Mind Your Business

"If you don't have the customer satisfaction, you ain't going to have customers," he notes.

This issue is confronting today's in-plant managers full force. To survive, they must eschew their nostalgia for the simpler times and dive head first into the business world.

Like other businesses, in-plants must learn to effectively compete in a cut-throat world; they must market themselves vigorously—with non-existent marketing budgets; they must control their finances, know their expenses and prove they're saving money; and they've got to supply the same quality and stellar customer service that their clients have come to expect from outside vendors.