Customer Spotlight – April 2022

In this installment of the edu Newsletter Customer Spotlight we are pleased to feature PSP User Mike Lloyd, Director of Campus Support Services at the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW).  Our recent interview left us encouraged and inspired to say the least. 

UNCW was founded as a junior college in 1947 when it first opened its doors to 238 students.  The college has consistently grown in popularity due to its national rankings as a top public university. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, UNCW reached record enrollment numbers of over 18,000 students.  UNCW offers degrees in humanities, sciences, health, business and professional fields. The university’s highly ranked marine science program draws a variety of undergraduate and graduate students from across the United States. 

Situated between the Cape Fear riverfront historic downtown and beautiful ocean beaches (Wrightsville, Kure and Carolina), UNCW is a part of the North Carolina System of 17 schools.  The Wilmington area is at the center of many films and television shows, notably Dawson’s Creek, One Tree Hill, Iron Man 3, Blue Velvet, Sleeping with the Enemy, and Weekend at Bernie’s, to name a few. Thus, Wilmington earned the nickname “Hollywood of the East” and “Wilmywood.”

Mike, who fell in love with printing at a vocational high school in Chicago, ultimately chose Graphic Arts as a major and the rest, as they say, is history. He serves as director of Campus Support Services at University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW).  Employed with the university since 1994, he has also functioned in various other roles as well as overseeing several different departments.

As director, his managerial duties include:

∙         Seaprint (the UNCW in-plant staffed by six full-time employees provides print and graphic design services to the general public, student organizations, non-profits, and all university departments) )

∙         Seahawk Mail

∙         Passport Services

∙         Warehouse

∙         Recycling

∙         iPrint Business Center (a student copy center staffed by one full-time coordinator and 14 student employees)

∙         Enterprise Printing (UNCW’s copier fleet department of 157 copiers staffed by one full-time coordinator) 

Mike effectively manages these operations using PSP and a small workforce.  The shop processes an average of 350 – 400 jobs monthly. They are able to accomplish this by leveraging PSP, identifying creative ways to increase their value to the campus and ensuring all Seaprint department employees are cross-trained in graphic design, print production, and copier fleet management. 

Mike credits his eight-year experience in the Marine Corps and combat service in Operation Desert Storm as instrumental to success in his managerial endeavors. Maintaining an open-door policy with his staff and meeting with them daily, he calls upon them to do three things: 1) know your job, 2) own your job, and 3) be professional. He is especially proud that none of his employees lost a paycheck during the pandemic and that all his staff have been able to return as of Spring 2022.

As an auxiliary unit, Seaprint is 100% self-funded. Prior to Mike’s involvement, the in-plant was struggling to maintain financial solvency. Mike shared, “Our shop has faced several challenges over the years from recession, natural disasters and now COVID. These events have disrupted our operation and revenue streams. It also forced us to be creative and accept challenges that were out of our comfort zone.” 

Seaprint services both an internal and an external customer base. Customers include the public, student organizations, area Non-Profits and all university departments. Under Mike’s management and direction Seaprint has consistently achieved a $300,000 to $500,000 annual profit. “We generated new revenue opportunities and diversified our operation, adding value and made the operation essential to the campus,” shared Mike. 

UNCW has been a PSP customer for 5 years. Mike says, “PSP has simplified the experience of processing print orders by providing a workflow system that is easy to use as well as configurable to our unique print shop process of production, invoicing and billing.  Also having a webstore linked to the order submission page has enhanced awareness of other services our operation offers. The PDF converter and digital proof function has been an essential benefit to the staff and customers, those services eliminate delays and expedite the production process.”

Mike says his favorite PSP feature is the customer pricing function elaborating that, “it gives the customer the opportunity to adjust their project to fit within their budget and eliminates the back and forth between our production employees.”  Mike also relies heavily on PSP Reports such as the Summary Report which he leverages daily so management can view timelines, workload, and gauge production efficiency.

Seaprint’s equipment consists of offset and digital presses as well as wide-format and full-service bindery. Benefitting from its first-right-of-refusal status, what Seaprint cannot produce inhouse, is outsourced with contracted suppliers that provide trade pricing 40% below retail. Mike negotiated this pricing providing the campus and his customers substantial savings on outsourced print services. Some of the special jobs produced inhouse include magazines, floor graphics, ADA signage, mugs, balloons (a big seller Mike says) and other specialty items.  Mike has transformed not only the operations under his supervision but is often called upon by upper management to assist in troubleshooting and resolving issues within other departments at the university.

Outside of work Mike is a sports enthusiast, volunteers in his community, serves in his church, and coaches HS and youth football. As a power user of PSP, Mike also participates as a PSP Product Steering Committee Member contributing development ideas to improve PSP.  He also participates in the annual PSP User Group Meeting where he has led training sessions on best practices for leveraging PSP. 

Mike credits his faith for strength in navigating difficult times as well as success in his career and raising his children. When asked whether he had one over-arching, life-guiding principle, his response was “Christ first.”

Considering Mike’s broad and effectual experience in his field, listening to his story one cannot help but gain new insight about effectively managing employees or glean tips for improved operational management.  He is a treasure-trove of information and an invaluable asset to the PSP and in-plant community.

– By Gordon Rivera & Leeann Raymond