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
Staff members volunteer to spruce up grounds
Consolidated Business Services aims to improve
Managers busy with spring meetings
Staff Celebration Day offers outreach opportunities
Recycled paper contract proposals in review

Central Mail System
USPS changes rates for special services
Character Counts: Meet Rhonda Wetjen

Laundry Service
Hot work, but Laundry keeps its cool
FSG shirts on hold for logo
Cost, chemistry, conscience enter Laundry picture in 1970s

Materials Management
Maintenance Stores keeps University humming
Additional BT rep to work at UI
Use MIGS for General Stores orders
Materials Management plans uniforms for staff
Stores operations merge
New location for Surplus

Printing Department
Send files electronically for color output
Fall staff development classes planned
Publication awards announced
Printing Department staff members retire
Big Ten printing conference to meet in Iowa City

We are . . .

Business Services directory

The group formed just over two years ago to clean up Consolidated Business Services Building and the surrounding grounds for a Printing Department open house. Just before it organized, says proofreader and committee member Linda Fisher, she had decided to paint and plant flowers around a railing near the driveway. "Do you know the bumper sticker, 'Commit random acts of kindness. . . ?'" she asks. "We take it seriously."

The project really took off after the committee was established. Members have recruited other staff to help with labor-intensive work such as removing tree stumps, tilling, and other soil preparation. Together, they have installed 160 feet of edging, planted three trees, started four perennial beds, and planted and maintained 230 square feet of annuals.

The department purchases some of the plants, but committee members have donated many perennials from their home gardens: peonies, lilies, daisies, phlox, carnations, coral bells, hen-and-chicks, hostas, columbines, iris, a wide variety of ground covers, and, inadvertently, a few strawberry plants fill the beds. A river birch is waiting in the wings.

Another contribution came in the form of several bushels of homemade mulch, from the garden of committee member Marge Kline, copy centers' manager.

In addition to Fisher and Kline, current committee members are Rose Cash, an accounting clerk, and John Gilbert, customer service representative and committee chair. "We each bring certain stengths to the team. Some of us are good at clearing the area, others at conceptualizing the design," says Fisher.

Cash once majored in horticulture and has especially enjoyed the design side of the project. The front of the building, where the main entrance is, needs to be "showy," she says. It is that, with rows of brightly colored annuals lining the sidewalk.

Gilbert, who says he is a nongardener and "is basically there for grunt work and to facilitate," claims that "The only words I've recognized so far are petunia, geranium, and manure." The major goal for this year is to have things looking good for the Big Ten printing conference the department is hosting this fall, he says. Plans include adding plantings around one of the building signs and terracing a perennial bed that sits on a steep slope.

While the group does hold planning meetings during working hours, all the labor, which includes buying plants and materials, preparing the soil, planting, and maintenance, occurs on their own time, says Cash. "It's never ending. We have to go out and water, weed. Everybody contributes."

"We need beauty," says Fisher. "We want to present the nicest possible, most welcoming face to visitors."

One of the changes that has had a direct impact on all of us was the creation of Consolidated Business Services (CBS), which brought together Central Mail System, Laundry Service, Materials Management, and the Printing Department as one unit.

As a member of the Quality Management Board for finance and university services, I was aware and supportive of the changes that led to the consolidation of these business services. I'm very proud of the strides they have already made to consolidate deliveries and pickups and lessen the inventories we maintain.

We all are excited about the CBS building's loading dock improvements that are being made in preparation for General Stores' relocation to this site. I am pleased that we are progressing well on Laundry Service's new building at Oakdale, where our laundry staff will soon be enjoying a facility with state-of-the-art equipment.

As we approach the future as a business services team with the advantage of new facilities, I believe we can continue to accomplish our FUS mission of providing continuously improving services.
Mary Jane Beach

Mary Jane Beach is director of Business Services and assistant vice president for finance and university services.

Gary Anderson, Materials Management, and Lou Eichler, Central Mail, participated in the 1997 Administrative Institute sponsored by the Office of Finance and University Services. Also attending were 28 other UI staff members representing almost all major areas of the University.

The week-long institute provides faculty and staff administrators an opportunity to enhance their leadership skills and gain insights into University issues that affect their units. Presenters not only represented various University departments, but also included individuals from outside the UI community. Eichler also presented Customer Service on the Web at the National Postal Forum in New Orleans.

The Printing Department was represented at two different events. Lin Hartman attended the International Publishing Management Association's annual conference in Reno, Nevada, and accepted three plaques that were awarded for publications produced by the department. Marge Kline attended DocuWorld97, designed to help the printing and copying industry respond to technological changes. It was held in Chicago.

Jerry Miller, Laundry Service, attended CLEAN '97 in Las Vegas. This was an educational conference sponsored by the National Association of Institutional Linen Management. Miller is a district director for NAILM and was a state delegate at the national linen managers' meeting.

