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Into Print, The University of Iowa Business Services' quarterly newsletter, aims to educate, inform, and entertain its readers, with a goal of fostering positive communication between the department, its staff, and its clients.
IN THIS ISSUE
Hot Off the Press
WorkLife awards announced for Laundry, Printing
Visit us at Staff Celebration Day
Office supply fair scheduled for June 8 at UIHC
TypeStrikes
General news
Stuck in the 1900s? Try Equipment Rental for 21st-century solutions
Meetings: Spring conferences keep staff busy
FY '00: Time's almost up
Education: Customer training always available
Central Mail System
Why CASS?
Laundry Service
Laundry Service works to accommodate diverse staff
Linen service--high pressure work
Materials Management
Catalog order tips
Order paper from Stores for best prices
Prices on copier toners ordered from Stores lower than CE
General Stores stock list, prices on Web
Character Counts: Meet Dan Wyjack
Printing Department
Office copier customers: Let us know of service problems
Allow time for bidding process when planning SPOs
Printing Department receives award
Just your type: Novarese typeface blends old, new
Include Nondiscrimination Statement on printed material
We are . . .
The University of Iowa Nondiscrimination Statement
Business Services directory
Hot off the Press
WorkLife awards announced for Laundry, Printing
Staff members at the Laundry and at Printing have received an Improving Our Workplace Award. The award recognizes contributions that improve the quality of the work environment and is sponsored by the UI WorkLife Program. General Stores also received the award, which was announced in the January issue of Into Print. All three departments will be recognized during Staff Celebration Day activities.
Visit us at Staff Celebration Day
Be sure to visit the Business Services exhibit at Staff Celebration Day. The participating units are Central Mail; Laundry; Materials Management, with Equipment Rental, General Stores, and Surplus; and Printing, with the Color Center and Document Services. We always look forward to on-campus events, and are planning prizes, surprises, and plenty of handouts! The event is Wednesday, May 24, from 3 to 6 p.m. in the IMU Main Ballroom.
Office supply fair scheduled for June 8 at UIHC
General Stores and Corporate Express will sponsor an office supply fair on Thursday, June 8, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the East Room at University Hospital. Vendors will showcase their newest office products and provide samples. There will be treats, new 2000 Corporate Express catalogs, and an opportunity to recycle your old catalogs. General Stores will demonstrate the MIGS on-line ordering system and provide an opportunity to sign up.
TypeStrikes
from our typo treasure chest
protect your skin from hun damage
GENERAL NEWS
Stuck in the 1900s? Try Equipment Rental for 21st-century solutions
Equipment Rental was jolted into the new millennium recently with its acquisition of digital cameras, a DVD player, and an LCD projector.
The service, known as Rental Pool until 1998, began renting office equipment such as dictation machines in 1966. During the 1980s it branched out into personal computers and has now gone digital with its multimedia equipment. "Our equipment continues to change," says manager Gerry Miller, who has been there since 1974. "But we still rent out dictation machines."
They serve clients from start to finish. "We cover the maintenance and overhead for our products, so there is no extra expense for departments," he says. "We do deliver. And when you're done with it, we'll pick it up."
"We rent things out short and long term. It's an open-ended arrangement: people can send the equipment back anytime," says Miller. Generally, the maximum length of time for long-term rentals is three years, but this changes with different equipment. "We get a lot of departments with federal grants who rent equipment for a year or two, because the grants don't allow for the purchasing of equipment," he says.
The service has two digital cameras in stock now, with another two out on long-term rental. In order to keep its inventory flexible, Equipment Rental stocks many brands of products, from Hewlett Packard, to Dell, to Sony. "It helps to keep our inventory current," says Miller. "If one brand's merchandise goes obsolete, we're not stuck with a whole lot of it."
One common rental item is the laptop computer. "We deal with laptops a lot. They are mostly for people travelling," he says. "It's a philosophy with some departments-they like to rent instead of buy equipment so they can keep their equipment new. Sometimes, when costs are covered, equipment is turned over to the last renter."
