Supervising a Healthy In-plant

Bobbi Francis

Bobbi Francis had a strong incentive to get into the printing business.

“My parents said, ‘Get out. Get a job,’” says Francis, supervisor of Digital Print Services at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas.

Her post-high school Wendy’s career wasn’t exactly flourishing, and her parents were pushing her to find a job with benefits. So, the 18-year-old Topeka, Kansas, resident turned to one of her town’s top employers: Blue Cross and Blue Shield. A friend who worked there gave Francis an application, and in 1981 she took a job in the company’s print shop.

Forty-three years later, having worked her way up, Francis is now supervisor of that operation.

“I love what I do,” she says.

Embracing the Challenge

Though she’s learned the trade well over the years, Francis knew nothing about printing when she first walked through the six-employee in-plant’s doors. Other operators taught her to run the presses.

“I jumped right in,” she says. “I love a challenge.”

She remembers doing a lot of hand collating in those days.

“We had tables and tables set up,” she says. “A lot of hand work on everything back then.”

Three years after she started, the shop got its first Canon toner printer. “We were so fascinated that something could run that quick,” she recalls.

In the years that followed, Francis became well-versed on all the equipment. In 1992, the in-plant moved into a new facility (even farther underground: in the sub-basement).

Then, in 2006, her boss retired, and she was promoted to supervisor. Rather than simply sitting back and monitoring production, Francis took steps to improve the in-plant. Knowing how operators had become dedicated to specific machines, she tried to broaden their skills.

At IPMA 2023, Bobbi Francis (BCBS Kansas) chats with Eric Nazim (City of Oklahoma City).

“One of the first things I did was to change that up and make it into rotation every three months, and cross-training all the employees so that everybody knew everything,” she says. Though some resisted the change at first, they eventually saw the value, she says.

“They felt better about themselves knowing everything about the department,” she says.

Francis also made more of an effort to enhance her own education by seeking out industry events.

“Before me, both of the supervisors never really attended any work conferences,” she says. “They didn’t do any educational [events]. When I took over, I researched all that, and I really got involved with them. That’s what really helped me understand all there is out there that can be utilized.”

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas’ in-plant uses an OKI HD-CX1600 to print envelopes. With it here are (from left) Bobbi Francis, Regina Edwards, Rhonda Cook, Sara Roy and Daniel Hernandez.

She attended MailCom, the National Postal Forum, the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association conference, Printing United Expo, the Mail Systems Management Association (MSMA) conference, and got involved with the Kansas City chapter of the USPS Postal Customer Council. A people person with a friendly demeanor and an ever-present smile, Francis naturally took to these opportunities to meet industry peers and learn about their operations. She feels it’s important to understand industry trends and new technology, so she can put that knowledge to use to improve her own in-plant.

Getting Certified

Bobbi Francis and Forrest McGuire at the In-Print 2022 contest judging.

“By going to those conferences and the vendor shows, I learned about certifications for the mail side and the print side,” she adds.

She subsequently earned a Management Training Program Certificate from the Association of Office Services Professionals and the MSMA; Mailpiece Design Consultant certification from MSMA and Mailcom; and Mail Design Professional certification from the National Postal Forum.

Through her conference attendance, Francis also learned about all the available Web-to-print systems. As a result, the shop is evaluating vendors and preparing to implement a system. Once it goes live, she feels this will be her crowning achievement as an in-plant supervisor.

She is also looking into new wide-format printing equipment.

“I’d like to grow that area,” she says.

Though Francis feels the in-plant’s subterranean facility is too small, it manages to fit a range of equipment in its 4,000 sq. ft. of space: Ricoh and Xerox production printers, an Epson wide-format printer, an OKI HD-CX1600 envelope printer, two Quadient addressing printers, and numerous cutting, laminating, binding, scoring, and punching machines. The shop will soon gain about 600 sq. ft. of space, Francis says, from another department that is moving.

As a supervisor, she tries to keep her staff of three motivated by celebrating birthdays, playing games together, and doing other team-building exercises, all encouraged by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas. Her goal, she says, is to get better at recognizing employees for accomplishments. To help morale, she tries to work on the shop floor with staff when she can.

Last year, to improve her management skills, Francis started reading books about team building and management.

“It’s really changed a lot of things in my life,” she says. “It’s grown me as an individual. I encourage my employees to read too.”

Communication Challenges

Despite her 43 years of printing experience, Francis admits that, as a women in a male-dominated field, she occasionally feels her opinion isn’t valued.

“I just don’t feel like I’m heard sometimes,” she admits.

Bobbi Francis

She says she has to work harder at presenting her ideas to an audience of men, who she feels don’t generally have the same listening skills as women. She advises other women in the industry to develop strong communication skills and be active listeners.

At 61, Francis looks and feels much younger, and says she certainly isn’t ready to retire.

“I love the people I work with,” she says. “I don’t know if I’m ready to take a totally new beginning yet.”

Still, as a health-conscious person who enjoys running (and is preparing to run a half marathon), Francis is considering an eventual new career as a personal fitness trainer.

Outside of work, she has a surprising range of hobbies. Her biggest project is rebuilding a 1971 Pontiac Grand Prix, which she plans to do on her own. It’s both a nod to nostalgia — since she drove a 1972 Grand Prix in high school — and also a way to make her father proud, she says.

“I’m trying to make it look as much like my high school car as I can,” she says.

On the opposite end of the hobby spectrum, Francis also loves sewing, following in the footsteps of her mother, a quilter and seamstress. She also enjoys scrapbooking with one sister, and goes traveling with her other sister.

Recently engaged, Francis has a son from a previous marriage, as well as five grandchildren. “I can’t wait to spend time with them when I retire,” she says.