In this free eBook find out how you can accelerate your in-plant’s future and proactively respond to change. With many parts of the printing and in-plant industry changing, it may result in a resurgence of the in-plant outsourcing trend. Download the eBook and learn how to prepare your production print operation for the future, and create a plan to minimize threats and maximize your future opportunities.
A common productivity killer for printing operations is bottlenecks. With a recession potentially looming, industry experts are advising print providers to increase their productivity to help address a business slowdown and other current trends. In this post, industry consultant Howie Fenton offers his four STEP process (staff, training, equipment, and procedures) as part of an approach to resolve bottlenecks to increase productivity.
Our 11 predictions about how print industry trends will impact print centers and how to respond to reduce the challenges these trends create. While most in-plant print centers have been struggling with challenges ranging from demand to supply chain to staffing in the last few years, the trends and pace of change have accelerated. The issues from the trends alone would be challenging, but the combination will create “perfect storms.”
This third blog in our responding to change series addresses how to implement change and avoid a trip to the “failed implementation closet.” It answers the planning question of how an operation can deliver on their strategy/plan to position themselves to rapidly respond to change with suggested tips, tools, and an example operational project plan.
Part two of a three-part series about positioning your in-plant to change and reduce the risk of outsourcing by answering three questions- where the operation should be going, what resources are needed to support the vision, and how you plan to get where you want to go. This blog discusses the staffing, software, hardware, and financing resources you need to support your strategic plan.
Intuitively we know that change is a constant. However, technology changes have been gradual and did not threaten the in-plant business model. In comparison, changes brought about from the pandemic have been fast, and may threaten in-plant businesses. These changes are comparable to the metaphor of someone moving the “cheese.” If you see that these changes are impacting your business, it’s the perfect time to start planning for next year to help minimize threats and maximize your future opportunities.
If you are struggling to find new prepress staff, an alternative is to add prepress automation software. Often overlooked when hiring inexperienced staff is the increase in rework. This blog shows that prepress software automation costs less than hiring inexperienced prepress staff.
As production volume increases and staffing remains a challenge, we have a choice to hire inexperienced staff and train them or increase the amount of automation. We compared these options and found that more rework resulted from hiring inexperienced staff, which cost more and reduced the availability of paper. When comparing hiring/training to automation, remember that the costs and risks of hiring inexperienced staff are higher now because of the staffing crisis and paper shortage.
At a recent in-plant conference I was reminded of the benefits of remaining focused on long term strategic goals. Spending too much time on production issues like finding paper and rehiring staff can shift your focus away from strategic issues like remaining aligned with your parent organization. An excellent presentation about workflow automation showed how one in-plant has benefited from remaining focused on working toward their strategic goals for over a decade.
In this post, Howie Fenton previews his IPMA conference presentation designed to help in-plants in your recovery from the last two and a half years. He offers suggestions for dealing with four top issues: declining volumes, hiring new staff, and minimizing complaints about pricing, and the impact of the paper shortage.