New Directions for Tomorrow's In-plant Industry

The in-plant is in a potentially crucial position in a world of increasing digital media convergence.

By Richard Vines

The modern world is indebted to print. Gutenberg's legacy gave rise to mass literacy and established the foundation for an era of mass production.

But the rise of computer networks and Internet protocols is already spawning a new era. Some of the important features of this emerging world are personalization and mass-customization (instead of mass production), accessibility of content from the desktop and print-on-demand.

Most enterprises now use a combination of print-based and Internet-based communication channels. Both workflows are crucial. But with possibilities like customization and multi-purposing of content, a turbulence is now arising. Where and how does print workflow fit in an enterprise's approach to communications management? Which tasks should be implemented, by what methods and why?

The resolution of this turbulence will have a profound impact on knowledge workers. It will affect the ways in which they categorize and codify information. It will also affect how their knowledge work practices are designed and organized.

The Print Management Paradox

In Australia, a significant number of in-house printing operations have been or are under review in recent times. Concurrently, the commercial quick-print sector is rapidly emerging as a major player in the transformation of the entire commercial print industry. These observations suggest that there is much uncertainty about how enterprise print functions should be managed.

These uncertainties are underpinned in Australia, where I live, by two other important factors:

1. There has not been a history of publicly funded research in the print industry, as there has been in other large industry sectors. This has meant that an independent peer-review community has not developed within the industry.

2. A professional educational degree program has only existed for a few years. This has limited the amount of interaction between people who manage print functions and people trained to have responsibilities for strategic management of enterprises.

At face value, it seems that the impact of similar environmental factors is becoming evident in the U.S. For example, it was interesting to read in a recent industry report (Johnson and Mehta, 2005, p. 7) that to a large extent:

Business managers are engaged in business process management/ improvement (BPM) projects, but are not evaluating and changing print processes as part of these projects.

The contention is, therefore, that a print-management paradox exists. Whilst print is clearly a costly enterprise support function, there is little evidence that strategic approaches to its management are being advanced and supported. Business process reform involves IT, but the digital imaging functions appear to be significantly neglected in the world of enterprise reform.

Become a Vital Contributor

A global challenge now exists for the in-house printing and graphics industries. What will these industries look like five years from now if they position themselves as vital contributors to enterprise-value management objectives?

A small-scale part of the challenge ahead is that "in-house printing" probably needs a new name. But a big-scale reconception of enterprise printing, and of graphics management, can only occur, and be supported, if is connected to an enterprise value proposition. This is because, as the shift from analog to digital technologies continues, the industry must grapple with the idea that its value to an organization is in the process of being radically transformed. The table on page 24 highlights the major aspects of this transformation.

Conclusion

There is currently much confusion about how best to manage enterprise printing functions. It is likely that this confusion will grow as a result of the convergence of different enterprise communications media.

In response to this challenge, consideration should be given to establishing an industry-orientated global initiative, designed to help navigate the future of enterprise printing and its convergence with other digital media. A specific focus on mapping the linkages between digital-imaging functions and value-management objectives, including value networks, is warranted.

Such an approach has the potential to contribute to enterprise competitiveness objectives. At the same time it could aim to give expression to the very best of our human potential for creativity. It might also create mechanisms for more individuals to participate in collaborative knowledge-sharing activities, and as a result, to use knowledge to act in line with broad social, cultural and economic aspirations.

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Richard Vines is director of Project Lessons, a research and business services consultancy based in Melbourne, Australia. He has extensive experience in consulting, project management and strategic planning. Mr. Vines' first white paper (www.nippa.com.au/whitepaper.pdf) on the in-house printing sector, sponsored by Canon Australia, was the first independent analysis of this industry in Australia. A second white paper on the topic "In-house Printing in Transition: A guide for the better serving of readers, users and knowledge workers in an era of digital-media and communications convergence" will soon be published. You can contact Mr. Vines at:

plessons@netspace.net.au