Poster Printing
OOC Poster Printing Group
Final Report
May 2, 2014
TEAM MEMBERS
Team Member
Brett Chambers*
Doug Comer
Melissa Exum
Mona Holdcraft
Jim Lehman*
Amy Van Epps
Kevin Vedder
Candiss Vibbert
* Team leaders
Affiliation
College of Liberal Arts
Computer Science
Vice President of Student Affairs
College of Health and Human Sciences
College of Education
Library Science
Vice President for Human Resources
Discovery Park
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Poster printing supports the academic mission of the university, particularly the needs of the faculty and
students in preparing visual representations of their work for venues such as professional conferences. At
the present time, poster printing is provided by many different units on campus and access to those
resources, as well as fees charged for their use, can be quite variable. The recent agreement with Xerox for
on-campus print management provides an alternative centralized poster printing service that is
economical and should be considered by departments examining a purchase or replacement of poster
printers.
1)
Scope of Investigation:
a) The team surveyed units on campus to identify existing poster printing capabilities, access policies,
user fees, etc.
Survey summary:
 36 departments self-reported on poster printing
 61% of the reporting departments have poster printers available in their department with a
total of 31 printers in use across campus
 10 departments reporting having unmet poster printing needs
 2 departments reported that they may use a central printing solutions in place of current
department printers if the cost to print is better
 30 departments reported that they would use an affordable central poster service to
augment their in-house printing capabilities.
 The average age of poster printers in use is 5.43 years
 Average printer volume per printer is 259.29 pages
 Total reported printing volume is 7260 pages
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9 departments allow users outside of their department to print
End-user charges for use range from free to $65 depending on a wide variety of factors
Turnaround time for prints ranged from immediate to 5 days lead time.
Department owned printers are used almost entirely in direct support of teaching and
research
The campus survey detail is attached in Appendix A
b)
The team discussed centralized provision of poster printing services with Xerox representatives.
Services summary:
 The campus printing services contract with Xerox has resulted in much reduced costs for poster
printing. (Full prices have been attached in Appendix B). For example:
24x36 standard poster - $33.71
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c)
36x48 standard poster - $53.86
Xerox can provide a wide range of printing sizes and types such as foam board backed,
lamination, and dry erase lamination for varying prices
Xerox will be providing online ordering capability with file upload
Posters will be available for pickup at Boiler Copy Maker or can be delivered
Xerox has planned a roll-out event for June where they will better market and explain available
services across campus
Standard lead time for poster services is 3-5 days; expedited services may be available.
Additional set up charges may be applied if a poster needs extra formatting
The costs associated with the acquisition, maintenance, supplies, and use of poster printers should be
taken into consideration when purchasing printers. There is a wide variety of models of printers and
with varying capabilities across campus. Two of the more popular and recent models are included
below for comparison. Calculations assuming: A lifecycle of 1500 prints over the life of a printer, a 2’x3’
print, the least expensive ink and the lowest grade paper:
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Epson 9890 costs $13.38 per 2x3 poster
HP T790 costs $14.73 per 2x3 poster
Please note that these prices do not include any labor involved in proofing, printing,
maintaining, or trouble-shooting. It also does not include electrical costs.
2)
Recommendations
Poster printing on campus continues to grow in usage. After examining the needs and usage on campus
along with available options, the committee makes the following recommendations:

The committee recognizes that there are many academic needs that justify having departmental
printers available. Whether it is special color needs, access times, or the wishes of the department
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to provide free access for research needs. In disciplines where student participation in multiple
conferences with research posters is essential for professional contacts either for a job or for
graduate school, the $53.00 cost or even the $33.00 cost may be prohibitive. Currently, we believe
that most of the disciplines in which students need to participate in conferences with posters are
being served through departmental or interdisciplinary access to a poster printing service. We do
not recommend limiting department usage but encourage departments to examine their needs in
light of the Xerox contract.
Departments that are considering a new purchase or replacing an existing printer are encouraged
to examine the total cost of ownership for large format printers. There is an ongoing cost in
supplies, maintenance and support which may make the purchase less attractive when compared
to the competitive pricing available from Purdue’s contract with Xerox. The purchasing center
should include a question asking departments if they have compared the total cost of ownership to
the Xerox pricing before approving printers.
Lastly, the committee recognizes that there are many on campus who have printing needs that
have not been easily met. The new service offerings from Xerox have not been widely advertised.
We expect that the upcoming June launch of services and marketing will make these services and
pricing more widely known. Further marketing may be needed to make sure all employees and
students who have poster needs are able to find reasonable accommodation.
Appendix A
Poster Printer Data Points:
Departments Reporting With No Printers:
Departments Reporting that Have Printers:
Total Number of Poster Printers Reported:
17
19
31
Number of Departments Reporting Unmet Needs:
Number of Departments that may replace printers if a central solution was affordable:
Number of departments that would use a central solution to augment their dept
printers:
10
2
Average poster printer age:
30
Total reported printing volume per year:
5.43 years
259.29
pages
7260
pages
Number of printers available to external use:
Cost range for externally available printers based on 2x3 poster:
Number of printers accessible to the end user:
Poster print turn around time range:
9
$0 to $65
13
0 to 5 days
Average printer volume per year:
Appendix B