Business Management - In-plant Justification

Why send jobs to the in-plant when a desktop printer or hallway copier can take care of them? That’s what many of your customers are thinking—and doing. It’s up to you to change their bad, wasteful habits. Here are some suggestions from fellow managers. To see even more, check out our e-news story on this topic. Educate Them What we do is point out to all our departments with short presentations during departmental meetings how expensive the cost per copy is for a desktop versus our cheaper cost per copy with our in-plant equipment. We also stress the labor issue: that the department

I have had the opportunity to talk to many high-level leaders in both the public and private sectors about the importance of their in-plants. There’s a scenario that plays out in most of these conversations, and it goes like this: At some point during the visit I’ll be introduced to the vice president responsible for printing. The VP’s name is generally uttered in

Probably the biggest weakness in the relationship between in-plant managers and their bosses is the reporting process: What to report and when to do it. So says consultant Ray Chambers in an article in the December issue of In-Plant Graphics. “Too many in-plant managers use a shotgun strategy in reporting their activities—that is, they gather all the data they can find and fire it up the chain of command,” he says. The problem is, executives are problem solvers, and if you give them data they may assume that you want them to use it. Further, their conclusions may not match yours. Don’t flood your boss

PRINTERS ARE confronted with a double-edged sword of shifting volumes and hungry competition. As the Internet and alternative media have cannibalized conventional print volume, they have also presented startling opportunities to all printers. This article will discuss evolving trends and the strategic positioning that a number of insightful in-plant leaders appear to be pursuing. Insourcing: Essential and Sobering Numerous in-plants are insourcing print volume from the competitive print market to fill capacity on key equipment. In-Plant Graphics’ surveys have shown this practice to be increasing, with nearly 60 percent of in-plants engaged to some degree. While the objective of bringing in incremental volume is

While some feel that adding equipment is the best way to strengthen their in-plants, Wayne Guiney, executive manager of Office Services at Ontario Power Generation, in Toronto, offers the following viewpoint: “When we streamline our in-plants, much thought should go into how much space we are occupying of the companies core resource space. The trimmer our ship, the less water we displace, and the captains of industry that manage our sales are less likely to toss us overboard to the outsourcing sharks. “Basically, the analogy here is that we all can’t go out and purchase more equipment to satisfy the back end of our business.

WHEN PROPOSING something as volatile as the right of first refusal, it makes sense to benchmark one of the forefathers of insubordinate enlightenment. In 1776, Thomas Paine published an essay called “Common Sense.” It clearly delineated the reasons why 13 overtaxed colonies should work together to succeed without bowing to the self-interest of outside concerns. It was a logical call for interdependent independence. It took courage to point out the obvious. In-plant managers will require a measure of that valor. Knowing Why Doesn’t it make sense for an organization to invest in its own services? It’s like taking money out of the left pocket and putting

GPS to recreate entire worldwide infrastructure and provide all publishing services WASHINGTON DC—October 23, 2006—Following a rigorous government selection process, the Department of State awarded a 10-year contract worth $164 million to its revamped in-house printing and publishing organization, Global Publishing Solutions (GPS). The award decision culminated an 18-month public-private competition, comparing the government’s ability to provide a commercial service with the private sector bidders’ ability to accomplish the same service. Competitive Sourcing is one of the five Government-wide initiatives of the President’s Management Agenda, which is the Administration’s strategy for improving the management and performance of the Federal government. The competition encompassed 199 positions, including

Here’s how Jean-Luc Devis, director of Printing & Mailing Services at Oregon State University*, has handled some common in-plant problems. Problem: Employees requesting time off when their co-workers are already taking those days off, leaving no one to run the equipment. Solution: Empowered work teams. Have each work team first work out the time-off schedule before presenting it to the departmental supervisor. Problem: Phone conversations with customers restrict employees from searching out solutions away from the desk. Solution: Wireless headsets allow CSRs to be more responsive by allowing access to equipment, proofs, workflow issues, etc. while still on the phone. This improves responsiveness. * Jean-Luc Devis will begin his

DESPITE HAVING made the change to digital printing technologies, in-plants may continue to be at risk of being outsourced. As organizations seeking to remain competitive in the new economy of the 21st century become increasingly knowledge based, in-plants must develop competencies that support Knowledge Management. Given the in-plant’s exposure to organizational knowledge via the documents it reproduces, it is uniquely placed to play a vital role and better support the strategic objectives and goals of the organization. Print-on-demand capabilities have revolutionized the in-plant, reducing the need to print for inventory and improving production turnaround times. The ability to produce collated, completed documents from

To ensure the long-term success of your in-plant, you need to manage it like an independent business. This requires discipline in three critical areas: • Financial managemen: Do you know the costs of your supplies, labor, and equipment? How do these costs compare to commercial printers? If you can produce numbers that show the parent company gets more for its money at the in-plant than at an outside printer, then your shop will keep its doors open. • Customer focus: Do you know which customers provide the bulk of your work? Do you meet with them to find out what they might need in