, told PrintAction they chose the HP Indigo 7500 to help them lower operating costs while providing the colour, quality, and consistency their customers require.  Since acquiring the machine, Ding also reports an increase in project volumes because of the new versatility it supplies.  See further details at: 

http://www.printaction.com/News/20120828-sfu-indigo.html

University Health Network’s in-plant is even busier than I described

Sorry, I got the math wrong in the last paragraph of my June-2012 column for PrintAction about University Health Network (UHN)’s remarkably successful in-plant printing operation in Toronto, run by longtime manager Joe Carrelas.  
https://www.box.net/s/8zck29hd7by8drozefid

Joe just e-mailed me to say that, although he liked the article, the last paragraph incorrectly recorded the annual total produced by UHN’s copier fleet as 4,674,000 copies, whereas in fact this figure only represents the fleet’s quarterly output.

The fleet’s annual total would be 4 x 4,674,000 or 18,696,000 copies.

Adding this figure to the 13,000,000 yearly impressions produced by UHN’s print shop brings the organization’s annual total to a whopping 31,696,000 impressions.

So although my column was accurate when it said they were busy, it didn’t quantify the half of it.  PrintAction and I sincerely regret the error.

Also on the subject of in-plants, my search of the upcoming seminar program offered at the Graph Expo trade show (Chicago, 7-10 October 2012) turned up seven sessions of specific interest to in-plants.  They include “Empowered In-plants: Tell-All Success Stories from the Field”, a panel comprised of a “dream-team” of top in-plants chosen by their peers http://www.myprintresource.com/press_release/10745581/graph-expo-in-plant-panel-session-members-announced   

Readers wanting more details on Graph Expo seminars can conduct their own search at:  http://www.graphexpo.com/SessionsEvents/SeminarProgram.aspx