Oregon State University Printing and Mailing Services Case Study Oregon State University Case Study. Harnessing the power of on-demand and variable data digital printing. For more information, visit www.xerox.com/digitalprofit © 2010 Xerox Corporation. All Rights Reserved. XEROX®, XEROX and Design®, DocuCard®, iGen3®, and XMPie® are trademarks of Xerox Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. 04/10 Oregon State University makes the most of its Xerox iGen3 Digital Production Press and XMPie variable data software. ® ® ® Oregon State University Printing and Mailing Services For more than 140 years, Oregon State University (OSU) has had a three-fold mission of teaching, research, and service to the people of Oregon and beyond, including via its extension offices throughout the state. Today, it’s home to 26,000 students, faculty, and staff. OSU Printing and Mailing Services is responsible for the myriad of printed documents used by and produced for the university’s constituents. These documents include teaching tools, alumni communications, admissions recruiting pieces, budget documents, extension booklets, and college magazines. It also prints class packets and does the copyright search on them. In addition, about 15% of the department’s work is done for external customers— nonprofit organizations and municipalities that turn to this resource for printing budget documents, membership cards, books, and more. This work generates revenue for the self-supported department. Challenge As a self-supporting department, Oregon State University Printing and Mailing Services is used to handling a variety of jobs for a variety of internal customers. Like similar departments at other higher education institutions, it also embraces the potential for variable data printing in support of the university’s goals. And it recognizes the benefits of being able to use an expanded range of media to suit different needs. The place where the staff doesn’t want to see variety or variability, though, is in the ability to deliver consistent and accurate color that meets the turnaround needs of customers. Solution When it came time to replace its digital printing equipment, the department tested a number of options from a number of manufacturers. In the end, Printing and Mailing Services selected the Xerox® iGen3 Digital Production Press for not only its image quality, but also its media latitude, strong service and support, and integration with XMPie variable data software. “It’s a powerful combination of equipment and software,” says Cheryl Lyons, associate director for Printing and Mailing Services at Oregon State University and the manager in charge of the on-campus location in Corvallis, OR. “The RIP is much faster than what we had before, and the quality is much better.” Benefits In any given month, Printing and Mailing Services produces 100,000 to 200,000 pages on its Xerox® iGen3 Press. Because it can dependably deliver high-quality digital output, many projects can now be printed on demand, rather than in larger offset quantities—and digital printing saves on warehousing costs while enabling more timely content. In addition, variable data printing jobs are enabled through XMPie to maximize the power of one-to-one communication. Delivering results with variable data. A piece critical to the university’s future is one targeted for prospective students—and it’s made even more effective through Printing and Mailing Services’ use of variable data printing. Originally outsourced to an off-campus iGen3, this piece is now printed on the in-house iGen3 using XMPie. Text and images are customized to each prospective student’s test scores, academic interests, extracurricular activities, and even geographic location. “It’s a nice piece that has done well for the university,” says Lyons. “Admissions are up, and while there are a lot of factors involved, we believe that this document has helped.” In another example of the power of variable data, the department produces a housing and dining brochure, which is sent to students who will be living on campus. It features a photo of their dorm on the cover, lists each student’s mailing address, and provides the names and email addresses of their roommates and dorm manager. “We know that students are using this piece because as soon as we send them out, the dorm managers start receiving emails,” says Lyons. An added bonus: postage savings. With its in-house digital printing capabilities, the department can also control timing—and that can yield savings. The 50,000 prospective student pieces and 20,000 on-campus housing pieces that the department prints, for example, are managed based on their geographic destination. Those that have further to go are printed and mailed first. “We’ve saved thousands of dollars in postage by sending these pieces at the nonprofit rate rather than first class,” says Lyons. Bringing more work in-house. While the department used to be limited to runs of up to 1,000 pieces, with its iGen3, it can handle much more. “We’ve been able to bring a lot of jobs in-house that we had to send out before because the run was too long,” says Lyons. The iGen3 can handle the “glamorous” jobs— such as the variable pieces for students—as well as the hardworking day-to-day ones. The department is also targeting the offset work it still contracts out. “We really look at those jobs and try to offer our customers variable data and digital options,” says Lyons. “We market the advantages of personalization pretty heavily, and promote our capabilities.” Expanding with new applications. In another effort to generate revenue while delivering added value, the department has begun to market and produce customized photo memory books. An online template makes it easy for customers to add their photos and order their books for the holidays, graduation, and more. “We can’t advertise to the general public,” says Lyons, “but we have 26,000 people on campus. And that’s a pretty good audience.” With its expanded capabilities, Printing and Mailing Services has also garnered work from outside customers, helping to financially support its operation. Among other things, it prints personalized membership cards for a nationwide union utilizing Xerox® DocuCard® specialty media. All told, Printing and Mailing Services is a $5 million operation. While the department manages about $1 million in offset printing each year, the overwhelming majority of work is produced in-house exclusively on digital printing equipment. For its in-house printing, OSU today depends on its Xerox® iGen3 Digital Production Press. Three trained iGen3 operators produce up to 200,000 pages per month. “The capabilities with our iGen3 are just wonderful, making it possible for us to produce more and to do it more quickly.” Cheryl Lyons Associate Director, Printing and Mailing Services, Oregon State University 2 Oregon State University Case Study Oregon State University Case Study 3