Business Management - In-plant Justification

After a new administrator decided to outsource his university’s in-plant things got a little strange when vendors complained.

Years ago, after partnering with a vendor to implement one of the first all-inclusive copier management programs in higher-ed, I was shocked when that same vendor approached our administration with the news that we had too many copiers, too many printers and too many copy centers. 20 years later, nothing’s changed.

The Lincoln Award Program seeks to recognize local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and to the community in Lincoln, Neb. This year, the program selected University of Nebraska-Lincoln Print, Copy, Mail & Distribution Services for its 2017 Best of Lincoln Award.

The first In-plant Innovators Conference challenged in-plants to think in innovative ways. They took this message to heart.

By adding promotional product distribution and a new HP Indigo 10000, the University of North Texas has cut costs and added value.

"The threat of outsourcing is evolving." That's how Consultant Howie Fenton put it on Tuesday when he addressed the In-plant Innovators Conference in Washington, D.C.

The Association of College and University Printers met in Cincinnati for its 52nd conference, which boasted the highest attendance in years. The conference featured sessions Web-to-print, variable data, wide-format and bindery, and several sessions were devoted to in-plant justification, benchmarking and marketing.

University in-plants are very different from corporate and other in-house printing operations. For one, their goals are different, and they can frequently shift as administrative focuses change from year to year.

Often, the VP and the in-plant manager have different perceptions of which data is important to measure and report on. The in-plant manager needs hard numbers to guide shop performance. But the VP needs to know why these metrics are important. Make sure you ask which metrics management wants to see.