Winning the Outsourcing Fight

It happened at the University of Maine like it happens to in-plants everywhere. A vendor approached the director of purchasing with a pitch to take over printing. Tales of costs savings and collaboration beguiled the director, who promptly set up a meeting. The in-plant manager was not invited.

“The part that was really scary was, it came up at a time when we had a new boss over our area and there was also a brand new director of purchasing,” relates Tammy Young, director of Printing & Mailing Services at the Orono, Maine, university.