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.

TypeStrikes

General news
Business Services meets UI's varied needs
Copy Centers' CQI team works on strategic plan, survey
Daily production meetings improve communications at Printing
Finnegan named interim director
DocuTech publishing system is up, running, and on line
Restructuring brings inevitable name changes
CBSB signs installed

Central Mail System
Nonprofit mailing status rules explained
Address quality speeds delivery

Laundry Service
Washex area: small space for a big job
Early laundry goes high tech

Materials Management
Surplus Stores a campus and community resource
Phone books available from General Stores
Character Counts: Meet Gary Anderson

Printing Department
Copy, offset, or laser print?
Folding, finishing can damage toner
Self-service copiers upgraded

We are . . .

Business Services directory

Monthly and bi-weekly payroll checks and deposit slips have been run using this program, which saves the University an additional $500 a month beyond the bulk-mailing discount it already receives. A $.09 per letter potential savings is attainable for some pieces. If you would like your address file run using Group 1, tell your ITS representative or call the ITS help desk at 335-6363.

Central Mail System
Campus Mail distributes information between campus departments and buildings and facilitates the distribution of U.S. mail.

Mail Service conducts large-volume mailing; offers folding, inserting, and labeling; and consults and assists with addressing that meets FCC, ICC, International Mail, and USPS requirements.

Publications Order Department distributes books and educational materials worldwide to individuals, institutions, retailers, and wholesalers; the inventory comes from a variety of publishers.

Materials Management
General Stores provides office supplies to the University through in-stock and vendor contract items and serves a central receiving function.

Maintenance Stores provides building and campus upkeep and maintenance materials.

Surplus Stores sells useable equipment that University departments no longer need.

Dispatch Services provides a courier primarily for Facilities Services.

Laundry Service
Uniform rental includes fitting, altering, mending, and processing items such as aprons, coats, shirts, pants, coveralls, dresses, pantsuits, and OSHA-approved protective wear.

Linen, sheet, and towel processing includes consultation on acquisition, distribution, and quality control.

Dust control service provides and processes mats, dust cloths, shop towels, and chemically treated mops.

Inventory control for garments uses barcode technology that was a first-in-the-nation program.

Printing Department
Conventional printing, prepress, and binding services include editing, design, typesetting, and proofreading.

Photocopying services are provided through satellite copy centers, color copier, self-service copiers, and office copier procurement.

Electronic publishing support includes high-resolution, color, and large-format output; print-on-demand with campus-wide network accessibility; a staff computer consultant, and customer education.

While the staff in the various Business Services units are responsible for a wide variety of functions, they all share a common goal of providing the best in customer service. They welcome their customers' comments, questions, and suggestions.

Technology is fast creating "the paperless society that has been talked about over the last 20 years," says Printing Department manager Lin Hartman. "We see it happening, at least in the University environment. There is an emphasis at the University to put as much as possible on computers." So, the centers need a strategy for responding to these changes in order to remain viable, he says.

The committee is developing a customer survey to gain information about the current needs for paper-based services and the expected future needs for alternatives to these services. This will be the best way to meet future needs, says Neil Bennett, an assistant director of ITS and committee member. UI copy center customers should expect to receive these surveys in late winter or early spring.

"General management, customer service, and preparation communicate with production to schedule the presses and keep them running," says production manager Stan Reuter. "It makes different areas of the plant more aware of production and what goes on there."

For example, if a particular press is idle, Reuter will identify a job scheduled to be printed on that press, and, depending on the job's location, ask the preparation staff to move it more quickly into production or the customer service staff to have it returned from the customer. There is more attention given to job scheduling, and due dates can be changed if necessary.

"It has been very beneficial, without a doubt. It gets more people involved in understanding what's going on," said Reuter.

The individualized training is offered in lieu of the classes that customers who attended introductory DocuTech presentations were told would be offered. Those classes will be scheduled later, pending a decision on additional software for the system.

In the meantime, if you have a job that you want to send to the DocuTech, contact Copy Centers' manager Marge Kline, 384-3717, DocuTech operator Tim Blake, 335-2699, or computer consultant Francis Fang, 384-3726. Any of them can help you get started.

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General rules for individual mailings state that the mailing must contain standard rate (formerly called third-class) material only. The mailing must consist of a minimum of 200 pieces or 50 pounds. Sorting and bundling according to postal standards is required, and the appropriate verification papers must accompany the mailing. Mail Service performs these required tasks for its customers.

The mailing must be the organization's own mail; it cannot contain products or advertising ineligible for mailing at the nonprofit rate. The authorized organization's name and return address must appear on the outside of the mailpiece or in a prominent place on the material itself.

Organizations can share the cost, risk, or benefit of a mailing if all participating organizations are authorized to mail at the special rates. For example, cooperative mailings between the University and the rest of the Big Ten schools may be unacceptable if not all of the other institutions hold a nonprofit status. An authorized organization may use a commercial agent or other unauthorized entity if a legitimate principal-agent relationship can be demonstrated.

