In-plants: An Epicenter of Industry Transformation

THE INTERNET has distracted enterprise management from the importance of adopting a strategic approach to the management of print. It is true that the print industry has embraced huge transformations in the past 15 years; there is nothing left of the print industry of just 20 years ago. But in many ways, the changes of the past 15 years have been about using digital technologies to emulate aspects of the analog print industry.

A different type of transformation is now underway. The combined impact of the Internet and digitization is the root cause of a migration of print production closer to the source of demand—in offices, bookshops, libraries, data processing centers and the like. Consequently, the print industry is at an early stage of structural transformation.

It is my view that the next transformation will be so profoundly different that completely novel thinking is required. In-plants are at the epicenter of this change because they are closely located to where new market signals are being unleashed. Digital media convergence is having a disruptive impact on business models, workflow and work itself

Because of these trends, the in-house print sector is a highly unusual industry. The entire communications industry should put effort into understanding the dynamics of this sector. The need is to understand print communication strategies within the context of different roles of the readers, users and knowledge workers. This is because in the new digital environment, enterprise staff, stakeholders and customers are all readers and users, and all want to dictate workflow according to their own interests and needs.

The Scale of the Challenge

To reap the benefits of a new paradigm, based on readers-as-users and knowledge workers, requires recognition that the workflow of Web-posting and printing are structurally separate. The two worlds of print and the Internet have completely different origins. As a result, major constraints must be addressed to let users direct workflow according to their needs and interests.

Cost-reduction opportunities for enterprise workflow should be analyzed on a whole system basis. If these matters are considered objectively, and if workflow is coordinated on a whole-system basis, more substantial cost reduction and service improvement opportunities are likely to be found in functional areas other than the print function.

Achieving these reform opportunities is likely to require a radical transformation of workflow. Print cannot be regarded as a functional area separate from other functional areas. It is now fundamental, like IT, to all functional areas of work.

A Presentation Technology

But why bother with this complicated view? The reason is that printing needs to market its strength as a presentation technology. Its important legacy of serving the interests of readers still remains. The paperless office has been elusive, partially because of the important relationship between print and the reader. The communications industry needs to better understand why this relationship is so important—with implications for teaching, learning and customized market message management.

This is no small matter. For example, Stuart Robbins, in a recent book* “Lessons in Grid Computing: The System Is a Mirror,” has hypothesized that in the grid computing world “everything is moving towards the presentation layer.” The print industry has something to contribute to the emerging space of service-orientated computing.

New Demands on Print

In-plants are at the bleeding edge in understanding the new demands on print from their customers, who are shifting their media preferences. But the challenge is huge, because of the multiple areas of work functions that will be impacted by such re-conceptions.

For example, many enterprises store content on multiple media servers, wasting hardware and duplicating content. A document workflow service system requires effective content management and fewer servers. The use of media servers will incrementally lead to the structuring of work in different ways that more accurately reflect the reality that work is a social system. This includes the replication of hierarchies and access privileges that are enforced by procedures in the offline world.

As media servers become more widespread, so will rigorous standards-based workflow. Variable-data printing will force printers to become more comfortable with content marked up to reflect its information structure rather than its visual appearance. When this happens, the in-plant will have become something completely new. New skills and service support paradigms will be required to ensure these practices are adopted in sustainable ways.

Linking Document Workflow and Value Management

The establishment of a document workflow system can potentially create a foundation for the establishment and management of a range of cross-cutting networks (e.g. marketing, administration, resource materials publishing). Each network contributes to an enterprise-wide approach to value management. Specific linkages are made between managing data, extracting information and creating new knowledge.

Potential exists to deploy ambassadors of the document-workflow service system out to the business units to support workflow transformation solutions. The benefit of this is that document workflow is not just seen as an approach to technology, but contributes to a wider approach to managing knowledge.** IPG

* Robbins, S. 2006. Lessons in Grid Computing: The System Is a Mirror. John Wiley and Sons. Hoboken, N.J.

** Vines, R. and Naismith, L. (2002) Exploring the Foundations of Knowledge Management Practice, In Developing Knowledge Workers in the Printing and Publishing Industries: Education, Training and Knowledge Management in the Publishing Supply Chain, from Creator to Consumer, edited by B. Cope and R. Freeman. IPG

Richard Vines lives in Melbourne Australia. He is a specialist in enterprise and sector-based research, publishing, consulting and thought leadership for large-scale programs and projects across a range of industries. He can be contacted at plessons@netspace.net.au