The event gave staff from Central Mail and Printing a chance to meet many of their customers. There were also opportunities to explain in depth the work they perform and the services they provide. Attendance at the day's activities was estimated at 450 to 500, says Laura Reed, outgoing Staff Council president and one of the event's organizers.

The celebration included exhibits by more than 50 UI departments; speeches by President Mary Sue Coleman, Jay Holstein, professor of religion, and Robert Foldesi, the University's new human resources vice president; food; music; balloons; and door prizes.

"We are in the process of finalizing the evaluations of all the proposals. We have a meeting coming up here in the next couple of weeks regarding that," says team leader John Klopp, a UI purchasing agent. "We are hoping that we would have some kind of decision made relative to whom the vendor is and the awarded brand of paper for the regents' institutions, hopefully sometime by the middle of July."

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Certified mail fees increased from $1.10 to $1.35. Postage-paid postcards have been renamed stamped cards. Unlike stamped envelopes, the cards cost the same as their postage: $.20 for a single and $.40 for a double.

A return receipt showing to whom and the date the item was delivered costs $1.10. A return receipt that is requested after mailing costs $6.60. The requested after mailing receipt is available for up to two years after your original mailing. It's still a cost savings to certify or register your mailing without return receipts if you are not required by law to have these documents. Add it up! If you ask for return receipts for 100 pieces of mail, it will cost $110. You would need to produce 16 receipts that were requested after mailing before you cancel the savings.

Insured mail maximum coverage has increased from $600 to $5,000. Insurance for the first $50 coverage costs $.75; from $50.01 to $100 costs $1.60; and from $100.01 to $5,000 costs $1.60 plus $.90 for each $100 in coverage.

The maximum coverage for insured merchandise sent by Express Mail increased from $500 to $5,000. The fee for Express Mail coverage over the first $500 is $.90 for each additional $100 in coverage. The maximum coverage for negotiable items (bearer bonds, for example) is $15 unless the item is sent by registered mail, which includes insurance in the cost of registration. The coverage for Express Mail document reconstruction, which is used for documents that are damaged or destroyed in transit, was reduced from $50,000 to $500 per piece.

Special delivery service has been eliminated with the advent of Priority Mail and the less expensive Express Mail that includes a delivery guarantee and insurance at no additional charge.

Certain post office box and caller service fees have increased to recover the cost of service.

If you have questions or would like more information, contact Lou Eichler at Central Mail System.
Lou Eichler

Rhonda and her husband, Jeff, grew up near Williamsburg. They and their daughters, Malory, 10, and Mikayla, 5, often enjoy spending time with extended family who live in the area. The children are active in softball and swimming and Jeff works on his family's farm and for a heating and plumbing business. Those skills came in handy when they built their home recently: Jeff and other family members did most of the plumbing and electrical work.

While Rhonda has spent all of her life close to home, in a sense she can take a trip around the world any day. Publications Order Service is a distribution center for books and educational materials. On a given day, Rhonda might be in contact with someone from Canada, Japan, Hong Kong, or Australia to handle an order, complaint, or problem. "I like working with customers, being able to help them, answering questons," she says.

Orders for UI calendars are coming in now, and Rhonda is the one who keys each order -- approximately 500 of them, each with its own 40-digit MFK number. It's her job to enter orders into the computer system for invoicing. She expects to distribute more than 12,000 calendars on campus, with invoicing consuming much of June and July. "It takes a lot of time," she says. "It's always a big one in the summer."

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To keep employees cool and productive, three fan jet systems mounted on the roof greatly enhance the air quality. Designed by Acme Fan Jet Systems, these air handlers exchange inside and outside air and accelerate airflow, which maximizes their cooling effect. While the fan jets do the bulk of the air movement, 28 floor fans throughout the plant are used for evaporative cooling. They provide a welcome breeze as employees meet customer needs on these sizzling summer days.
Jo Anne Worley

Energy costs and turnaround time for processing textiles became critical aspects of the service life of the Laundry in the late 1970s. They continue to be our primary challenges. Serving customers quickly, professionally, and cost effectively will prove to be ongoing goals for the Laundry Service.

During the 1970s, textile prices soared due to increases in world oil prices. More blended fabrics were being manufactured using synthetic and cotton fibers. The use of crude oil byproducts to manufacture textiles placed the mills in a very difficult position as the cost of imported oil increased. As the cost of textiles soared, more and more importance was placed on manufacturing a durable fabric.

New chemicals were being developed for washing cotton/polyester blends so that less degradation would occur from processing. Consequently, washroom chemistry became a major area of concern. The new chemicals and fabrics required much closer monitoring of washing and processing activities. Washing chemical formulas changed significantly, and factors such as parts per million of caustic chemicals, washing cycle, water temperature, water use, and mechanical action of machinery were all critical components to be considered when a washing formula was created.