Equipment Rental limits its purchase price to approximately $3,500 per product. "In case technology changes, and we can't use it anymore, we don't get caught holding the bag," Miller says. He takes suggestions, and bases purchases upon demand. "The watchword is, 'What can we do to help?'" he says.
The service boasts a $4 million rental inventory and turns over one-third of it every year. "We are constantly buying new equipment and retiring the old," he says.
Currently there is no catalog, but Miller is putting one together. A stronger presence on the Web will help Equipment Rental to provide even more than the 3,000 items it now rents. "We will have a new software program running sometime this summer," he says. "It will allow us to do a lot more."
The one thing Equipment Rental cannot do is provide large quantities of a product. "We couldn't provide 100 computers for a week-long conference," says Miller. "But we often do smaller numbers for conferences, depending on the lead time we are given."
Renting out equipment to University departments is an unusual business practice, he says. "I'm not aware of any university that does what we do. It's a unique operation in that sense. We're on the leading edge with nothing behind us."
Contact Gerry Miller, 384-3922, with questions and for information about inventory and prices. "Basically, we're extremely nice people and getting better looking all the time!" he says.
Virginia Leupold
Meetings: Spring conferences keep staff busy
Lin Hartman attended the Big 12 Printers' Conference at Texas Tech in Lubbock. Topics included developing cost and estimating systems, structuring departments, equipment purchases, and diversification. Lou Eichler taught sessions at the National Postal Forum in Nashville. Jenean Arnold attended a communications conference in Chicago that included sessions on measurement, the role of communications in strategic planning, and electronic communications.
FY '00: Time's almost up
With just a few weeks left in the fiscal year, it is time to submit Printing and General Stores orders to be paid from your fiscal '00 budget.
Document Services billing for fy '00 will include charges only for work performed as of 4 p.m. June 29. As for printing, the department will bill only for work performed and state printing orders received by 4 p.m. June 30. Work performed and SPOs received after that will be charged to fy '01 budgets.
If you are testing office copiers and want to purchase one from your current budget, send a requisition to the Printing Department by Thursday, June 21. Specify that the funds are to be encumbered for fy '00.
General Stores will include any order in the current fiscal year if it is entered directly by a department or by General Stores on the MIGS or SIGS system by 4 p.m. on June 30. All other orders must be submitted by June 16.
Education: Customer training always available
MIGS and SIGS training is available for General Stores customers who wish to use these online ordering systems. Instructions are also on the Web at
www.uiowa.edu/~fusmm/stores/migs/migs.html and
www.uiowa.edu/~fusmm/stores/sigs/sigs.html. Contact Judy Rockafellow, 384-3906, with questions.
Printing Department customers who want to use the DocuTech publishing system should contact Tim Blake, in Document Services, for training and for help sending files.
Contact Central Mail manager Lou Eichler to schedule an on-site presentation, tailored to your department's particular needs, about mailing.
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CENTRAL MAIL SYSTEM
Why CASS?
CASS is not the same as the clear vocal strains of the late pop singer affectionately called Mama. CASS is a postal acronym for Coding Accuracy Support System. It is an important element in achieving the greatest possible postage discount for large mailings.
CASS certified is a term tossed around by mail professionals that refers to matching an address list with a complex software program that can link an address with a ZIP+4 and a carrier route code and can sort the mail into delivery sequence. The correct delivery-point bar code is also created by CASS-certified software. This code contains the ZIP, the +4, two delivery-sequence numbers, and a check digit. Every delivery address in the country is contained in the software bundle in its delivery sequence.
The software helps us create the correct sack and tray tags and produces a document that shows the Postal Service the density, or number of mail pieces, in a ZIP-code area and the associated postage. The sack and tray tags help speed the mail to its destination Post Office without having to be inspected at every location along the way.
Having the mail set in delivery sequence with the correct delivery-point bar code saves the Postal Service sorting and delivery time, and this translates into savings for the mailer. Using an endorsement that will return an address correction if needed and printing the address in a font that is easily readable by Postal Service scanners also contribute to the savings.
