Business Services
Spring 2008
Business Services
Spring 2008
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Equipment Rental | General Stores | Laundry | Mail Services | Parking & Transportation | Print Services | Surplus 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 departments, their staffs, and their clients. IN THIS ISSUE
General news Equipment Rental General Stores Laundry Service Mail Services Parking and Transportation Print Services Surplus View PDF version of this issue
NEWS BRIEFS Go to usps.com/prices for all USPS mailing services prices, links to downloadable pricing files, and additional information. Mike Wilson |
TypeStrikesfrom our typo treasure chestMedications may affect your frelexes. |
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GENERAL NEWS "We're lucky to have both printing and mailing in the same building. We've got the right facility, the right people," says Gary Anderson, associate director of Business Services. "We're doing it for efficiency and to improve customer service. It can take several phone calls and several requisitions for a customer to complete a job, and we're hoping to do it in one step." Anderson will continue to provide administrative oversight for UI Print and Mail Services as well as for General Stores, Equipment Rental, and Surplus. "We're going to make it possible for customers to work with us as one unit, instead of having several contacts for their print/mail orders," says Kula. "We are going to do more cross training and create a more efficient work flow as well." A reorganization of the plant floor is already under way. New equipment is part of transition, too. The department is in the process of acquiring a new press, as well as working on prepress and bindery improvements. "We're getting rid of antiquated equipment. One new press will replace several old ones. We will have computer-to-plate technology, which will allow us to begin catching up with the industry," says Anderson. "This also gives us the opportunity to put more emphasis on the color digital press and variable data printing. It's the way the industry is going - full color, short run, quick turnaround." Software that will support the reorganized structure is among the long-term goals. Currently several systems are in place to meet various needs, but a more compact, consolidated system would improve the work flow. "We're getting rid of archaic processes, too" says Kula. "We'll be a one-stop shop. We want customers to use us because we're easy, and not have them wondering what to do next at every step. We want to be able to offer them new ways of thinking about their orders, with more options, new opportunities." Anderson says a goal for employees is for the printing staff to learn more about mail and the mailing staff to learn more about print - and how it all fits together. "Printing and mailing go together like peanut butter and jelly," says Kula. "It's all one big flow. If you take them separately, printing is good and mailing is good, but together they're better." Copy Centers General Stores Parking & Transportation Print & Mail Services Mail processed by 3:30 p.m. Monday, June 30, will be charged in fiscal year '08. Please send us mailings as early in the day as possible. MFK number: a 40-digit University of Iowa account number. It is required on UI requisition forms. M-number: a 4-digit number preceded by the letter "M." It is a standing order number used for Copy Center work, large poster printing, and color digital imaging. A one-time requisition to the Printing Department is needed to establish one. Contact the Print & Mail Services accounting office to establish an M-number. Fleet Services McKenzie Johnson, Ryan Madden General Stores Jeff Althaus, Brandon Gardner, Aaron Proctor Mail Services Kelen Eddy, Bart Scagnelli, Tina Edwards, Ashley Anderson Parking Facilities Michelle Baker, Matt Casidy,
Shana Drahn, Laura Feehan, Kevin Flaherty, Thomas Fullmer, Parking Field Services Scott Lundgren Parking Services Billy Blake, Zach Gulick, Stephanie Lamb EQUIPMENT RENTAL GENERAL STORES Well, maybe it could. It may be a great convenience to order a ten-cent box of paper clips, but there is a financial and ecological cost involved in placing small orders. Our contract with OfficeMax offers additional discounts when the average order size exceeds certain levels. Currently our average order is $107. If we could get that up to $150, we would be able to save an additional one percent. Now, that may not seem like much, but when you extend that one percent over the contract year, the total savings would be over $30,000. And if we could reach a $200 average order size, the savings would exceed $45,000 annually. There are environmental savings, too. Less cardboard is used for packaging. Fewer deliveries are made, saving time, fuel, and wear and tear on trucks. Less paperwork is generated, and there are fewer individual Pcard transactions to reconcile. To make it easier to hold and later continue shopping, use the OfficeMax
web Pcard ordering system. For more details on Pcard ordering please contact Matt Ehn, our
dedicated OfficeMax representative, at 384-3908 (mattehn@officemax.com).