The processing of soiled textiles for The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and its significant growth in patient health care services required the Laundry Service to implement new processing strategies. These developments in the industry generated concern by environmental groups about chemical usage and wastewater quality. The newly created EPA and OSHA regulatory agencies came into play at this time. Guidelines and policies from these two agencies changed many of the methods the Laundry Service used to process textiles.

In response to customer demands for faster turnaround of goods and services, the Laundry Service purchased a garment press that used live steam to relax shirts and pants. The garments then were heated in a 300-degree dry chamber that shocked the fiber back to its natural permanent-press finish. This machine replaced the process of hand-pressing garments, and could press 350 garments per hour, compared to the average 25 garments per hour done with hand pressing.
Dave Gray

Next: Laundry adds garment rental service and again leads the nation in a technological advance.

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"We try to keep up-to-date, but we also try to stock high-volume and hard-to-get items," says Mellecker, who supervises a staff of eight, plus student employees. "If a system goes down and it takes six weeks to get a part . . . we try to keep things back for emergency purposes."

Maintenance Stores also includes a dispatch service that makes pickups and deliveries throughout campus. Dispatch drivers transport people as well as items such as maintenance supplies, blueprints, and deliveries of bulk mail to Central Mail System. One standing job is a weekly run of samples between VA hospital and Bowen Science Building. Mellecker says that while it fits right in with the work of dispatch, it would consume about 1 1/2 hours of the requesting department's time.

One order that he processed recently took some detective work on Mellecker's part. It involved contacts with the department of Asian studies, the translation lab, mechanical engineering, and the hydraulics lab to translate the invoice and contact the manufacturer in Japan and the distributor in Alabama, to finally determine that Dick Stout, of the Dental Sciences facilities services group, had placed the initial order. "Whatever it takes to get things done here, that's what we do," says Mellecker.

Call Mellecker at 335-5164 for a current listing of items stocked by Maintenance Stores.

We are excited about having someone with his office supply experience on campus; he is excited about being here and looks forward to meeting our customers. If you would like him to call on your department, please leave a message at 353-2918.
Gary Anderson

There is an effort to coordinate the look of the uniforms with those used by the Central Mail System, for consistency in type, color, and logo, says Lee Vasquez, facilitator for the committee. Laundry Service will size, order, and provide the uniforms after the necessary decisions have been made. "They have the systems all in place," he says.

The idea emerged from discussions within a marketing group that has been meeting since the Business Services department was established. "We're pulling the Central Mail System and Materials Management under an umbrella of consistency," says Vasquez, who is also a member of the marketing group. "We're trying to tighten it up and make it a better program."

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Electronic file transfer is simple. In effect, when you use it you are sending your file to a different printer from the one you normally use. It allows you to produce any of the color items that are available through our color imaging center without leaving your office, provided the original material is in electronic format.

In order to use this service, it is necessary to download the printer drivers and PPDs particular to the equipment we have, but this, too, is easy. Our computer consul\tant will work with you to make sure you understand how to do this. The order forms and files that you will need to download are accessible through the Printing Department's web site.

We recommend that if you are working with this equipment for the first time you visit the color imaging center at Consolidated Business Services Building to learn about calibration and how color can vary between your monitor and the output. It also can be helpful to view sample images produced by our equipment.

Call Eileen Wallace at 384-3738 to make arrangements for color imaging, or Francis Fang at 384-3726 if you need help downloading or transmitting files.

Introduction to the Printing Department introduces UI staff to the Printing Department and its Copy Center System through information about the printing process, explanations of ordering printing and copying, and a tour of the printing plant.

Print on Demand: Introduction to the DocuTech describes the capabilities of the department's on-line DocuTech publishing system. The concepts of creating PostScript files, electronic file transmission, and ordering copying and finishing services electronically will be introduced.

Color Work provides color information that should be helpful in reducing output costs and problems for those who are doing electronic publishing.

For more information about class content, contact Jenean Arnold at the Printing Department. For information about registration or to request a complete schedule of classes, contact the staff development office.

The Credit Union's 1996 Annual Report and the UIHC Medical Museum catalog, Order and Disorder, each won a silver award in a juried exhibition sponsored by the Visual Arts Alliance, an organization of Eastern Iowa designers, illustrators, and photographers. Those awards are based on the quality of the publication's design.

Roxie Alwine retired in March after working 19 years for the department. She started as a floater in the copy centers, eventually spending time in each center. She spent the last three years at the printing plant operating a high-speed duplicator.

Carolyn Stocker, who worked for 28 years in the bindery, collating, packaging, and spiral binding University printed material, retired in June. She says she will probably do a lot of cooking and baking, and may look for a part-time job.

Glenn Parsons, who was employed by Facilities Services as the Printing Department's custodian, also retired. He had worked at CBSB and at our previous location in Coralville.

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We are . . .