Turning Suggestions into Profit

Turning a customer suggestion into a profitable new line of business is the hallmark of a successful in-plant. Here’s how Auburn University’s CopyCat operation did it:

“Our graduate school approached us about doing hard book thesis and dissertation binding,” says Glenda Miley, CopyCat manager. “They wanted us to do the gold foil stamping on the cover, and we purchased a small machine and tried it, but it did not do well.

“Then Marc Haon, our assistant manager came up with the idea of a dust jacket that the customer could have anything they wanted printed on it, and we could make it look like a hard back book you buy in the store.

“It has been a huge hit and brought us a stream of revenue that we didn’t have before.”