Oregon State University, a vibrantly green 400-acre campus
in the heart of western Oregon's Willamette Valley, is dedicated to sustainability, ranking 4th among all colleges for its use of renewable energy. That green philosophy is firmly planted into every area on campus. In fact, OSU even retrofitted 22 elliptical exercise machines in its recreational center to the school's power grid to produce an estimated 3500 kilowatt hours of electricity each year.
FSC Certification
OSU's 31 member in-plant team recently contributed to the school's environmental mission by gaining FSC certification -- just in time for OSU's week-long campus wide Earth Day Celebration. "FSC Certification is the gold standard of programs designed to promote total transparency in the use of sustainable materials and their processing within the paper and printing industries. This program will blend well with the many other outstanding efforts and programs that promote sustainability within Oregon State University," explains Ari Grossman Naples, Associate Director of Printing and Mailing Services.
Manages Insourcing and Outsourcing
FSC certification is just one of an expanding list of advancements recently made by this very innovative in-house operation that produces approximately 16 million digital impressions annually. As much as 20% of the shop's total revenue comes from insourcing work from other state affiliated agencies that lack print capabilities. Ari and his team also manage the outsourcing of approximately $1 million of offset work through a select pool of contracted vendor partners.
Managing Large Volumes of Mail
The mailing area, which in addition to mail meters utilizes Endicia software, also manages large volumes. During fiscal year 2012 nearly 2 million bulk and metered items were mailed and 30,000 packages shipped.
The entire in-plant team has become a leader in innovation by continually evolving to keep pace with the needs of customers. "We were early adapters of VDP, 1-1 marketing and QR codes. These types of services have been very well received across multiple departments by addressing the need for targeting individuals for both research and marketing purposes."
Design OnLine Launched
They have just recently launched Design Online, a new template-based online design and ordering system that has dramatically boosted the demand for books and course packs. The team even produced a video tutorial for the system and have posted it on their web page. View it at
Also added was a new Digi Punch that allows them to coil and comb punch color books with relative ease. Having purchased a Kodak i1320 Plus scanner and a Kofax Capture software package, they are now able to offer document scanning, as well as additional document management services. "We are also bringing wide-format back in-house."
Job Shadow Program -- Walking in Another's Shoes
Ari goes on to explain, "This past spring OSU Printing and Mail Services launched our job shadow program. It is an innovative new team building program that we designed as a way for our staff members to develop a broader understanding of what each other does on a day to day basis and gain an appreciation for the challenges faced within each position on the team. The program is based on the premise that you must first walk a mile in another person's shoes before you can judge or gain empathy for their situation. We have completed round one of the pairings and have begun round two. Our goal is to continue rotations until everyone has had a chance to experience at least three different areas of our operation."
What's next? Ari says they soon hope to introduce PURLs and e-blast services as part of their cross-media campaign services. "This is a trend that we foresaw coming for quite some time and wanted to be proactive in offering it to the campus community."
Facebook Contests Prove Popular
He continues, "We held several Facebook contests over the course of the last year, two of our most popular were a summer art contest and a spring break Ski Fever Contest where students, faculty and staff submitted photos of their lonely ski gear." A fan favorite and staff favorite were picked and the winners were awarded lift tickets to Mt. Bachelor. "We see e-blasts, PURLs, Facebook contests and content, twitter and video tutorials as part of our offerings and e-presence."
