Editor's Note In-plant Support

Working in an in-plant can sometimes leave you feeling unappreciated. You spend all your time trying to make your organization look good with quality printing, but at the first sign of fiscal trouble, where does your CEO look to cut expenses?

Fortunately there are still a few places an in-plant manager can find respect. You're looking at one of them (this Web site, not your coffee cup). You'll never feel unappreciated after reading an issue of IPG--online or on paper. We know how valuable you are.

Your fellow managers know it too, and you can always find support—not to mention good ideas—by getting together with them. In-plant conferences provide a great once-a-year fix of encouragement. For something more frequent, International Publishing Management Association chapter meetings are great opportunities to network with other managers.

I recently attended the Philadelphia IPMA chapter's monthly meeting to mingle with managers and find out what's been happening in their shops. It was there that I was reminded by an xpedx representative of yet another in-plant support mechanism: The xpedx Web site.

By now most of you have read of xpedx's sponsorship of the Gary Smith/Don Kendall in-plant workshops. While attending a workshop a few months ago, I was impressed by the amount of useful information provided to in-plant managers—at no cost. Smith and Kendall noted at the time that they would soon put the entire content of their 1996-97 workshops—then sponsored by Unisource—up on the xpedx site, since most of that important material is not covered in the current seminars.

That data is now there. And having spent several hours going through it, I have to tell you that the site should absolutely be required reading for every in-plant manager. It details the eight distinct advantages of an in-plant (a list you should put in front of your CEO), lists the cost advantages enjoyed by in-plants over commercial printers (and tells how an in-plant can lose those advantages), and instructs you how to quantify your financial contribution, create a chargeback system, exploit your strengths and develop a three-year plan.

"But it's on a vendor's Web site!" you protest. "This editor guy is just trying to promote xpedx." Believe me, that's not my style. My only interest in the matter is in helping in-plants stay strong. The information on this site is no commercial. It's solid, useful advice that can help ensure your shop's survival.

My one complaint is that the in-plant data is hard to find on the site. Go to xpedx.com, then click on "registration information" (or just click here). After you fill that out and click "continue," go to the very bottom of the next screen and click "continue" again. Then click "Knowledge Center" at the top, and on the next screen click "Building the Perfect In-plant." It should appear as a logo in mid page, but it doesn't always. If you can't get it to appear, try logging out and then logging back in with your new password/user name. Once you find and click the logo, look for the "online workshops" link.

In these days when in-plants seem to be getting less respect, it's refreshing to see so much support being made available. Make time to go over this material, and then use it to show management all the advantages your in-plant brings. Afterwards, you just might get a little more appreciation for your work.