Software - MIS

It's been a rough road the last several years for in-plant printers. Disruptive technologies, economic uncertainty and the threat of being outsourced have taken their toll.

A few years ago I did a presentation at a conference, which I called "Prepare to Defend Yourself." In it I explained that in my experience senior management probably does not understand the strategic contribution of an in-plant, so it's up to us to make the connection for them. The content was informed by more than 30 years of dealing with management and hundreds of projects involving in-plant performance.

Located in the southern portion of western Oregon's Willamette Valley, about two hours south of Portland, Springfield Public Schools (SPS) is the second largest employer in the city of Springfield. Its 22 schools host about 10,600 students and employ 800 teaching staff and 400 administrators and support staff.

We face an ongoing challenge to build a trustworthy team that reliably serves our key stakeholders. The starting place is to have the team led by a trustworthy leader—you. How can we develop a higher level of trustworthiness for ourselves and our teams? Let me share some ideas, largely based on the work of Dr. Robert Hurley, a respected professor, consultant and former manager.

In the past two months I’ve been fortunate to attend both the Association of College and University Printers and the In-Plant Printing and Mailing Association conferences, where I saw about 215 managers, all told. It was great to see them, and as far as I could tell each of them thoroughly enjoyed the events. I can’t help but wonder, though: where are the rest of them? There are tens of thousands of in-plants out there; around 20,000 of them read this magazine. Yet most remain holed up in their shops, alone with their thoughts and troubles, no one to confer with.

In the Hall of Fame of great conferences (if there were such a thing) it would be tough to beat last month's In-Plant Printing and Mailing Association (IPMA) conference. The location, on the outskirts of San Francisco, was excellent; the weather was sunny and pleasant throughout; the lineup of speakers and topics was among the best ever, with a nearly overwhelming amount of useful, timely information presented; and the evening boat cruise on the San Francisco Bay provided that combination of stunning views and friendly fraternization often sought but rarely achieved.

Like many children of his generation, Rob Lingard had dreams of becoming a cowboy. Some aspired to be firemen or football players, but Lingard held visions of becoming the next Gene Autry.

Can we directly motivate another person? Not really. But we can intentionally foster a climate that helps people motivate themselves. President Dwight D. Eisenhower said it well: "Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it."

To keep Michigan Farm Bureau's Printing Services operation running efficiently and effectively, Karen Meyers depends on Avanti's Graphic Arts Management System. Its estimating, order entry, inventory management and reporting modules, as well as Avanti's eAccess Web-to-print software, have streamlined the in-plant.

How can one manage workflow, prioritize jobs or manage resource allocation without a basic understanding of the volume and types of orders flowing through the shop? Sadly, I rarely see shops that collect even the most basic production data. Not knowing what we print, and for whom, is a big problem that will only increase in importance as we move forward.