LAUNDRY SERVICE Developing a video to be used by temporary agencies that demonstrates the type of work and work environment is another goal of the training project. This will include training materials in Spanish for temporary employees not completely fluent in English. "We hope the video will help temporary employment agencies provide better screening of applicants, to find those more compatible with laundry work," says Laundry manager Dave Gray. "Reducing turnover is a desired outcome." The Laundry Service has provided training in Spanish to temporary employees, using an interpreter and assistance from the temporary employment agencies, for some years. "Producing these training programs in Spanish and using a computerized training approach is a big time saver and a more efficient way to provide training," says Gray. Jane Gressang, Human Resources, and the Health Protection Office are also involved in the effort. Marin will report on his study to Laundry manager Dave Gray, with recommendations on ways to help reduce the physical demands on staff during the performance of their duties. Repetitive motion activities, such as lifting and bending from the waist and reaching overhead, are common physical activities that the staff perform throughout the work day. A goal of the evaluation is to discover new ways staff can perform their work activities with assistance from a mechanical application or by changing their work methods. "One of the most important goals associated with an ergonomic approach to work activities is minimizing the risk of injury to staff," says Gray. "I was very excited when Dr. Cook requested that Mr. Marin complete a practicum at the Laundry Service. How fortunate for the Laundry to benefit from their expertise, and what a wonderful example of a positive collaboration between the academic side of campus and the support services." MAIL SERVICES Her experience covers a full range of printing and mailing, "from VDP [variable data printing] to ten-color annual reports," she says. "For the last 30 years, my client base has included the University of Iowa. Now I'm working here with many of the same people." Kathy lives in Marion with her husband of 34 years, Al, a circulation manager at The Gazette. One of their daughters, Ellen, is a UNI student. The other, Sarah, teaches in Tuscon, Arizona. She and her husband are expecting their first baby in June. By then, this new-to-UI manager should have accumulated enough vacation for the new grandma to visit the brand-new baby. PARKING & TRANSPORTATION
The Parking Office in the Iowa Memorial Union Ramp is getting a facelift this spring. Staff will relocate to 868 South Capitol St. during the renovation. All telephone numbers and emails will remain the same, as will the office hours: 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays, except Tuesdays, when it is open from 8 to 4:15. The ramp itself will be open for parking during the renovation. The office will be closed on the day of the move, Thursday, April 17, but the Hospital Ramp 2 Parking Office will be open. Its hours are 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. The temporary site will open for business on Friday, April 18. The renovation is in response to a 2005 Parking and Transportation unit review which included a recommendation to improve the Parking Office, addressing the customer experience and employee work environment. It is the first major renovation for the office since it moved to the ramp in 1978. Over the years the office has seen new carpet, new paint, partitions installed, partitions removed, the reception counter relocated, and the furniture rearranged - several times. But this project will bring the most dramatic changes so far. Old typewriter desks will be replaced with new work stations, outdated fixtures will be replaced with efficient lighting, and the reception counter will be replaced to be more customer friendly. The reception area will also include a computer kiosk to make online student vehicle and bus pass registration more convenient. A heating, ventilating, and air conditioning system will be installed to circulate fresh air throughout the office. Currently the air is recirculated. The renovations are to begin April 22, with completion scheduled for the week of August 8. The staff anticipates being back at the IMU Ramp before fall semester begins. However, the IMU South Room has been reserved for Parking Office use should there be delays. This will allow the staff to be on campus and available for students' questions and purchases of parking permits and bus passes. The temporary office is on South Capitol Street between the railroad
overpass and Benton Street. Free customer parking is available for people conducting business
there. Also, the Cambus east campus shuttle has a stop about three blocks away, at University
Services Building/Lot 11. The postal address for the temporary site is 100 South Capitol Services
Building, 868 South Capitol St., Iowa City, Iowa 52242. The Campus Mail address is 100 SCSB.
Contact the office at 335- 1475 or parking-office@uiowa.edu for more information.
Map
The study also showed there has been a net increase of 1,769 bicycle parking spaces since 1993. More parking space has certainly contributed to the increased number of properly parked bicycles, but what may have had a larger effect was that approximately 3,000 of the 3,170 original spaces in 1993 have been replaced with higher quality racks that are secured to paved sites and in more desirable locations. One surprising result of the study was that the number of bicycles parking on campus has not changed significantly in fourteen years. The 1993 count was 2,088 bicycles and the 2007 count was 2,194 (an increase of 106 bicycles, or 5%). This is surprising given population growth, improvements in the network of community trails, and the current decline in campus automobile parking by students. Parking and Transportation is pleased with the bicycle parking improvements and will continue to focus on upgrading racks, placing racks in more desirable locations, encouraging bicycle registration, and enforcing bicycle regulations. To view the complete bicycle parking study go to
www.uiowa.edu/~commprog/Bicycle_Study_2007.pdf.
