Ohio Northern University Broadens Its Service Offerings with MGI Meteor Digital Press

MELBOURNE, FL—July 26, 2012—With the addition of a MGI Meteor multi-substrate digital press, Ohio Northern University (ONU) has been able to streamline its operations, improve overall efficiency and keep the majority of the university’s work in-house.

Founded in 1871, ONU is a selective, private, comprehensive university, comprising five colleges (Arts & Sciences, Business Administration, Engineering, Pharmacy and Law) with nationally ranked arts, sciences and professional programs and enrollment comprising approximately 3,611 students representing 42 states and 20 countries.

The Printing Services department is the main source for all printing needs on campus, serving not only all academic departments, but the Office of the President, Admissions, and the Board of Trustees, as well as development activities.

In terms of equipment, the in-plant previously had an assortment of one- and two-color offset presses and several digital duplicators (color and black-and-white) with inline finishing. However, parts for its offset presses were becoming scarce. So Anita Stanley, manager of printing services at ONU, decided to start the search for a new solution that could not only replace the shop’s aging offset presses, but would also eliminate the need for a CTP system.

“I initially started out looking at a DI press, but quickly realized that DI technology wouldn’t allow me to offer the new range of services I wanted to provide the university with, including variable data and the ability to print short runs of four-color work quickly and cost effectively,” said Stanley.

Her search led to an MGI Meteor digital press from Graphco, MGI’s distribution partner for Ohio. Stanley was impressed by the quality of the Meteor’s output and the fact that it would allow the in-plant to offer new digital applications, such as sheet sizes up to 40˝ and short runs of four-color envelopes—two key requirements for ONU.

Another major plus the Meteor offered ONU was its relatively small footprint and that it didn’t require any major facility modifications, such as additional power, HVAC, water, floor reinforcement or external venting. This was a key in gaining approval to acquire the digital press because no additional funds needed to be requisitioned. The Meteor also didn’t require any chemicals or plates like the shop’s old CTP-based production did, plus makeready time was eliminated, resulting in a much more streamlined and environmentally-friendly workflow.

ONU’s typical applications include postcards, posters, envelopes, business cards, brochures, letterhead, fact sheets and a host of direct mail projects for Financial Aid and Admissions. In fact, variable-data postcards are one of ONU’s key applications, with typical batch sizes of 1,000 to 12,000.

One particular project involved producing a mailing of 13,000 full-color, variable-data postcards for a region-specific event the Financial Aid department was hosting, with a turnaround time of just a few days. Not only did the project go of without a hitch, RSVPs started coming in immediately and Financial Aid was able to easily fill all the slots for the event.

ONU’s administration has been very enthusiastic about the addition of the Meteor. Not only are the university’s projects completed quickly and in much higher quality than they had been previously, but now the majority of jobs can be produced in-house.

“By keeping work in our facility, we can maintain an aggressive pricing structure that still makes it a win-win for the college and eliminates any added costs as a result of having to outsource the work,” noted Stanley. “Thanks to the Meteor, I’ve been able to handily follow through on the promises I made to the administration when I asked them to approve this press.”