Downsides to the Right of First Refusal?

A recent Xerox blog post examines the pros and cons of obtaining the right of first refusal for your in-plant. Also called "centralized print management," this is when all print work in an organization is mandated to go to the in-plant, and the manager will decide which work it will do and which jobs are better suited to an outside printer.

"At first blush, there is almost no downside to the right of first refusal because it increases the volume of work," writes NAPL Consultant Howie Fenton, author of the blog post. "But there are a few potential downsides. Although rare, sometimes a mandate to send all work can overwhelm the department. If that’s true you would have to take some quick action to try to avoid late deliveries or even the hint that you can’t keep up with demand."

Another possible repercussion: resentment. Sometimes, departments have long-standing relationships with outside vendors and resent being told they can no longer competitively bid their work.

Read Fenton's full blog post here. And here's IPG's take on the issue.