Raising the Performance Bar
Here are some Standard Operating Procedures from a shop I visited recently:
• Every job is assigned a due date.
• The date entered into the tracking system is one day earlier than the actual due date, to build in a cushion.
• Every job due out that day is listed on a white board in the shop for everyone to see.
• No one leaves for the day until the white board is cleared and all jobs due that day are finished.
• All customers are notified by e-mail or phone when their jobs are ready.
• Every finished job is checked for quality by a member of the copy center staff.
• Every finished job gets a “Quality Control Certificate” signed by the person that checked the job
• Rush job are encouraged.
How many of us set these kinds of goals, let alone meet them? These are some pretty high standards, but this shop manages to meet them day-in and day-out, while processing several hundred orders a month.
Did I mention it’s an FM? The bar has been raised.
- Categories:
- Business Management - In-plant Justification
Ray Chambers, CGCM, MBA, has invested over 30 years managing and directing printing plants, copy centers, mail centers and award-winning document management facilities in higher education and government.
Most recently, Chambers served as vice president and chief information officer at Juniata College. Chambers is currently a doctoral candidate studying Higher Education Administration at the Pennsylvania State University (PSU). His research interests include outsourcing in higher education and its impact on support services in higher education and managing support services. He also consults (Chambers Management Group) with leaders in both the public and private sectors to help them understand and improve in-plant printing and document services operations.
