Getting Respect from Commercial Printers

Why is it that sometimes in-plant printers can’t catch a break—at least, not from commercial printers? It seems like every time I talk to a commercial printer and the subjects of in-plants comes up, all I hear is negativity.

For instance, on a recent flight, I spent two hours of sheer hell arguing with the owner of a print and mail house, who had a very low opinion of in-plant managers. More on that exchange in a minute.

I don’t want to generalize about all commercial printers based on the actions of a few. Over the years I’ve built up good relations with many of them, and I’ve had more than one commercial printer tell me that he wouldn’t trade jobs; running an in-plant is too demanding.

Once, when the shop I managed was flooded, our friends in the commercial sector came to our rescue. They didn’t take our misfortune as an opportunity to gouge the university; they let us use their presses when they didn’t have work for them, let us borrow makeready and bindery facilities, and gave us room to store paper. They pitched in and helped us, and as a result we managed to get most of our critical jobs done on time.

So, no, I won’t generalize about all commercial sector printers; I’ve known some that understand the pressures of running an in-plant. I just wish more of them would show us the same courtesy.

When I do in-plant assessments I try to talk to commercial printers in the area. Over the years I’ve learned that when describing my years of experience as a print manager, it’s best not to mention that my experience is in managing in-plants, because when I do my credibility with commercial printers flies out the window. It doesn’t matter that I managed a three tower 1,000 feet-per-minute roll-to-roll, or a string of 40˝ manroland presses, or a four-tower roll-fed 25˝ web, or that in one shop I managed, 100,000 was a short run. My experience was still managing an in-plant so I couldn’t possibly know anything about “real printing.”