IPMA Conference An 'Xtreme Success'

Salt Lake City was the place to be for in-plant managers recently. The IPMA conference drew hundreds of them to Utah's capital.

(Additional photos)

By Bob Neubauer

To thrive in today's business world, in-plants have to think in new ways and be willing to change.

This is something the 260 attendees of the recent International Publishing Management Association conference know all too well. It was repeated at sessions throughout the four-day event, dubbed "Xtreme Success." This year's gathering took place in Salt Lake City, where temperatures in the 90s provided a very warm welcome to the group.

With increased attendance this year, due in part to strong support from Utah in-plants, the conference was a bustling affair. The sessions were largely full as in-plant attendees crowded in to hear about topics like benchmarking, insourcing and merging with other departments.

At the opening session, IPMA International President Craig Sedgwick welcomed everyone to his home town. Later in the week he got the chance to show attendees his impressive 660-employee printing and distribution center for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where two massive web presses churned out copies of the bible, the Book of Mormon and other religious texts.

This year's conference marked the return of vendor displays to the event. A two-day vendor fair featured 22 vendors displaying their wares in a carnival-like atmosphere, with attendees competing for prizes while learning about new technologies.

'Xtreme' Speakers

Opening speaker Michael Janke, of Special Operations Consulting, used his experiences as a Navy SEAL to draw comparisons between life in the jungle and in the business world.

Janke said five percent of the work force is made up of predators: They are driven by personal performance goals to achieve success and leave an imprint. About 15 percent of the work force are opportunists. Like scavengers they want to skip all the hard work but still enjoy the rewards. The other 80 percent, Janke said, are simply prey. They are not motivated to do any more than a minimum amount of work.

Janke went on to note that the United States ranks a disappointing 17th in the world in productivity. This is because we lack focus on our job performance. Constant distractions pull us in directions that have nothing to do with our jobs.

Janke illustrated the importance of maintaining focus with the story of a Navy SEAL spy mission that required him to swim across a crocodile-filled river at night. Only by maintaining a "focus bubble" and concentrating on his goal was he able to survive, as the crocs slapped at him with their tails.

"You have to get into your focus bubble at work and concentrate," he stressed.

He delved into in-plant issues by noting "there's no such thing as a captive audience." In-plants have to exceed their customers' expectations, he said, or somebody else will.

Finally, he said, people are limited by the obstacles they place in front of themselves (e.g. budget cuts, the economy). Leaders charge through those obstacles; the "prey" just complain and remain limited.

Insourcing For Everyone

One of the most interactive sessions of the conference focused on insourcing. IPG Editor Bob Neubauer moderated the panel.

Most of those in the packed conference room were already taking in outside work and were eager to hear tips from the panel on how to expand that business.

Tom Neckvatal, of Minnesota Life Insurance Printing Services, started insourcing 15 years ago to fill excess capacity on his copiers. The in-plant expanded into offset work and is now handling five-color jobs on its 40˝ press.

"You have to be better than your competition in order to compete," he stressed.

He advised in-plants to be very public about their insourcing, letting everyone in the company know how much money is being generated. This bolsters the in-plant's status, he said.

"You're not a nuisance, you're a revenue generator," he noted. This year his shop has generated $2.5 million from insourcing, he added. He is thinking of expanding into fulfillment services next.

Like Neckvatal, West Barton, of Brigham Young University's Print and Mail Production Center, started insourcing to fill in slow periods. The revenue generated has helped the in-plant acquire new technology, such as CTP and an envelope press.

Barton says CD burning looks like a potential insourcing opportunity. Also, a local printer has asked the in-plant to handle its mailing, creating yet another possible revenue source. And by making a BYU-designed online business card ordering system available to other companies, BYU is getting print work from those companies because jobs are being routed directly to its in-plant.

Even smaller in-plants are insourcing. Kim Knox, of Regence BlueShield, told the group that her operation pulls in $60,000 a year in insourcing revenue despite having just 12 employees. The in-plant promotes its services by holding an open house every year, and sending invitations to local ad agencies. Even local printers send some work to the in-plant when they lack certain capabilities that the in-plant has.

Benchmarking Panel

Elsewhere, a panel of managers talked about the importance of benchmarking.

"The most important thing an in-plant can benchmark, in my opinion, is its cost savings over competition," remarked David Schlueter, of Piper Jaffray Companies, in Minneapolis. He sends letters to local printers asking them to bid on specifications as if they were the primary vendor handling numerous similar projects. This limits the amount of "low-ball" price quotes he gets.

Schlueter suggests doing such benchmarking on an ongoing basis to keep a running record of savings. (And don't forget to add in tax and shipping costs, he added.)

