Tomorrow's In-plant: A Practical Strategy

Some years ago, a friend asked me the question, "Are you in the right business?" I thought he wanted to know how dedicated I was to the printing industry, but I came to realize what he really meant was, am I looking toward the future? He was asking if the business I was in today would be the business I should be in tomorrow.

I began asking myself, "Is our department in the right business? Even though we are giving our customers the products they need today, are we paying attention to what they will need tomorrow? If not, what do we need to do to help them?"

Colgate University Document and Mail Services has transformed greatly from what it was 20 years ago. Back then, we had three offset presses running five or six days a week. We set phototype, shot negatives and made metal plates.

Today, digital printing rules in our shop, with more than 50 percent of our work in full color, printed on our Xerox Color 1000 and our Xerox 700. We still have one small offset press, which we use occasionally. We produce a number of small, targeted mailings requiring the highest level of quality, very fast turnaround and the utmost attention to detail. Large-format posters and prints are staples in our shop today. These projects were not in our arsenal five years ago, but customers told us they were products they needed.

How did we determine yesterday what business to be in today, and how do we determine which business to be in tomorrow? Can we continue to demonstrate strategic relevance to the parent organization?

Constructing a Business Plan

Since each in-plant is different from all the rest, is there a way to think about this that can be used by large, medium and small shops alike? I believe the answer is "yes." When Colgate Document and Mail Services decided to move into digital printing we spent almost two years putting together the facets that would ultimately lead to our business plan. The process of doing this work became the model we continue to use to look to the future.

The idea of putting together a business plan can be a daunting one but, in reality, the work involved is not difficult although it does require effort. The good thing is that not all business plans need to be as intricate as the one we developed in anticipa­tion of becoming a full-color, digital shop. In fact, most plans do not require anything that in-plant managers and staff are not already doing.

Every business plan has components that are universal. First, a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis of the current operation is useful. This is probably something everyone has done. (It is also an excellent team-building exercise.)

Secondly, a marketing plan is necessary. We begin by asking our customers what they will need us to do in the future. Also, what frustrations do they have with the current systems? If they are sending work outside, we want to understand why. We ask them to imagine what they would need if money were no issue. The answers can be interesting.

This also gives us the chance to understand what values the customers hold to be important. Some may favor all FSC papers; some might need unique finishing techniques; others may be planning to eliminate paper completely (although we hope to prove the value of print to them).

Next is an operational plan. Can we help fulfill the customer's future needs with our present equipment and skill levels? If not, what type of investments will we need to make? How much can be automated? How much value is there in streamlining processes? Can value be added by collaborating with vendors to take over duties that may be better left to a partner as our department moves toward the future?

A staffing component is a fundamental part of the overall plan. When we decided to go digital we asked our offset press operators to become digital press operators, and the results were excellent. Training was necessary, of course, but the transition was much easier to explain to upper management when they knew the staff was supportive and eager to try something new.

A technology plan is vital to the success of the endeavor. Some larger shops may have dedicated IT staff reporting to them but many of us rely on the IT staff of our parent organization. Getting buy-in from the head IT officer is critical to the success of operation. Having a written business plan helps us ensure we are asking for the correct support from IT, and it allows us to create a good bridge between our equipment vendors and the IT staff.

Naturally, a financial component is necessary. We prepared a five-year projection of estimated income and expenditures for our first digital press based upon research from the marketing plan. The financial outlook always seems to find its way into the executive summary.

A good business plan will include possible causes of failure. There are external and internal causes such as the general economy (external), social media (external), or a change in purchasing philosophy (internal). It is important to consider these possibilities and to try to anticipate the inevitable bumps in the road.

An important piece of the puzzle is to identify the people in your organization who will be key contributors to the success of the business plan. These might include the purchasing agent, the IT chief, head of communications, budget director, human resource director and the sustainability officer. And, of course, the most important of all, the boss. It will take support from all these people to execute the plan.

There are other things to consider as well. Metrics, key performance indicators, benchmarking and best practices are all essential to the success of the plan. Networking with other in-plants is indispensable.

Over the years I have had the opportunity to visit many other in-plant shops, and I am proud to say I have borrowed good ideas from each of them. Memberships in IPMA, ACUP and NACUMS have been vastly helpful.

Finally, I believe we all have the ability to see the direction our shop should go. But we need to make the vision obvious to our customers, our organization and our staff. And once we get to tomorrow, we get to do it all over again.