Vincent De Franco

One secret to making it onto the Top 50: Merge with your mail department. Three-quarters of Top 50 shops have done it. By Vincent De Franco The numbers tell the story: 39 of the in-plants on this year's IPG Top 50 (78 percent) have consolidated with their organizations' mailing departments. As a result, both print and mail have been able to flourish at these in-plants, boosting sales and helping them achieve prestigious Top-50 status. For example, the mail and print departments at the University of Michigan were merged into the same building in May 2003, a move that Steven Lindimore, manager of printing/mailing services,

Both digital duplicators and color copiers have made major strides to meet changing customer demands. Determining which is right for you involves asking the right questions. By Vincent De Franco Color copiers and digital duplicators have come a long way in the past decade. But which one is right for your in-plant? Those in the color copier camp point to the superior color reproduction, inline finishing and powerful digital capabilities of their machines; others find tremendous value in the low cost, high speeds and product versatility inherent in digital duplicators. Choosing between the technologies first requires an understanding of the benefits and limitations

As digital color printing increases, in-plants are demanding heavier sheets. Find out what other changes are coming to your paper. By Vincent De Franco Color documents are finding their way into people's hands more than ever before thanks to the tremendous rise in digital color printers and copiers. Not surprisingly, this digital phenomenon has greatly affected the demand for paper; suppliers have not only changed their offerings, they have altered the way they bring these products to market. "More than ever, technology is the main driver of trends in paper," remarks Vince Phelan, director of product management and marketing communications for Boise Paper Solutions'

Perfect binding, saddle stitching and mechanical binding each have their places. Find out which ones are best for your in-plant. By Vincent De Franco As in-plants bring increasingly more work in-house, they're finding themselves in direct competition with commercial printers. Therefore it's crucial they have up-to-date equipment that enables them to compete. This is especially true of bindery equipment, since the binding and stitching on a booklet is often the first thing a customer notices. When shopping for bindery equipment there are three major categories from which to choose: perfect binding, saddle stitching and mechanical binding (double loop, etc.). The most common bindery process

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