AS SEEN IN...
Teamwork, Technology
Revive In-plant
By Bob Neubauer
Even at a technical college, having the latest technology in your
in-plant isn’t the only thing that matters. Getting employees to buy into
your vision is critical. At Fox Valley Technical College, these elements
have combined to produce an impressive in-plant turnaround.
The Fox Valley
Technical College
Printing Services
team (from left): John
Hang, Roxanne Fasel,
Shana Farrell, Jeré
Ganzer, Juan Valdez,
Brian Van Erem and
Jessi Van Dyn Hoven.
S
hana Farrell knows that recognizing your
staff for their efforts is one of the best ways to
boost morale and performance. So she tries to let
them know how valuable their contributions are as often
as she can.
“You do make a difference,” she tells them, “and you
need to know you make a difference.”
A year and a half ago, Farrell, Printing Services and
Distance Learning Manager at Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton, Wis., organized a recognition event for
In-plant Snapshot
Fox Valley
Technical College
Printing Services
Appleton, Wis.
Employees: 7
Volume: 300-350 orders/month
Impressions: 1.15 million/month
Key Equipment/Software:
• EFI MicroPress MakeReady
• RSA WebCRD Web-to-print
software
• Printable’s FusionPro 7.0 VDP
­software
• Kodak PREPS imposition
software
• Rampage RIP software
• Kodak Trendsetter CTP
• Kodak NexPress SE2500 with
­Dimensional Printing
• Ricoh Pro C900
• Kodak Digimaster EX150
• Kodak Digimaster ES138 with
in-line booklet maker
• Two Ricoh Pro 907s
• PSI LM 3655 envelope printer
• Roland VP-540 54˝ wide-format
printer
• NexGlosser near-line glossing
unit
• Standard Horizon BQ-140
perfect binder
• Standard Horizon PF-P3100
desktop folder
• Challenge Titan 265 XT cutter
• Challenge MS-5 drill
• GBC DigiCoil inserter
• Graphic Wizard CreaseMaster
Plus
• Hasler M8600 folder/inserter
• Hasler HT20 tabber
• Marlon 350 auto crimper
• PF F35a manual punch
• Plastikoil PBS industrial
roller-inserter
her staff of six. She invited not only her boss but the college president. There, each employee received individual
recognition for his or her hard work and dedication. Afterward, Farrell says, she noticed everyone was working
harder and enjoying their jobs more.
This is just one of the steps Farrell has taken to improve employee morale and communication since she
joined the department in 2006. Getting employees to buy
into her vision for the in-plant has been just as important
to the shop’s success as the technology upgrades she has
implemented—possibly more so.
That’s a bold statement, considering the in-plant
works for the state’s largest technical college, serving
nearly 53,000 people. The in-plant is no slacker in the
technology department, though:
• It uses Rochester Software Associates’ WebCRD Webto-print job submission and automated production management software;
• It boasts a Kodak NexPress SE2500 with Kodak Dimensional Printing and a NexGlosser near-line glossing unit;
• It uses a 54˝ Roland wide-format inkjet printer to address a growing demand for signage;
• And it relies on two Kodak Digimasters, a Ricoh Pro
C900 color printer and two Ricoh 907s in its Digital
Print Center.
Focusing on the Staff
Still, despite all this firepower, Farrell has found that
improving morale has been a crucial ingredient in Printing Services’ turnaround. Before she arrived, there were
certainly no self-esteem-building endeavors at the inplant. It was a union shop, everyone had their territories
and there was almost no sense of teamwork. Employee
morale was low, training was nonexistent and the inplant’s reputation was poor. The shop hadn’t updated its
products or services in years.
Farrell had her work cut out for her. Undaunted, she
set out to make improvements. With good communication to union representatives, she created a training plan
that eliminated “territories” and created opportunities.
“We actually put together a matrix of who knew what,
and who aspired to learn to do different things, so that
everybody could back each other up,” she says. This improved cooperation and gave staff more opportunities,
which boosted morale. It also increased efficiency and
eventually reduced what had been a two-week lead time
to 48 hours for most jobs.
Soon the in-plant started adding new services, like
wide-format printing and, most recently, digital envelop
printing. Staff buy-in was achieved by getting them involved and developing a shared vision. She addressed
poor behavior and morale with a written list of guidelines/expectations.
To repair the in-plant’s reputation, Farrell focused on
customer service, conducted tours and kept college staff
informed about changes. The college took note of these
improvements. Gradually, business began to increase.
Award-winning Printing
To retain that business, the in-plant has made a strong
effort to keep its technology up to date. The results speak
for themselves. The shop recently won a Silver award in
the In-Print 2012 contest for a high-profile job produced
on its Kodak NexPress SE2500. It was the college president’s holiday card.