Mike Renn, of Mellon Financial, in Philadelphia, said benchmarking should be done in a number of areas, including: best practices, technology, pricing, services, industry trends and similar companies.

Before doing any benchmarking, Renn said, make sure you find out what upper management really wants to know. Use benchmarking to determine if you are offering the right mix of services for your organization, if your in-plant is cost effective, if your pricing is competitive, and whether you're moving in the right direction.

Like Schlueter, Renn stressed that benchmarking and reporting to management must be done regularly, before outside printers raise questions with your management. Having the data on hand lets you respond quickly to management, letting you lead instead of just react.

Former in-plant manager Niki Steenhoek, now with PathForward, stressed that in-plants need to know their total cost of ownership (TCO), including the costs of document creation, equipment, maintenance, supplies, labor, down-time and square footage. Benchmark all of these, she said. Once you know your TCO you can work on reducing it.

Think Like An Entrepreneur

Mike Renn also led another session, this one on entrepreneurial thinking. He stressed that managers should create goals to focus on. One of them, he said, should be customer success.

"If you make a customer wildly successful, he's going to come back to you," Renn said.

Tailor your capabilities to needs not being met, he added.

To build a strong foundation, Renn said, in-plants should:

• Know all costs.

• Benchmark with both peers and your competition for best practices.

• Focus on basics like creating a simple process, quality, on-time delivery and customer follow-up.

• Be convenient; offer electronic ordering and have a Web site.

• Motivate your staff by offering continual education and cross training; listen to their ideas.

• Excite management with a business plan and a marketing plan.

Merging And Building Relationships

A panel of managers discussed the merits of merging the in-plant with the data center and mailing departments. Thom Roylance said BYU merged print and mail in 1999, in part to be able to catch pieces not designed properly for mailing before they were printed. At BlueCross BlueShield of Minnesota, which also merged print and mail, Cindy Larson said all mailings must be approved by the mail services manager before they go out the door.

Carol Kraft, IPMA's chief operating officer, gave a session on managing where she stressed relationship building. Find your key customers, she suggested, and then bring ideas to them. Train your employees to focus on customers too, she said. One tip for becoming a better listener, she offered, is to mentally summarize or repeat what the person you're talking to just said.

Offer New Services

In-plants should always be looking for new services, especially as some print jobs disappear in the wake of digital communication. Steven Rigby related how his in-plant at Washington State University has been getting new business by offering online publishing, Web site development, CD/DVD authoring, online presentations, database management and digital archiving. Much of this business is former print business that would otherwise have been lost.

Rigby pointed out one of the benefits of offering Web site design: "Web sites are never, ever done," he said. They continually need maintenance. Also, some sites gradually become too complex for the client to consider taking over maintenance.

Rigby's shop also offers packages that include printed publications along with a CD and a Web site.

In a session on variable data printing, Heidelberg's Richard Sand pointed out that with phone solicitors being increasingly reigned in, variable printing is poised to grow. Companies must focus on partnering and on building up their databases of customer information.

Justifying Resources

At one session Wes Friesen, of Portland General Electric, presented these "Ten Keys to Justify Resources."

1. Identify important goals and business needs of your organization, then figure out how to help meet them.

2. Find ways to save your organization money.

3. Know your costs and how they compare to the external market.

4. Work with vendors for creative ideas to improve your operation.

5. Partner with other departments.

6. Develop positive relationships with internal service providers who influence decisions.

7. Take the budgeting process seriously.

8. Understand your organization's capital budgeting and approval process.

9. Track your volumes and document increases.

10. Excel in operations and enhance your team's reputation.

The morning general sessions at this year's conference were a blend of entertainment and real-world lessons. One speaker, Dr. Daniel Litchford, used his entertaining "people point presentation" (i.e. cue cards) to deliver the message that "we all pull the load." He then broke out a guitar and led the group in a song using that phrase. His point was that we can overcome the "curve of forgetting" by using creativity, repetition and rhythm.

Possibly the most entertaining speaker was Dr. Will Miller, who offered his comical observations on flying, road rage and "refrigerator rights" (i.e. knowing someone well enough that you can raid their refrigerator without asking).

He noted that Americans have more stress than people in other countries, and he blamed it on the fact that we no longer have close relationships in our daily lives. Most of us have moved away from our families and have few people in our lives that we can rely on for emotional support.

Filling your life with more "refrigerator rights" relationships, he stressed, will reduce your stress and alter your mood.

The conference wrapped up with the annual awards reception and banquet, during which all first place winners of the In-Print contest were called to the stage and recognized. University of Missouri-Columbia Printing Services was also presented with this year's Best of Show award. IPG

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IPMA 2004 will take place in Philadelphia, June 20-23. For more information, visit www.ipma.org.