[Top of page]

Responsible for printing, assembling, binding, and distributing construction plans for the University, the Center maintains a link between Design and Construction Services (DCS) and architects, who create the plans, and the contractors who bid on them. Producing and distributing the plans are no small task.

Plans are developed electronically and sent over the Web to the printer at the Wide Media Center. There, Printing staff take them through the final stages of production. "We start at 60 and go up from there. For CBRB (Carver Biomedical Research Building), we sent out more than 300 sets," says Sandie Herwig, manager for the Center. Each set of plans includes architectural drawings, a construction manual, and a cover letter. The drawings may cover construction, electrical, plumbing, interiors, and landscape plans.

The plans create a number of challenges, not the least of which is finding space for the hand collating, jogging, and binding processes. Every available table, desk, and countertop may be obscured during assembly. The manuals, sometimes as much as 500 to 600 pages, are printed on one of the department's DocuTechs and assembled in its bindery, then sit in tall stacks awaiting distribution.

DCS notifies the public through newspapers and its website when plans are available. Contractors either pick them up at the Wide Media Center or ask to have them shipped. "Sometimes they just come in shopping," says Herwig. "They can look at the plans here. A subcontractor, especially, might come in to see if they are interested."

In addition to contractors, those who create the files or are directly concerned with a project, such as departments that will occupy a building or Safety and Security, receive copies of the plans.

Central Mail is often drawn into the distribution loop when it helps with shipping the plans. "We're the final part of the puzzle. We process their data, put on the labels, and hand them over to UPS. We are at the end of many steps," says Central Mail manager Chris Kula. "We're more than happy to help them as best we can. It fits into our window of work."

Contractors are asked to return the plans to the Wide Media Center, where they are stored. Some are used as construction documents and others recycled when they are no longer needed.

In recent weeks the Center has printed or is working on plans for the Art, Carver Biomedical Research, and Journalism buildings; Athletics Learning and Honors centers; Athletic Hall of Fame; Burge Hall remodeling; Center of Excellence in Image Guided Radiation Therapy (at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics); and Old Capitol restoration.

While DCS is the primary customer for the Wide Media Center, some departments use it for smaller projects such as making copies of materials and producing black-and-white posters and banners. The best results come from enlargements of 8.5x11 originals with primarily line art or text, although it is possible to work from originals as small as 4.5x5.5 inches and up to 36 inches. Finished copies can be as large as 36 inches wide and 100 feet long. Screens or large areas of solid coverage do not reproduce well on the scanner.

If you are interested in using the Wide Media Center or need more information, contact Janet Wieland or Sandie Herwig. You may use a standard University requisition form or a standing account (m-number) at the Center. Contact the Printing Department accounting office to establish a standing account.

University Relations Publications, which designed and implemented the system, established a six-month transition period during which the previous design may be used on request. After March 15, only the new design will be printed. However, OUR staff say that units will not be asked to discard letterhead or other printed materials that have the old logo on them.

During this implementation period, the Printing Department will send orders for stationery using departmental logos to University Relations for review before printing them. "Many logos already in use may continue to be used. New logos will be reviewed by a group of staff members convened by the Office of the Vice President for Research and External Relations," says Lesanne Fliehler, director of publications at University Relations.

The process of ordering stationery remains the same for Printing Department customers. The only difference is a new look to the end product. Send us the following:
- Samples or mockups of the item and the information you want us to print.
- A completed requisition containing a valid MFK number, previous job number if a reprint, and a list of items that you want to be printed. The job number is especially important: we use it to locate and discard it your previous order so that the information is not reprinted in error. If you want to save a phone call, write "new identity" or "new logo" on the requisition.

The Printing Department and General Stores will use all UI watermark paper in stock but will not reorder it. A suggestion has been made to stock templates and preprinted items, but neither department is doing so at this time.

University Relations has opened a website with information about the graphic identity system. The site contains a standards manual, sample letterhead layouts, a page of questions and answers, and pdf files of the logo and wordmark for people to use on publications they produce.

Contact your Printing Department customer service representative to order stationery. Contact Lesanne Fliehler at University Relations Publications, 384-0042, for answers to questions about the new logo and wordmark.

The Printing Department website has been reorganized. While the home page remains in the same location, many other pages have moved or been added. Please change any bookmarks you have set.

Staff development class
Introduction to General Stores and Online Ordering: Information about General Stores, MIGS, SIGS. The class will be held Wednesday, November 20, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Contact Judy Rockafellow for information about content of the class. Check the Staff Development website for information about registration.

On-site training, education
DocuTech publishing system: Training and assistance for creating, saving, and sending files to the DocuTech publishing system. Contact Tim Blake, department information specialist, at IMU Document Center.
Printing Department on-campus calls: Presentations to inform the campus community of the department's capabilities and services. Contact Diane Thomas, customer service representative, at Printing.

