In-plants Jazz It Up in Rochester

Last week in Rochester, NY, Xerox held a two-day in-plant executive summit that brought together scores of in-plant managers. In addition to hearing some excellent advice from InfoTrends' Barb Pellow on how to reinvent their in-plants, attendees got to attend the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival.

"Nearly every industry is undergoing a major transformation that is being driven by new and emerging technologies," Pellow told the audience. "None has been more heavily impacted than the printing industry, and this is only exacerbating the challenges that in-plant managers face today. The key is to disrupt the status quo long before there is a need to do so.”

Successful in-plants must build a vision, retool their services, reinvent their customer bases, expand their sphere of influence, properly position their new offerings, invest in operational excellence and instill a culture of innovation, Pellow said.

Managers toured the Gil Hatch Center for Customer Innovation.

Also in the program, a panel of four in-plant speakers shared recommendations on how to make in-plants more effective. The panel featured:

• Marcie Carr, from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
• Cathy Skoglund, of the Arizona State University Print and Imaging Lab.
• Scott Gourley, with Erie Insurance.
• Rex Dietrich, from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Find out more about the in-plant executive summit in an upcoming issue of IPG.