A First-Class mailing that has been CASS certified, carries the proper endorsement, and is readable by high-speed scanners can cost as little as 23.8 cents per letter-a considerable savings when compared to the 33-cent, single-piece rate. Combine the savings with the concept that the mail receives quicker service through auto- mation, and it becomes a win-win situation for the mailer and the U.S. Postal Service.
The rules for achieving maximum postage discounts on a mailing are different for First-Class and bulk business mail, but the savings and efficiency potential are no less beneficial.
Lou Eichler
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LAUNDRY SERVICE
Laundry Service works to accommodate diverse staff
Laundry Service is enthusiastic about meeting the needs of its Hispanic employees. "Laundry has one of the most diverse workforces on campus," says Lee Vasquez, a program consultant for Business Services. "Most of the Hispanic workers come from our employment agency connections, and some have moved into full-time positions."
Some of the temporary Hispanic employees at the Laundry speak limited English, and sometimes communication difficulties can arise. In an effort to accommodate its Spanish-speaking employees, Laundry is in the process of providing bilingual signs on machines, health notices, and training films with Spanish subtitles, and it has employees who act as translators at training sessions or whenever an employee needs translation.
"The people who have been working a long time have no problem with language. But for the new people it is a problem," says Judy Glaspie, a laundry production worker who helps translate for the Spanish-speaking workers. She knows how difficult it can be when workers and managers speak different languages.
"I came here 10 years ago and didn't speak a word of English. It was so scary," she says. "Having things like the bilingual signs helps a lot, it makes people feel more comfortable."
Everyone at Laundry agrees the most important thing is keeping the lines of communication open. "We are selective in the job duties we ask those who speak limited English to perform. We give them duties that would not require ongoing verbal communication with others and jobs in which they can work independently," says Laundry manager Dave Gray.
The challenges of having employees who speak limited English have not interrupted the workflow at Laundry, according to Vasquez. "They all speak English to a certain extent. We try to give them positions where they can come in and feel like they're doing a good job without having experience in the laundry industry," he says. "They are hard-working people. They are very dedicated. They take their jobs very seriously."
Virginia Leupold
El servicio de lavanderia esta entusiasmado con sus trabajadores hispanos. Aunque la mayoria de los empleados hispanos permanentes o de tiempo completo hablan ingles fluidamente, muchos de los trabajadores temporales hablan un ingles limitado.
El servicio de lavanderia esta tratando de considerar a estos trabajadores proveyendoles con letreros sobre salud, letreros en general, peliculas de entrenamiento y traductores bilingues.
El objetivo es proveer documentos escritos en espanol, especialmente informacion sobre hepatitis B y agentes patogenos de la sangre.
Many thanks to the UI Translation Laboratory for assistance with this article.
Linen service--high pressure work
Campus linens are under a lot of pressure when they go through Laundry Service.
The flatwork ironer, a high-pressure machine for ironing laundry, along with a spreader and little-piece ironer, are used to iron a variety of linens for the University.
The spreader unfurls linens before they are sent through the flatwork ironer. The flatwork and little-piece ironers can handle cystos, ponchos, lifters, and scrub tops (common hospital linens) and sheets, towels, and pillowcases, used at University Hospitals, campus dorms, and the Iowa House. The machines can be programmed for the widths of the different linens that pass through the rollers.
Laundry gets through a high volume of linens by rotating employees' positions each shift. "We can do up to 3,000 pillowcases per shift," says area supervisor Alice Kyle.
When four people work on the feeders and three on the spreader, the area can usually process 3,800 white pillowcases, 1,400 green scrubs, 544 white towels, plus the smaller loads in a day, according to Kyle.
Virginia Leupold
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MATERIALS MANAGEMENT
Catalog order tips
By now you should have received your new 2000 Corporate Express catalog. With more than 15,000 office supply items listed, it is considerably larger than the 1999 catalog. Please recycle all old catalogs immediately.