[Top of page]

For UNI mail workers, the transition includes greater time constraints. Mail pick ups that had spanned an entire day must now take place in the morning so that a presort service can pick up the mail in Cedar Falls and deliver it to UI Central Mail in Iowa City early in the afternoon.

"We've had to revamp the routes. We structured them so that our employees collect and return the mail in time for the pick up," says assistant director of the UNI physical plant Bill McKinley, who is in charge of campus services.

For UI Central Mail, there is more mail to process. "It's a good 65 percent increase in volume over what we originally projected," says manager Chris Kula. There are also people to train. Mail functions still conducted at UNI are the processing of incoming and campus mail and preparing outgoing mail. Kula works with UNI employees on the latter.

"I coordinate with Chris Kula on a regular basis," says McKinley. "He works with some of our departments directly. They communicate address files to him. He helps them set up address files and lay out printed material. So far, things have gone remarkably well."

"Things are going out in a timely fashion, UNI is saving money. I've been very pleased," says Kula.

Return service requested
Return Service Requested tells the Postal Service to return the mail to you and is the most cost-effective endorsement. When you use it, the Postal Service returns First-Class and Standard mail and gives the reason for nondelivery. There are no additional fees for returning First-Class mail, but any applicable postage is charged for Standard mail.

Address service requested
Address Service Requested tells the Postal Service to forward the mail to the addressee for twelve months following a move. You will receive a separate notice of the new address and be charged a fifty-cent address correction fee for First-Class and Standard mail. After twelve months or if the piece is undeliverable, the Postal Service returns the mail to you at no charge, with the new address or the reason for nondelivery attached on First-Class mail. It charges the weighted fee for Standard mail.

[Top of page]

Contract pricing, measuring effectiveness
The first strategy is purchasing bulk wash chemicals at contract pricing to help lower costs, then measuring the effectiveness of each chemical used. Chemical effectiveness is measured by performing regular linen inspection during processing and completing periodic washroom formula chemical analysis (titration). The validity of this data is important because linen quality should never be sacrificed to achieve a lower operating cost.

Regular washing formula checks, which are performed monthly, involve measuring the pH level of linens during processing. Employees evaluate and sort soiled linen by product type and stain or soil level per washing machine load prior to cleaning to assure the best quality performance from the more than 67 washing formulas in use.

The actual pH check is a brief test at various stages of the wash-dry-storage process. This pH test is a valuable tool for any laundry: too much or too little chemical affects the hygienic quality and life cycle of the linen processed. For instance, health-care linens require a neutral pH (5.6 to 6.0 on the pH scale) to avoid patient rashes and bedsores.

Routine monthly titration analysis of washing formulas also assures that there is no chemical residue which can affect water absorbency left in the linen -- an important condition to avoid for towels, mops, bed pads, and bath blankets which must remain absorbent. Visual checks for stains or damage are made when folding the linen and filling customer orders. Any problems noted are acted upon quickly to avoid loss of quality.

A monthly routine titration measures the amount of a chemical used and how that chemical is performing or cleaning the linen. Each chemical serves a different purpose in the wash process: alkali dissolves or removes soils and stains; detergents loosen and penetrate soil and grease and hold minute soil particles in suspension in the water molecules, preventing redeposition of soil back on to the linen; bleach disinfects and sanitizes plus removes stains on white linens; a souring agent controls the finished pH and iron levels and also neutralizes any alkali or bleach chemicals failing to rinse from the linens; and a softener gives a soft feel to the linen and controls static electricity.

When a complete titration is performed at each stage of a wash formula, the data recorded is used to map a course for possible changes. Wash formulas are affected by water quality and may need to be adjusted to accommodate water quality changes, soil content in the linen, changes in linen products, or changes in utility system support.

Collecting, using data in decision making
The second strategy used at UI Laundry Services to reduce the cost of wash chemicals utilizes all data collected to make effective decisions. Record keeping is key to understanding past and present washroom chemistry results and where necessary changes can be made to improve washing results. When any part of a laundry formula is adjusted (chemical, water level, temperature, time, load weight, soil level), the results must be reviewed to ensure that linen quality and chemical costs are not affected adversely. If the alkali (dissolves and removes soils and stains) is reduced without checking results of that change, negative results like increased stains or above normal rewash rates might occur. This condition can increase labor and chemical costs.

Every month a detailed service report, titration reports, and a consumption and inventory report are completed by our chemical supplier technical service person on each of the UI Laundry's ten washers. These are used to compare previous conditions and any changes made to evaluate the laundry's efficiency. Additionally, these reports are used to compare the UI laundry to similar institutional laundries for best use of supplies and cost control. Washroom chemical cost analysis reports, in conjunction with other business activity reports, provide the critical measure for successful control of chemical costs in a laundry operation.

