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Univ. Printing Services reviving after move by Dick Peterson Public Relations The month James Chisholm took over as director of MUSC’s print shop, he  closed operations at Colcock Hall to make way for renovations, relocated the shop to Bee and Courtenay streets, and then had to cope with losing six of his 11-member staff to retirement.  That was July. “We’ve been scrambling ever since,” Chisholm said. Now, more than six months later, he’s beginning to see a revived University Printing Services, one that concentrates on customer satisfaction first, without neglecting service.  “Days can be critical to our customers,” Chisholm said. “If we say it’s in the mail, that could mean in our out basket, in campus mail or at the post office, and that could mean a missed deadline.”  Pressman and University Printing Services/Arco Lane manager Gordon Knight makes some final adjustments to the Heidelberg Speedmaster 74 press. The two-color perfector press is capable of printing books, brochures, forms and flyers. He stressed the importance of communication and understanding what customers need so expectations are met. “For instance, if a faculty member needs business cards for an out-of-town trip, we’ll do our best to meet his deadline even if we have to put him ahead of an earlier, less critical order such as letterheads and envelopes.” Located across the hall from the campus book store in the bank building at Bee and Courtenay streets, University Printing Services has begun to see more book store work coming its way. Chisholm explained that when professors want to stock their course materials in the book store, the book store can order from printing services only what is needed. “They used to pay for 100 manuals and get stuck with more than they needed. Now, we can print on demand.” University Printing Services also prints invitations and greetings and prints hardcover and paperback books by contracting out the binding. “Also, we’re changing how we can accept work,” Chisholm said. “With this, we can go from computer to plate.” He explained that the usual process for color printing is to make a negative for each color of the print from which a press plate of each color is made. In the printing process, colors are built up on the print to produce the final product. The new system, which he expects to be in place by June, eliminates the intermediate steps by going directly from the computer to a laser-etched press plate. The end result is a higher quality print job at a lower cost. “A lot of people here don’t know that we have the capability to produce full-color brochures and other full color print jobs. We also do magnetic business cards along with the regular business cards, envelopes, letter heads, invitations, books, brochures, annual reports, course manuals along with the university telephone books, Simon directories and posters. Almost anything the university would like printed,” he said. Pressman Roger Brownlee inspects a page from the 2004 MUSC Commencement Program, just one of many jobs the MUSC University Printing Services prepares and completes annually. University Printing Services traditionally provided typesetting services for letterhead, envelopes, and business cards. Chisholm plans to expand this service in the near future to include design for brochures, flyers and other similar products.  “If we don’t want to become a dinosaur,” Chisholm said, “we have to dress ourselves up with both customer satisfaction and service.” The trend toward a paperless society does threaten his shop with the specter of extinction, its harbinger the proliferation of online business forms that can be filled out, signed and sent electronically without ever putting ink to paper. That’s why, now that University Printing Services is over its shaky re-start, Chisholm’s goal is to build the department into a fully-equipped, full-service, customer-oriented shop known for its high-quality work for MUSC and any other state institution. Pressmen dedicated to trade, quality work by Cindy Abole Public Relations Possessing a lifetime of printing experience combined with the right equipment and a skillful eye are the qualities ingrained in the University Printing Services Arco Lane team. Since 1984, the seven-member team has left their mark on a myriad of quality projects from the standard university and hospital forms to specialty brochures, pamphlets, folders, business cards, posters, letterheads and customized invitations. Within their world of ink, paper, computers and machine presses, printing is acknowledged as a combined art, trade, practice and business that they all take pride in. “Each of us takes a great deal of pride in the work that we produce,” said pressman and manager Gordon Knight, commenting on the century of combined trade experience of the entire press team. “Even in today’s era of computers and mechanization, there’s still a human aspect in printing. A pressman still has control over the balance of ink, paper and other details that lead to the final product. It’s a practice that comes with years of dedication, experience and hard work.” The team prides itself in being 90 percent cross-trained in press operations and most pre-and-post press activities. In 2002, the press staff moved to an adjacent facility, owned by the university, that allows easier access to supplies of paper, ink and materials in addition to much-needed storage for bulk printed forms. The new facility, with a layout designed for press operations, allows staff to process orders more efficiently, thus delivering a higher volume of projects on time. “We feel we can provide the best of both worlds in printing capability: the speed and efficiency of a large copy center combined with a true print facility,” Knight said. “Customers should realize that we’re here for the university and we’re dedicated to providing the best quality and professional service at a competitive, cost-effective prices.”  University Printing Services Arco Lane staff: Gordon Knight, Bernie Gahagan III, Eric Cooke, Roger Brownlee, John Gassman, Cleo Holmes, Rodney Bordelon For information on printing services, call 792-2592 or visit them at 165 Cannon Street. Access its Web site at http://www.musc.edu/printingservices       Friday, Nov. 26, 2004 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to petersnd@musc.edu or catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Community Press at 849-1778.