Curing Sick Shops

Slowly, but surely, Raveson's plan began to take effect.

Been There, Done That

Of course, Raveson wasn't the first person to face this kind of trouble. Four years earlier, Pete Twentey, of the Washington Hospital Center in-plant in Washington, D.C., had a similar experience.

When Twentey took over as director of printing services in 1985, the shop was known as the "Black Hole," he says—work went in, but it never came out. Like the shop Raveson inherited, the Washington Hospital in-plant was saddled with outdated equipment, a small, unmotivated staff and an overmatched manager. At first glance, Twentey says, he had his doubts.