MIGS continues to be the easiest way to place orders. If you are interested in learning to use this online ordering system, call Judy Rockafellow. Here are some guidelines that will help your orders move smoothly.
* You must use the manufacturer's number (MFG#) when ordering. This is the only number in our system.
* Prices in the catalog are at manufacturer's list price. General Stores customers receive a substantial discount off the list price. Because of cost constraints, we will not be furnishing a pricer with this catalog.
* Disregard any information in the new catalog about ordering directly from Corporate Express. Do not use the requisition form in the catalog or order through the company's Web site or its 800 phone number. Continue to order through General Stores as you have in the past, by using MIGS or by faxing your orders to General Stores.
* If you have questions about products in the Corporate Express catalog, call Ruth Kenton-Sieck. For General Stores questions, call the General Stores customer service number listed below. If you have questions about an order, be ready to provide the order number, your department number, the date of the order, and the manufacturer's number of the item in question.
Gary Anderson
General Stores
Customer Service: 384-3900
Fax: 384-3918
Gary Anderson: 384-3917, gary-anderson@uiowa.edu
Judy Rockafellow: 384-3906, judy-rockafellow@uiowa.edu
Corporate Express
Ruth Kenton-Sieck: 384-3908
Brian Studier: 384-3919, Brian.Studier@cexp.com
Order paper from Stores for best prices
Always order Xerox paper directly from General Stores and not through Corporate Express. Our Xerox paper prices, set by contract between the state Board of Regents and the paper manufacturer, are better than the paper prices listed in the Corporate Express catalog. We have locked out many of the Corporate Express paper items to prevent ordering. Pricing and product information on the items we continue to stock at General Stores are available through the SIGS online ordering system.
Gary Anderson
Prices on copier toners ordered from Stores lower than CE
General Stores stocks many toners for copy machines. If you are looking for a toner, check the SIGS on-line ordering system or call General Stores. Some of these items may also be available from Corporate Express, but pricing is better through General Stores inventory because it purchases the items directly from the manufacturer or distributor using contract pricing.
General Stores stock list, prices on Web
General Stores' current price list for office supply items is now on the Web. Current prices are listed, and the old BT numbers are cross referenced with the new Corporate Express numbers.
Character Counts: Meet Dan Wyjack
Dan Wyjack has a lot of excess baggage. He has Xerox paper, copy supplies, light bulbs, cleaning supplies, paper towels, and toilet paper by the truckload, and he keeps on ordering more.
As the primary stock orderer for General Stores, Dan keeps his plate full by checking and ordering supplies, making sure they're put away, answering questions, and overseeing hospital stock daily.
"We keep it within reason of what they need. We try not to order too much or too little at a time," he says.
Dan, who has worked at General Stores for the past 25 years, has lived in Iowa City all his life. But he has made many stops along the way. "I've been a runner for 25 years," he says. "I've run 20 marathons." He ran the Boston Marathon in 1988 and still runs 50 miles a week.
His daughter, Sarah, 22, often runs with him. But his son, Tom, 18, has taken after his father in another way, with his love for baseball. Dan and Tom used to travel to Oklahoma for Tom's championship baseball games when Tom was young. "I've been a Yankee fan since I was a little kid delivering newspapers and Mickey Mantle was hitting homeruns," Dan says.
Dan still loves baseball and still delivers the newspaper. He wakes up at 3:10 a.m. every morning to deliver the Gazette. "It gets me up in the morning," he says.
When Dan is not out running, watching baseball games or delivering newspapers, he spends his free time with his wife, Deb, his children, his dogs, Tapper, a yellow Lab, and Thurmon, a black Lab, and his cat, Ramona. He also enjoys listening to alternative country music singers like Terry Allen.
Keep Dan in mind the next time your light bulb burns out or you read the Gazette; there is a very busy man behind all those products you use every day.
Virginia Leupold
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PRINTING DEPARTMENT
Office copier customers: Let us know of service problems
If your department owns, leases, or rents an office copier and your vendor does not deal with maintenance or service problems to your satisfaction, contact the Printing Department. We can help.
