Southern California

Bob has served as editor of In-plant Impressions since October of 1994. Prior to that he served for three years as managing editor of Printing Impressions, a commercial printing publication. Mr. Neubauer is very active in the U.S. in-plant industry. He attends all the major in-plant conferences and has visited more than 170 in-plant operations around the world. He has given presentations to numerous in-plant groups in the U.S., Canada and Australia, including the Association of College and University Printers and the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association. He also coordinates the annual In-Print contest, co-sponsored by IPMA and In-plant Impressions.

Gerry Michael is a CPA/consultant who has focused his practice on the printing industry for nearly 35 years, first as the founder of GA Michael & Company, and later as Graphic Arts lead partner at Carlson Advisors. Currently, he is a consulting principal with the firm of Falco, Sult Inc., and works with printers across the country on management and strategic planning issues, and is a frequent speaker at industry meetings, and contributor to various industry publications.

You may have heard something about "patent trolls"—shell companies that exist only to enforce their patents and seek money from alleged infringers. But you probably thought only high-tech companies were being targeted by these guys, right? Hardly. They're coming after printers too.

Strengthening your in-plant by adding new services is an excellent strategy. But finding new customers for existing services may offer even greater possibilities. That’s what Print Services at Hemet Unified School District, in Hemet, Calif., found, after adding yearbook printing to its repertoire three years ago. Manager Karl Melzer then made yearbooks available to other schools in southern California, along with customized student planners, and today the in-plant prints yearbooks for 16 schools and planners for 35. The shop also prints items like class work, banners, envelopes and apparel for other schools.

First, the question: Which of these in-plants closed its doors just as IPG’s cover story about it was going to press? _ Sands Hotel & Casino _ Rohm & Haas _ Rocketdyne _ The University of Chicago • Though all four of those in-plants were sadly shuttered in the 1990s, only one of them managed to do it right under our vigilant noses. In late 1997 I drove to Atlantic City to tour the in-plant at Sands Hotel & Casino. Manager Sam Green was a great host and even arranged to let us take photos in the casino, which is almost unheard of.

SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA—12/13/07—A stellar group of leaders in the graphic arts industry will be speaking on issues related to sustainability in business at the “The Business of Green Media” conference planned for Jan. 24 at Cal Poly. The conference, intended particularly for the graphic arts industry, will take an in-depth look at current developments, state and federal regulations, and other conditions directly related to the “greening” of the printing industry. The conference will open with a keynote address by Don Carli, senior research fellow at The Institute for Sustainable Communication. He will speak on “Sustainability, Climate Change and the Evolution of Greener Graphic Communication Supply

IN RECENT years, we’ve seen a significant increase in the emphasis placed on “environmentally friendly” business practices. Caused in part by a national trend toward “eco-friendly” processes that seems to include all segments of society, this trend is likely to continue and even accelerate in the coming years. For printers, this raises a real challenge. In the face of this shift in the national mood regarding the environment—which actually started back in the ’60s—how should fiscally responsible in-plant managers respond? How is the trade-off between being a responsible steward of the organization’s resources and being a responsible user of environmental resources resolved? This question

Nearly eight months before opening next March at it’s new home at the Anaheim Convention Center in Southern California, the third annual PrintFest trade show continues to grow by leaps and bounds. Over 71 percent of last year’s floor space is already committed, and next year’s floor plan is 25 percent larger than it was in the spring of 2007. PrintFest promoters expect the show to grow by a total of 38 percent over the size of the 2007 show. The event will take place March 27-29.

More Blogs