You have to plumb the depths of the James Watt South building to find the University’s Print Unit, tucked away in a corner of the basement alongside the School of Engineering. Once there, however, you will find a hive of activity, with a busy team harnessing some of the latest printing technology available.

Raymond Dickson, Print Unit Supervisor, is on a mission. Over the past two years, since the unit became part of the University’s Commercial Services function, he has been expanding his team and upgrading the quality and capacity of his equipment.Print Unit brochures 650

After a recent pilot with students in the Adam Smith Business School, he has proved that the unit has the ability to deliver printed and bound dissertations in far greater numbers with a shorter turnaround time than ever before. Over three days in August, the unit printed 91 dissertations and delivered services (mainly binding of dissertations) to 725 students altogether; in the previous year the unit handled work for 197 students over a month.

He hopes to attract business from across the University in far greater quantity, arguing that his team can deliver quality as high as any external provider can and at a competitive price.

Robert Garnish, Director of Commercial Services, has been pivotal in the development of the service.

“From a customer experience perspective, the Print Unit currently has one of the highest ratings in Commercial Services. Across our facilities, we have introduced podiums which allow people to record their satisfaction levels – the Print Unit’s recorded satisfaction level for the year to date is 95%. That is a tremendous score and reflects the quality of service delivered by Raymond and his team,” he said.

“The Print Unit is going from strength to strength - so much so that we are looking for alternative premises to allow the unit to expand,” he added.

Two years ago, the unit’s two print machines were “not fit for purpose”, according to Raymond. That meant that the unit had to give a longer lead-in time than was ideal because it had to build in two days for potential repairs given the high level of breakdowns.

It has now replaced those machines with two new ones, on a leasing arrangement.

“They are now uber-reliable and the quality is spectacular,” he said.Print unit posters 650

In addition, the unit now has its own wide-format printing machine, which it bought at the end of the last academic year. While the unit has always offered a poster service, in the past the team would ask University staff to send them images/PowerPoints; the unit would design the poster or banner; but would then have to send it out to an external provider for printing. Now it can do all the design (brand-compliant) and printing in-house at a reduced cost with no requirement to pay VAT to an external provider.

The unit has also extended its ability to deliver a “web to print” service. A recent upgrade of its Skyline software not only meant much better delivery of printing dissertations but also means it is in a position to print large documents which might normally be printed locally on MFDs (multi-function devices) but can be done faster and more cheaply by the Print Unit. For more information: printroom.glasgow.ac.uk.

Said Raymond: “The quality of our print equipment is now second to none. We just want to develop the service. It’s a service that every university needs.”

First published: 7 October 2019

<< 7 October, 2019