In my conversations with managers across the country, one challenge constantly surfaces: justifying the resources (people, budgets and equipment) needed to run an excellent operation. This is one of the biggest challenges that I face too, but over time I've learned ways to be successful in acquiring these necessary resources.
After her IPMA session, we asked Charlie Holden why it's crucial to BLUF your CFO on your equipment proposal.
The current economy can be viewed as a threat or an opportunity. For in-plants that have made the right investments, the economy has opened the door to some new and exciting opportunities.
Central Michigan University Printing Services has installed a Fuji Javelin 8300 thermal CTP system running Fuji Brillia and Ecomaxx-T processless thermal plates.
Different types of organizations tend to approach the lease-buy question from different perspectives. Businesses use a variety of tools, like computing the net present value of leasing vs. buying and picking the option that maximizes profitability. Non-profit organizations—including government agencies, colleges and universities—are not as concerned with profit, but they do need to look at the impact on operating and/or capital budgets to make financially sound decisions. In some cases, the decision is driven by organizational policy, legislative guidelines or procurement laws, so the in-plant manager has little if any choice.
It’s the same old tactic: An equipment vendor calls the vice president at an organization and requests a meeting. The topic: how the vendor’s expertise and solutions are helping similar organizations succeed. The translation: how the vendor can close down the in-plant, run it with its own staff and still somehow save the organization money (while making a profit for itself). The topic came up again recently on a listserv discussion, engendering scores of comments from in-plant managers who have experienced this sneaky scheme. Several managers said their reputation as printing experts is so good, the VP asked the vendor to meet with the
IN-PLANT MANAGERS sometimes develop a status quo perspective that needs to be refreshed. With some frequency, I’m reminded of the manager who cautioned me on a press justification study the press manufacturer was paying for: “I don’t want you getting my people too excited about a major new press, to then have them disappointed again.” My response: “Let’s see what the numbers tell us.” We owe it to our subordinates—as well as to our superiors—to ask our suppliers, our customers and our fellow associates, “What needs to change, and what opportunities have we not addressed?” I humbly (and occasionally) admit that I have
OUR IN-PLANT just made a big change in the way it does business: we sprang for “Big Color”—a digital color press. Over an eight-month period we considered the Canon C7000VP, the HP Indigo 3050, the IKON CPP 650, the Kodak NexPress 2100, the Konica Minolta bizhub PRO C6500, Océ’s CPS900 and CS650 Pro, and Xerox’s DocuColor 6060, 7000 and 260. Many of you are considering a similar acquisition, so I will share some aspects of our experience with you.
You know it. But how do you convince upper management that investing in new equipment will save money down the line? By Kristen E. Monte You've heard the argument: Your equipment still works; why replace it? As most in-plant managers know, their shops are often at the bottom of the organization's budget allocation list. Getting upper management to shell out money for upgrades is a difficult task—but not impossible. After all, the pages of IPG are filled with equipment installation articles. The secret, according to managers who have succeeded, is determining the profitability of that new equipment. If you can prove to upper management
You say you'd love to upgrade your equipment but can't get management to OK it? Find out how this manager was able to justify the cost of new equipment — repeatedly.
