Because in-plants reproduce documents containing their organizations’ knowledge, they are uniquely positioned to play vital roles in the organizations and support their strategic objectives and goals.

By Wayne Riggall

Quick Look

• Focusing solely on the in-plant’s operational effectiveness may not contribute enough to the organization’s strategic goals and may not insure against outsourcing.

• Knowledge is the key to competitive success, and documents communicate that knowledge. The opportunity for in-plants lies in the capture and management of document content.

• By moving the competencies of the in-plant further up the value chain to encompass content capture, classification, storage, retrieval, re-purposing and multi-media delivery, the in-plant can redefine itself in the role of Knowledge Management and contribute more to the organization’s strategic objectives.

• Establish meaningful alliances with information systems groups, since they often develop and deploy organization-wide Knowledge Management systems.

• Managers must both inform employees of changes in the organization and its markets, and keep the organization abreast of the developing capabilities of the in-plant.

• Define a clear view of how the parent organization will look in three or five years, including new markets it will operate in and new products and services it may provide.

DESPITE HAVING made the change to digital printing technologies, in-plants may continue to be at risk of being outsourced.

As organizations seeking to remain competitive in the new economy of the 21st century become increasingly knowledge based, in-plants must develop competencies that support Knowledge Management. Given the in-plant’s exposure to organizational knowledge via the documents it reproduces, it is uniquely placed to play a vital role and better support the strategic objectives and goals of the organization.

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IN-PLANTS: Tomorrow’s Knowledge Managers?