SFA's printing services department wins national award

University Printing Services at Stephen F. Austin State University is receiving the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association's 2014 Print Center of the Year Award. Pictured, from left, are staff members Stephen Boney, Jimmy McDaniel, John Yerger, Linda Choate and Rebecca Galatas.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - University Printing Services at Stephen F. Austin State University will be honored with the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association's 2014 Print Center of the Year Award at the annual Educational Conference in Milwaukee in June.

The national award recognizes the efforts of the entire in-house staff of a corporate publishing operation that excels in efficient management practices and furthering the objectives of the parent company. IPMA has more than 500 members nationwide.

"SFA printing services won due to its operational turnaround, efficient management practices and the contributions of the entire staff," said Rob Lingard, international president.

"Printing services re-structured many of its services to provide alternative production methods, providing customers with more successful direct-mail marketing and cross-media communications, while striving to reduce operational costs, increase sales volume and customer satisfaction."

Printing services has a long established history of providing printed materials for its campus partners; however, for the last several years the department struggled to maintain a presence as a meaningful or even sustainable resource.

With a staff of only five full-time employees (including the director) and two students, printing services understood the need to modernize its services and expand into digital printing. A concerted effort was made to improve quality levels, provide faster turnaround times and deliver fairly priced materials and services. By 2013, printing services had experienced a 29-percent increase in sales.

"I knew that we had made tremendous strides in improving and had an opportunity to submit for this award, which I thought best reflects the appreciation the staff was due," said John Yerger, director of printing services. "To be honored with this award by IPMA gives real recognition of our team's efforts and is an astonishing achievement in its own right."

Yerger was hired as the new director of printing services in 2013, and under his leadership, the department began assessing their expenditures and profits to provide stronger validation for their new, competitive pricing on their products and services offered.

"By using the information we had gathered, we were able to begin to bid more competitively on larger projects," Yerger said. "As we worked with campus departments on these new projects, we were then able to help them discover new marketing avenues to lower their production costs."

University Printing Services also took a proactive approach to learn from opportunities lost, he said. The department was able to consider job costs such as materials, labor and clicks, and allocated overheads and could choose to lower individual job pricing to retain larger jobs.

"Stephen F. Austin University and the campus departments have benefited through lower costs and improved products and services that are the direct results of the diligence and good work of the University Printing Services' staff," Yerger said.

"I am very proud of the work my team has done to improve the strategic relevance of the in-plant printing facility to Stephen F. Austin State University."

For more information on how University Printing Services can assist you, please contact (936) 468-2305 or email printingservices@sfasu.edu.