Dale Harrison (left) and James McCall have settled into their
new location at Elon West. |
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Print Services Manager James McCall says the move to the new Elon
West location across Haggard Avenue was a smooth one.
"It's really amazing that we moved on Monday and we were up and
running on Wednesday," he says, "but it was planned that way."
Director of Purchasing Vickie Somers, who coordinated the move
to Elon West, says several faculty members stopped her in the hallway
to tell her how successful the move was. The tricky part, McCall says,
was the unpacking and placement of supplies after the movers had left.
"Having to handle all the paper was the toughest move," McCall says,
but he notes that having the paper organized in one area is a big advantage
of the new print services.
Because paper is stored in the back of the building, getting it unpacked
and out of the way was a high priority in preparing for business just
two days after the October 23 move.
Another advantage to the new space is the location. Being at the end
of a hallway in Carlton made it hard to tell customers from those who
were just passing through the building. "When people come to the door
in the new location, they're here for business," McCall says.
Somers says that another benefit is having more space for customers.
"When you go in there now, you have room to fill out forms and ask questions,"
she says.
The layout of equipment in the new area is designed to streamline work
flow. The jobs come in at the front desk and work their way around to
the machines in order, until they are shrink wrapped at the end.
"Our work flow is great down here now," McCall says. "The turnaround
time is so much better." He estimates that about 80 percent of the jobs
that he and Clerk Dale Harrison get in the morning go out that
afternoon. Now that the print services is open longer hours (from 7:00 a.m.
to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday), turnaround is quicker because the
machinery is running longer, McCall says. Even so, crunch times such as
the beginning of the school year and exams are always challenging.
"As the college grows, we get busier," McCall says, noting that the pickup
and delivery route across campus has grown since the move. He expects
to add more daily stops to the route as the faculty and staff demand grows,
and he would like to encourage more students to use the print services.
"We now have a color copier, and we want the students to know," McCall
says. "We copy, collate, staple, punch, cut, fold and bind books." He
adds that they can reproduce from hard copies or disks.
Now that the move is behind him, McCall is thinking about ways of improving
the print services, such as getting equipment that trims the front edge of
books that come out of the booklet master. He also hopes to get online
request form up and running. Somers says that McCall and Harrison have
done a good job of adjusting to the new space.
"We're doing fine so far," says Harrison.
McCall agrees. "I think personally, it's worked out for the best."
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