Free In-plant Self-Assessment Tool Now Available

By Bob Neubauer

The In-plant Printing and Mailing Association's in-plant self-assessment tool is designed to help in-plants improve their operational health. Available free of charge to all in-plants, the tool uses a series of Yes/No questions to assess how well an in-plant is doing in areas such as competitive awareness, productivity, automation, planning, marketing and more. Participants are given a score which defines them as anything from "at risk" to "world class." In addition, IPMA members receive a personalized report that details the areas where they could improve and offers ideas they may not have considered.

Greg Cholmondeley

A high-scoring operation might get a report leading off with, "Your in-plant appears to be operationally strong with exceptional strategic and senior management awareness." Such results can go miles in demonstrating your in-plant's value and how favorably it compares with other healthy in-plants. Early participants have, in fact, used the results in their management reviews.

On the other hand, those who score lower might get a report warning that their in-plant is "at-risk. Your in-plant is operationally weak with limited strategic and senior management awareness." That would be an eye-opener for any manager. Fortunately, the report follows up with next steps, which might include advice, based on the manager's responses, such as, "You should track and utilize customer feedback to improve your services." Or "Prepare and present metrics to your management other than just P&L numbers so that they truly understand the value you bring to your institution."

Ray Chambers

An assessment indicating "Your equipment needs to be modernized to be able to deliver the same quality and performance as your commercial competitors" can provide managers with support as they strive to justify equipment upgrades.

Launched in early 2019, the assessment tool is the result of years of work by Consultants Ray Chambers and Greg Cholmondeley, in collaboration with IPMA Executive Director Mike Loyd and IPMA Past President Dwayne Magee.

All in-plants are encouraged to take the assessment to receive an evaluation of their health. IPMA keeps all responses confidential and will not share them with outside vendors. Start the assessment here.

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Bob Neubauer Author's page

Bob has served as editor of In-plant Impressions since October of 1994. Prior to that he served for three years as managing editor of Printing Impressions, a commercial printing publication. Mr. Neubauer is very active in the U.S. in-plant industry. He attends all the major in-plant conferences and has visited more than 180 in-plant operations around the world. He has given presentations to numerous in-plant groups in the U.S., Canada and Australia, including the Association of College and University Printers and the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association. He also coordinates the annual In-Print contest, co-sponsored by IPMA and In-plant Impressions.