In a difficult economic climate, organizations are seeking to improve business metrics by outsourcing operations that are not directly related to their core products.
Will outsourcing the Washington State Department of Printing really reduce printing costs? Really? Closing a self-supporting in-plant print shop doesn’t make the demand for printing in the organization go away.
The legislature has convened for the current term in the State of Washington, and it looks like business as usual, at least for that state’s Department of Printing (PRT). A group of Republican and Democratic Senators, including Senator Rodney Tom, who sponsored a similar bill last year, has introduced Senate Bill 5523, which would eliminate the state printer.
As in-plant managers, we are often expected to confirm our value to our parent organizations. We are asked why the organization needs an in-plant. The following is a true story. Only the names have been changed to protect the...Well, bear with me.
A lot of the people I work with are confused about how to respond to “let’s close the print shop and save a bundle.” There are a lot of excuses put forward to justify closing an in-plant. One frequently used excuse is the cost of new equipment and the organization’s inability or unwillingness to modernize.
How do you define “impression?” Printers have been arguing about the definition of an impression for as long as we’ve had devices that put marks on pieces of paper. Longer, actually.
What’s going on in the State of Washington? The State Auditor’s Office (SAO) has selected a “Subject Matter Expert” to conduct a “Printing Services Performance Audit” of Washington’s Department of Printing
The proposal to perform a fleet analysis and recommend real savings could just as well come from you as from an outside vendor, but you have to let people know you can do it.
Just before July 4th we got word that another major university is closing its print and mail facility and writing specifications to outsource these services.
As managers we should use metrics to support every major decision (and most minor ones as well). Everything can and should be measured, and those measures should be the foundation of your decisions.