Rules for determining eligibility to mail at nonprofit rates distinguish between products, and advertisements for products and services. Here are five criteria to examine as you determine the status of mailpieces.

1. If the mailpiece is a product, is it a low-cost item (did the mailer pay less than $6.56 for it), is it donated, or is it a periodical? (See #4.) If the answer to any of these questions is yes, it may qualify for nonprofit rates.

2. Does the mailpiece promote, offer, recommend, describe, or announce the availability of any product or service for a fee? If the answer is yes, it probably does not qualify. (See #5.)

3. If the mailpiece contains any advertisement for a credit or debit card, an insurance policy, or travel arrangements, it may not qualify for nonprofit rates.

4. To meet requirements for a periodical, the mailpiece must have a title; be formed of printed sheets; contain a statement that includes the title, issue date, frequency of publication, issue number, price, and name and address of the publishing organization; and consist of a minimum of 25 percent nonadvertising in each issue.

5. Advertised products and services must be substantially related to the organization's specific purpose, which was used to gain authorization to mail at the standard rate. There are many variations and exceptions for nonprofit mailings, so it is best to contact Mail Service at 384-3802 with specific questions regarding a particular mailing.
Patty Anson

If your department uses software that produces address barcodes as an option, please do not use the option. It probably is not the type of barcode you need to receive the discounted rates and may only confuse the OCR into routing your mailpiece to a slower, manual processing unit.

The OCR prefers machine-printed, upper-case letters and no punctuation other than the hyphen in the Zip+4 code. Scanning starts at the bottom of the envelope, so proper format and placement are critical for readability. Below is an illustration of the proper delivery address format. Especially helpful is to keep "attention to" or other extraneous information on the top line of the address. Dual addresses -- those with a street address and a P.O. box number -- are delivered to the location appearing on the lower of the two lines.

FEL01225-66H
(nonadress data, optional)
HARRY FELDMAN PRES
(information/attention, optional)
FELDMAN INSURANCE AGENCY
(recipient)
236 SUNSET AVE RM 101
(delivery address)
LOS ANGELES CA 90012-0001
(post office, state, ZIP+4)

All mailpieces must display a return address as well as the delivery address. Quality addressing results in quality service. Address placement, foreign address formats, and other quality standards will be discussed in future issues of Into Print.
Patty Anson

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Ninety percent of our nonhospital textiles are processed in a small, busy space known as the Washex area. Five "pocket" washers -- two 440-pounders, a 200-pound, a 100-pound, and a 50-pound load capacity -- are our workhorses.

Dubbed pocket washer because three to four separate pockets comprise each machine, they are loaded equally by weight for balance and thorough mechanical wash action. Each machine runs from eight to nine-and-a-half hours daily, five-and-a-half days a week. The pocket washers are labor intensive but designed for efficiency: they require constant attention but only one person is needed to run all five of them, with one additional person for loading and unloading.

The Washex area handles a mix of textiles routed from three sources -- uniform processing and check-in, bulk laundry classification area, and directly off the delivery trucks. Employees are trained to identify the different classes of textiles and process them accordingly. Soiled items are weighed, then classified by color, fabric type, or original source. For example, uniforms and mops are separated by color, tablecloths and sheets by fabric type, dental school fluid-resistant gowns by special care, and heavy soiling or stain by source, to ensure maximum sanitization.

Automated controls and a liquid chemical injection system were installed in the early 1990s, enhancing load quality. Twenty-two preprogrammed wash formulas geared to load size and textile classification guarantee uniformity in mechanical action. The automatic chemical injection pumps dispense precise quantities for each wash -- employees no longer have to handle caustic chemicals. The pocket washers plus automated controls plus automatic chemical injection equals an extended life cycle for the products laundered. This means we can maximize the finished quality of our customers' textiles.
Jo Anne Worley

The UI Laundry Service has a rich tradition of using state-of-the art technology to provide the University with the best quality services. This tradition goes back to the early 1920s, when the University purchased one of the first steam-heated dryers available in the laundry industry.

Iowa winters were not appreciated by the laundry worker who had to hang linens and garments on outside clotheslines, so the invention of the steam dryer was a big improvement. The steam-heated dryer made life a little more pleasant for laundry employees, but the process expedited the return of clean textiles so significantly that people lost jobs due to the machine's efficiency.

At the turn of the century, steam power was the common source of energy in most laundry operations. During this time period, a German-American named Mangle invented the steam-heated flatwork ironer. This eliminated the need for people to hand-iron sheets, pillowcases, and other items traditionally laid flat on an ironing board. The new invention cost people jobs and was very dangerous to operate, so employees were less than enthusiastic about its use. Many workers were seriously injured and some lost their life due to injuries sustained while working with the machine. Hence, the phrase mangled was coined and used to describe a serious injury. To this day, the term mangle is not used in reference to a flatwork ironing machine because it is too painful a reminder of the terrible working conditions of the past.
Dave Gray

Next: Post-war growth at UI moves Laundry Service toward mass production.