PRINT SERVICES
It wasn't long before she was hired as manager, a position she held for 35 years. When she began there were five Centers. Eventually the number grew to eleven. As electronic technology and networking emerged, the lower volume Centers were closed. Today there are again five Copy Centers at UI. "I bought my first Xerox photocopier in 1980. It didn't have electronic technology. It did reductions and enlargements but was slower," says Marge. "I thought, 'No way could a Xerox replace an offset press.' But when I did my annual report I found it did save money." She was good at multitasking from the start, with an extra-long phone cord to conduct business while running the press. "Once the cord got caught in the flywheel of the press - that was unnerving," she says. "But we had good times. When I was hired at the Copy Center, I'd planned on working there a year or two. I never got around to looking for another job." Marge learned the value of hard work growing up on a farm in West Des Moines, where she rode horses and worked as her dad's hired hand. "I started driving a tractor when I was 9-years old," she says. Later she worked in the State House, for the highway patrol, and met her husband, Don, through a coworker. He was working for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, from which he retired last year. Both antique buffs, Marge and Don frequent auctions and estate sales, finding stock for the shop in Kalona which they've maintained for about 25 years. They plan to do much more of it in retirement; expanding their hunting grounds to cover more of the midwest is part of their plan. Marge says she also will work part time and "get organized at home." Sounds like she'll be busier than ever. "I really love working here. I like the environment, the people I work with. We're a tight-knit little group. We're all from the same area and know a lot of the same people," she says. The positive atmosphere goes beyond the copy center, she says. "It's the whole building. I get along great with everyone who works here." Tracy and two student employees cover the evening shift. "I love my students. They're really helpful and have caught on quickly. We do extracurricular activities with our students, like getting together for pizza parties," she says. When not working, Tracy enjoys time with her son, 2-year-old Ryan. "We like to go to the park - that's our favorite thing to do," she says. "We went this morning with Grandpa, and we had a blast!" They all live in the Riverside area, making it easy for them to get together. Tracy shares a home with her sister, Tonia Laing, who works in Medical Records. Their mom, Marlo Laing, is in Human Resources, and dad Mike in Public Safety. "We're a University family all the way around," says Tracy. Her two cats, Little Miss (Ryan calls her Girlie) and Bo, round out the family. In her spare time Tracy makes greeting cards using stamping and embossing, and does stenciling, cross stitch, and embroidery. "Sometimes I can be a couch potato in the winter. I love to watch movies - anything with Johnny Depp," she says. "Summertime will get me out. I love working in my flower beds. I also like to ride my motorcycle. It's a 250 Honda Rebel. Speed's not my thing; getting out and enjoying the ride is. And I like to play croquet and bocce ball." "Reading is my passion. I love reading to Ryan." Her own taste leans toward mystery, with the Women's Murder Club series, Steven King, and Dean Koontz as favorites. "I'm a busy homebody who does a lot of things in a small amount of time. That's why I feel like my life's so crazy," says Tracy. "One of these days I'll find time to sit and do nothing!" SURPLUS The Lesson: do not store old computers. Send them to Surplus as soon as you're finished with them. Most can be resold, to individuals and organizations who find them perfectly adequate for their needs. You will free up storage space and enable the University to recover some costs. Gary Anderson WE LIKE FEEDBACK!Story ideas: Are there topics we haven't covered that you would like to see in our newsletter? Do you have questions you would like us to address? Send an e-mail to jenean-arnold@uiowa.edu or a memo to Into Print, 126C MBSB. Address corrections and additions:
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Business Services: Central Mail, Equipment Rental, General Stores, Laundry, Parking & Transportation, Printing, and Surplus, serving The University of Iowa community. The print version of Into Print is distributed free and on request to UI faculty, staff, and students. Contributors to this issue Gary Anderson/Business Services, Stores, Surplus; Kathy Battin/Central Mail; Chris Kula/Central Mail, Copy Centers; Michelle Ribble/Parking and Transportation; Dave Gray, Jo Anne Worley/Laundry. Editor/web administrator: Jenean Arnold, phone 384-3723, jenean-arnold@uiowa.edu, 126C MBSB. |