From the Editor: Justifying Your Value

Last month I had an opportunity to moderate a web­inar on the topic "Justifying Your In-plant's Value in Tough Times." It's obviously an important subject for in-plants, as evidenced by the 250+ people who signed up for the live event. I was glad to see so many familiar managers on the attendee list from all over the U.S. and Canada.

The webinar featured three speakers with long in-plant industry experience:

• Consultant and former manager Ray Chambers;
• Richard Beto, director of Document Solutions for The University of Texas at Austin;
• Jon Finley, vice president of Production Services at Transamerica Life & Protection.

Each offered suggestions of ways in-plants can better prove their value—and stay in business.

The topic was especially timely given the article I wrote for this issue on "Overcoming Outsourcing Threats." In it, I talked with four in-plant managers whose in-plants were recently threatened by attempts to outsource them. Each thought things were going well prior to being challenged, and then had to quickly mobilize to prove how valuable they were to the organization's success.

Similarly, in the webinar (which you can still view here), I talked about the need for in-plants to remain relevant and indispensable to their organizations. This means continually reevaluating your services, and asking customers what more you can do to help them reach their goals. I detailed new services I have seen in-plants add and stressed the importance of collecting testimonials from satisfied customers, then sharing them with management.

Ray Chambers emphasized the neccesity of knowing precisely what's happening in your in-plant: the volume of pages printed, the number of jobs open at any given time, the types of items you print, etc. You can't show your value without measuring what you do and having that data ready to show your boss. Also, he said, relate everything you do to the mission of the parent organization so you can show how you contribute.

Richard Beto detailed ways his in-plant demonstrates value. His staff approaches departments that use e-mail as a marketing tool and offers to increase response rates by adding a printed piece to the campaign; the in-plant creates educational videos for its website and runs educational classes. Beto benchmarks jobs biannually to show how his shop compares. He advised managers to walk where their customers walk and see the operation through their eyes.

Jon Finley also stressed the importance of benchmarking, which he does regularly to prove his operation is the most cost-effective solution. His in-plant has great management support, which has allowed it to grow tremendously. Fifteen years ago, the company decided to leverage the in-plant’s capabilities and bring work back in-house, which it has done with great success. It produces more than 300 million images and 150 million pieces of mail a year, even taking in work from outside. Because he runs it like a business, and employees understand how important quality and service are to the company's success, Transamerica Life & Protection recognizes the value Production Services provides. And that should be every in-plant's goal.

To get the full story, check out the archived webinar.