The department oversees the acquisition of office copiers by the University. As part of this service, each fiscal year we receive pricing for maintenance and rental, which we route to the departments for acceptance or cancellation. Our involvement brings us into frequent contact with vendors, sometimes on a daily basis, and we can address problems if we are made aware of them.
After receiving a few complaints about copier maintenance, we began keeping a log to find out if there are other problems. We especially want to know if there are violations of maintenance contracts or problems with particular machines.
We also intend to distribute a survey asking about the maintenance and service of office copiers on campus. Look for it later this fall, during the second quarter (October through December).
Allow time for bidding process when planning SPOs
When planning publications, allow time for us to take bids on jobs that will be sent to a vendor for printing.
State law requires the Printing Department to take bids on jobs it does not print in-house, and those that will cost more than $5,000 must be sent to the state printing office in Des Moines for bid requests. This process can take as much as two weeks. So, to avoid unneccessary delays, the request for bids should be made well before the job is ready to be printed.
This requires thinking ahead. Your first step should be to decide the job's specifications, because this is the information vendors use to bid on the printing. How many pieces will be printed? On what paper? How many pages? How many ink colors? Will you use photos? How many? Will you expect the vendor to scan them or will you do it yourself? What kind of cover and binding do you want? How will the order be packaged?
Make these decisions first, and printers will be able to bid on your job while you are working on it. Then, when you're ready to print, your printing vendor will be ready, too.
Printing Department receives award
The Printing Department won a third-place award in a printing competition for Poligram, a newsletter published by Political Science. Poligram, was designed and produced at the Printing Department. Entries are judged on printing definition, ink coverage, registration, design, typography, degree of difficulty, and overall excellence.
The annual competition is sponsored by the International Publishing Management Association, an organization of in-plant printing managers.
Just your type: Novarese typeface blends old, new
This typeface, created by European type designer Aldo Novarese for a Swiss foundry, blends classic and contemporary elements. The form and proportion of the characters reflect traditional typeface design, while the enlarged x-height gives it a new twist. The upper-case italic characters are vertical, not slanted. According to the International Typeface Corporation, it "can be used for large amounts of text that require distinction and style without a loss of readability. Its style comes from its graceful curves and finely chiseled serifs. The contrast between its thick and thin strokes is noticeable but not extreme." It was licensed by ITC in 1980.
For more information, check the ITC Web site.
Include Nondiscrimination Statement on printed material
Those who use desktop publishing to produce their own publications at the UI are responsible for including the University's
nondiscrimination statement on the appropriate items. Federal regulations require the use of the statement in all departmental publications such as brochures, pamphlets, manuals, and guidebooks that describe or invite participation in programs at the University, according to the Office of Affirmative Action.
The Printing Department monitors inclusion of the statement on publications that it typesets. It does not do so for publications that are camera ready, but will notify customers if its staff find the statement is missing in the course of processing a camera-ready order. However, correcting the oversight at that stage can mean delays and extra costs. Contact the Office of Affirmative Action, 335-0705, for more information.
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We are . . .
Business Services: Central Mail System, Laundry Service, Materials Management, and the Printing Department, serving The University of Iowa. Into Print is distributed free and on request to UI faculty, staff, and students.
Contributors: Business Services: Virginia Leupold; Central Mail: Lou Eichler; Materials Management: Gary Anderson.
Editor: Jenean Arnold, jenean-arnold@uiowa.edu, 384-3723, 101 CBSB
The University of Iowa Nondiscrimination Statement
The University of Iowa prohibits discrimination in employment and in its educational programs and activities on the basis of race, national origin, color, creed, religion, sex, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or associational preference. The University also affirms its commitment to providing equal opportunities and equal access to University facilities. For additional information on nondiscrimination policies, contact the Coordinator of Title IX, Section 504, and the ADA in the Office of Affirmative Action; phone 319/335-0705 (voice), or 319/335-0697 (text); The University of Iowa, 202 Jessup Hall, Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1316.
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