Business Management - In-plant Justification

Making money for your organization's bottom line by insourcing can mean all the difference in whether or not your in-plant survives.

By focusing on financial management, customer focus and marketing, one can develop their in-plant to run more like a business. But what does that mean and how does one run an in-plant like a business?

While Xerox technicians were developing the new DocuTech 100 and 120 copier/printers, they did a lot more than just talk among themselves. Xerox assembled two customer advisory councils to look at its plans and offer advice. One of these teams was made up entirely of in-plant managers. "In-plants represent a substantial part of our current market placements," explains Peter Fallon, Xerox product marketing manager. Consequently, Xerox wanted to make sure it was developing a product that met in-plants' needs. The in-plant panel comprised seven managers. One of them was Susan Anderson, director of Printing Services at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. In a

The secret to surviving as an in-plant is to become indispensable. By Mike Renn What is your cost per color copy?" The potential client telephoned looking for a simple answer that would help her decide on a print provider. I couldn't fault her. It would appear that digital copiers have overtaken the printing services business. Everything has been reduced to cost per copy and clicks. Or has it? "We don't have an off the rack cost per copy. We customize the price to the project," I replied. In this case, the volume and simplicity of the specifications allowed me to use a less-expensive process

"All printing is created equal." It's not true, of course, but this is what our customers tend to believe. They've come to expect things like fast, dependable service, a quality product and value for their money. So when they try to differentiate between printers, they often focus on price. And while price is important, the best way for an in-plant to distinguish itself is through superior customer service and satisfaction. Technology is driving our business forward but is also driving our

Don't jump into the Request for Proposal process unprepared. By Mary Hegarty Let's face it, most people cringe (or worse) when faced with the prospect of initiating or responding to a major Request for Proposal (RFP). The RFP process doesn't have to be a cause for undue stress, though. Done right, RFPs can be a valuable learning experience for both the buyer and the supplier. An in-plant manager has challenges that the average buyer does not. You are faced with buying equipment that will meet all the needs of very diverse customers, each with their own budget, time and requirement constraints.

By implementing a chargeback system, in-plants can save money, justify new equipment and prove their worth. By Mike Llewellyn IF YOU THINK balancing your checkbook is a chore, try managing the budget at the 52-employee Houston Independent School District in-plant. Steve Blakely, director of administrative services, says watching over the cash is a lot less difficult than it could be, though. That's because the in-plant charges back for every service it offers. Blakely says it's tough to imagine doing business without a fee-for-service system in place. It might come as a bit of a surprise, then, to learn that Administrative Services is relatively

Bringing in outside work is a challenge, but serious revenue is waiting for managers who know how to get it. By Mike Llewellyn JUST ABOUT 20 percent of Cameron University Printing Services' revenue comes from insourcing. According to Director Stanley Verser, that's a contentious number. Like many in-plants looking to insource work to fatten their profit margins, Verser says his Laughton, Okla.-based shop has to walk a fine line between serving the needs of external customers, and making sure the school is always the first priority. But then, serving the school's printing needs was the impetus behind insourcing in the first place. "The more

In the nine months since taking office as the 24th U.S. Public Printer, Bruce James says that, in his visits with the many dedicated workers on GPO's staff, he has been surprised to encounter a few who view the current falloff in printing volume as but a temporary setback. Deep down, they feel printing is sure to return to its previous volume once the economy revives. This is precisely the attitude Mr. James has been trying to change as he works to retool and digitize the 142-year-old in-plant for survival in the 21st century. I had the privilege of spending a few

By Mike Llewellyn Managers say attention to detail and a focus on customer service have made their in-plants among the most respected departments in their organizations. One of the toughest, and seldom discussed, challenges for in-plant managers is the battle to win recognition and respect from their parent organizations. "A lot of managers think they're rated very low on the totem pole," says Mike Renn, assistant vice president for corporate services at Philadelphia-based Mellon Financial. But this isn't because they lack the expertise needed to win the support of upper management. Rather, Renn says commercial printers have the time and money to sit