“She wanted something very different, very classy,”
says Farrell of the college president’s wishes.
So the in-plant used Kodak Dimensional Printing on
the card, which creates a clear “raised” layer on top of a
page. The In-Print award presents a great publicity opportunity for the shop’s Dimensional capabilities, and Farrell
intends to use it to bring in more of this type of work.
The in-plant is also having great success with its
Juan Valdez prints a poster on the 54˝ Roland VP-540
printer. Wide-format printing is a growing business for
the in-plant.
wide-format printing. The perforated window signs it
printed for marketing on its Roland VP-540 were a big
hit and generated a lot of interest from other departments. Requests for wall graphics and outside banners
are also on the rise, Farrell says, and vehicle graphics are
stirring interest, as well.
Addressing Weaknesses
The in-plant’s path to improvement really kicked into
gear in 2009, when a customer survey revealed some of
the shop’s weaknesses.
“They were frustrated by the turnaround times. They
didn’t like manually filling out work orders. And they really didn’t know what our department was capable of doing beyond monochrome copying,” recalls Farrell.
At the time, each job needed numerous manual touches. In fact, most jobs had to be touched at least four times.
Printing Services would receive an e-mail with a file attached from an instructor or staff member who wanted
materials printed. The administrator would have to read it,
make sure the attached file matched the work requested,
and then enter the job into the software. The administrator
also had to make educated “guesses” about what the customer expected to see in the finished piece.
The in-plant purchased WebCRD in July of 2010
and implemented it two months later. Using WebCRD,
makeready is virtually unnecessary and all jobs are ticketed
automatically. More than 90 percent of monochrome print
jobs are now completed with just two touches.
“We still have to set up some jobs manually, such as
manuals with tabs, and non-digital orders,” explains Jessica Van Dyn Hoven, Printing Services Online administrator. “But now that only represents less than 15 percent
of our work. This has removed a huge bottleneck on the
front end.”
Customers love the real-time estimate and SurePreview, she says, because they can be sure how their job will
look before submission and know their cost ahead of time.
This eliminates rework and improves satisfaction.
WebCRD has also allowed Printing Services to track
all jobs in real time. The in-plant previously used spreadsheets that were out of date as soon as a job was handed
from one person to the next.
“Real-time tracking helps us all be on the same page,”
says Van Dyn Hoven. “For example, if the bindery area
is getting busy we can see that ahead of time and work
more as a team to keep everything running smoothly for
our customers.”
“There were many critical success factors in bringing WebCRD to the College,” says Van Dyn Hoven. “We
knew that one of them would be marketing our new Webto-print system to the entire college so we could truly
achieve our goals.”
To get the word out, Printing Services developed a
branded name, logo and look for its communications
materials. Then it advertised the new system in multiple
channels.
“There were many critical success factors in bringing WebCRD to
the College. We knew that one of them would be marketing our
new Web-to-print system to the entire college so we could truly
achieve our goals.”
—Jessi Van Dyn Hoven
“We tried a little bit of everything to get our customers excited about this new system,” explains Van Dyn
Hoven. “We started out by sending e-mails. Then during
the holidays we handed out bookmarks. In February we
sent out Valentine’s cards with our messaging. We created video tutorials. We even placed advertisements in
the college-wide in-service packets.”
All the materials called out WebCRD’s ease of ordering and available training dates. “Our piece-de-resistance
was a video spoof on the hit TV show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” adds Van Dyn Hoven. “The video helped us show our customers the impact WebCRD
could have not only in our department, but for Fox Valley
Technical College as a whole.”
As more people catch on to how easy it is, Printing
Services expects to attract jobs that might be sent to outside vendors, or are being done manually on MFDs and
other office printers. Farrell hopes to attract more work
from adjunct instructors who can order online so Printing
Services can have their materials available for them when
they arrive on campus.
Using WebCRD’s Dynamics variable data capabilities, the shop plans to produce precisely targeted and personalized materials such as business cards and variable
post cards and letters.
“Our goal for the future is to support FVTC by working
with customers with a consultative approach, to determine
the best way to produce a job at the best possible price,”
concludes Farrell. “It’s also important to help the customer
understand choices and alternatives to meet their core business needs. For instance, customers may also want their
piece mailed with a custom printed return envelope and
other customized inserts as well. We need to shift our thinking from fulfilling orders to better understand and help customers meet their business needs.”
IPG
Reprinted from In-Plant Graphics® 2012 © Copyright 2012, North American Publishing Co., Philadelphia PA 19130