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To send items to surplus, first fill out a pink Surplus Removal form. Make sure the MFK number is valid, get the required signatures, list UI inventory tag numbers, and give a description and the location of the equipment you wish removed. Surplus normally removes the items within five working days or at your request.

After researching on- and off-campus markets for pricing and to locate potential buyers, items are sold through the store. Surplus credits the MFK number listed on the Surplus Removal form for 60 percent of the selling price on all items with a University inventory number that sell for more than $25.

Staff members on departmental business may visit by appointment. Items not requested by departments are available for sale to the general public on Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

University Surplus is located at 700 S. Clinton St. Call Joe Hennager at 335-5001 for more information. We look forward to working with you.
Gary Anderson

Gary grew up in Coralville and continues to live there with his wife Nancy, who teaches grades 5 and 6 at Roosevelt school in Iowa City, and their son Christopher, a senior at West High. Gary attended City High.

His interests include racquetball, volleyball, and softball (body permitting), Hawkeye sports, Civil War memorabilia, old movies, family history, and just playing with his Sheltie, Ginger. His volleyball team went four years without losing a game in Coralville's Sunday Night League, he says.

Gary was appointed materials manager last July 1. In this position, he manages General Stores, Maintenance Stores (formerly Physical Plant Stores), Dispatch Service, and Surplus Stores. Gary has been with the University for 12 years, most of that time as manager of Physical Plant Stores. He worked for one year on the MFIS project and enjoyed training many people on campus on how to use the new University requisition form.

Gary worked for area lumber and building supply companies before coming to work at the UI. "I feel that my retail experience has really helped me at the University. The customer service level that is expected and required in the retail environment should be just as important in the service departments of the University," he says. "I am enjoying my new position at General Stores and look forward to working with old and new friends around campus."
Judy Carmichael

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"There's not a magic number," says Printing Department customer service manager Kathleen Kennedy. "It depends in part on what kind of finishing is needed. It depends on the quantity and on what has to be done afterward. Sometimes the choice is not just cost or time, but both."

The Printing Department reviewed the costs of several jobs recently to examine whether the appropriate reproduction method -- photocopying or offset printing -- was used. While it is impossible to know all the circumstances of the orders, it was clear that the University spent more on photocopying than was necessary.

We examined 25 orders completed during a two-month period in early 1996 that were photocopied when they could have been printed offset. The total cost was $8,252.63. Had they been printed, they would have cost $5,243.81, a savings of $3,008.82, or 36 percent. The largest discrepancy was $827.59 and the smallest was $4.70. Most of the orders cost from 4 to 33 percent more to photocopy than to print, but a significant number were in the 51 to 70 percent range.

The difference in the costs of printing versus copying would be even greater now, because of last year's price increases at the copy centers. Where offset printing would have saved $3,008.82 at the time of the orders, the savings now would be $5,640.25.

The question of whether laser printers are used appropriately is relatively new, as printers that are marketed as production equipment have only recently appeared. However, the misuse of laser printers is a common problem throughout the college and university printing industry, Kennedy says. There are costs beyond those of paper and the machine, she says, including that of toner. Costs such as labor and software also have to be factored in, says Printing Department manager Lin Hartman. Also, the machines wear out more quickly when used for production, he says. Costs per copy aren't well known, he says, "but we are hearing numbers like $.09 to $.10 per copy."

The bottom line is, many factors determine how a job should be reproduced, including quantity, finishing, time, cost, and convenience. The Printing Department's customer service representatives can show you how these factors interact as you decide whether to print or photocopy a particular order. If you use a laser printer to produce your material, information such as this may help you make the right decisions.

Toner, a powder, sits on top of the paper and does not permeate it, as does oil-based ink. Heat hardens the toner and fuses it to the paper. Sometimes toner adheres to the opposite paper surface after it has been folded, much as it does when it comes in contact with vinyl. Also, the layer of toner can chip or flake off where it crosses folds.

Cracking and chipping happens to some extent on printed material, especially with pieces that have heavy ink coverage, but it is much more common on photocopies, says Stan Reuter, Printing Department production manager. The result can be unsightly, hard-to-read material.

Solutions to these problems include printing the material on offset presses whenever feasible and making sure that no images, including type, cross the folds on photocopies.

The heat fusion process in photocopying and laser printing creates another problem -- it dries the paper, causing the edges of sheets to curl. This can increase paper spoilage, because the paper does not feed through the machines properly, says Central Mail manager Lou Eichler. Either send extra copies to allow for spoilage, or use a heavier weight paper -- at least a 24-pound bond.

*They can operate any of the machines using magnetic credit and debit cards. The credit cards, for departmental use, replace PINs (personal identification numbers). Activity automatically ends when the card is removed from the copier, so clearing the machine is not necessary.

*The machines perform better than the old ones, resulting in better quality copies and fewer problems.

*The machines hold more paper, making longer runs with less frequent loading possible. The cards are available at Copy Center 6, in Hardin Library, and Copy Center 8, in the Main Library. Call Copy Centers' manager Marge Kline, 384-3717, for more information.

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We are . . .