Washing chemical costs at the UI Laundry Service are very low compared to the industry norm for fluid pump injection systems due to a commitment by the laundry staff, the chemical supplier technical support specialist, and management's record keeping. Together these make cost control possible and achievable.

Is it possible to lower costs even further than today's 78 cents per cwt? Perhaps not, but employee diligence and regular monthly checks and reviews of washroom activity to find those areas where improvement may be possible may achieve that end.
Dave Gray, Jo Anne Worley, Bob Baker
Baker is a laundry efficiency specialist with Ecolab, Inc.

[Top of page]

Every one-cent per ream increase means we spend about $3,600 per year more on paper. So, while three cents per ream is not much, the resulting overall increase in costs to the University could be more than $10,000 per year. Our Board of Regents' paper contract with Xerox helps keep such costs in check by limiting the quarterly increase. In addition, a decrease in price during a given quarter is put into effect immediately. Many times the contract has saved us from absorbing the entire mill-to-supplier price increase.
Gary Anderson

The inventory, says Pat, consists of 6,038 items: electrical, plumbing, hardware, carpentry, refrigeration, key shop, sheet metal, and tools. After all these years, he knows them well. "It's pretty bad when you have stock numbers memorized!" he says.

What Pat most likes about his job is the people. "I wouldn't want to work for any other manager than Gary [Anderson]. I couldn't find a better boss to work for. He's done a lot for all our guys down here," he says. Pat is equally appreciative of his coworkers. "I have learned a lot through the tradespeople who work here. I've made a lot of friends."

One of these friends, Bob Cozine, helped motivate Pat to return to hunting. At first it was deer; recently he began to practice for pheasant hunting. "I've started shooting trap. That's the first step."

Pat's wife, Emily, is a computer specialist at VA. Their immediate family consists of a blue-and-gold macaw, Mango, who speaks about 75 phrases, and two miniature dachsunds, Hunter and Merlyn. Previously they owned two bassett hounds.

Cooking, learned from his grandmother, is another of Pat's interests. "My brothers would go out and tinker around with my grandfather, and I'd be in the house cooking with Grandma." He further developed his skills during his junior- and senior-high school years in his first job, at Sirloin Stockade. Later he worked for master chefs at the Greenbrier restaurant and the Ironmen Inn, and he began his career at UI as a cook at the hospital.

His present culinary interest is barbecued ribs. He used a family reunion last year to work on his technique by cooking 90 pounds of baby-back ribs -- all hand rubbed -- and ten dozen ears of corn. For the reunion next year, in Pensacola, Florida, he will be in charge of a shrimp boil. Dinner, anyone?

[Top of page]

A blueline -- blue images on cream-colored paper -- is made by placing film over photosensitive paper and exposing it to light. The images are always blue, regardless of the ink color you have chosen for your publication. If you are using more than one ink color, the darker or more vivid color will appear on the blueline as a darker or more intense blue. Likewise, the lighter color will appear on the blueline as a lighter blue. Checking the color breaks on a blueline means looking for changes in the intensity of the blue color.

Our prepress employees try to mark the color breaks on bluelines for items printed in two or more colors. If you are concerned about the color or have had trouble reading bluelines, be sure to ask us to do this. You may also ask for a color-separated blueline proof. This is more expensive than a standard proof, however.

More than 50 percent of blueline proofs return to us marked for changes, and at least half of those are avoidable by making changes at the laser-proof stage. Use the following guidelines for proofing:

Use laser proofs to
- decide where to place articles, photos, and graphics;
- check spelling and facts, i.e. names, addresses, and dates; and
- edit for punctuation and usage.

Use blueline proofs to
- check photo placement if we replace low-resolution scans with high-resolution versions;
- see that all type is visible and none has been obscured in building the flats;
- make sure the order of page numbers is correct;
- inspect the location of colors to be sure they are correctly specified; and
- identify and point out inadvertent marks such as dust specks.
Any other use of bluelines means your department spends more than it should on printing.

It's convenient: send your material to our DocuTech digital publishing system, and we'll scan any hard copy and merge it with the electronic files, burn supplementary CDs, digitally archive the entire document (which we will recall for revisions on request), print, and bind it -- all on line.

With two locations operating a night shift, we are able to turn your order around quickly. We'll print updated material on demand, enabling you to provide students with the most current information available. Health sciences faculty find this especially useful when medical and surgical procedures change.

Sending files electronically from your desk to the system is simple; our staff can teach you how to do this at no extra charge. Contact Document Services' manager Marge Kline, 384-3717, or information technology support specialist Tim Blake, 335-2944, for more information.

[Top of page]

We are . . .