Operations Assessments: A Must for Print Firm Owners, Managers

In the slower moving printersphere of yesterday, operational assessments were “nice things to have” for your father’s printing company. However, the challenge of keeping pace with the high speed of a rapidly changing technological landscape has rendered operational assessments essential for today’s print service providers (PSPs). Either keep up or face the threat of losing business to a competitor that has kept up. Competition could come from anywhere in the world.

There is no doubt that our industry has undergone transformation. Besides the swift pace of technology, market requirements have changed too. Quick returns, different types of on-boarding, how we connect with customers, and electronic data interchange (EDI) — these things pose challenges for print firm management. And each one is a reason for PSPs to have their operations evaluated periodically.

Take a hard look at what your company is doing and ask:

How are you doing it?

Where are your production bottlenecks?

What are your pain points?

Operational assessment is difficult to do internally because owners and managers are too close to day-to-day action. It’s impossible to have objective viewpoints. It can be a classic scenario of not knowing what they don’t know. They’re usually too involved to see the proverbial forest through the trees. Assessing operations frequently becomes an issue of skill set and bandwidth. Some equipment vendors offer assessments, but they are not always “honest brokers” either.

An organization’s cultural challenges are also a factor. Technology can be easy, but people are often the more difficult pieces of the puzzle. Relatively speaking, it’s a breeze to buy a piece of hardware, integrate with software, and even streamline workflow processes. However, getting employees on board with change can be a daunting task.

Don’t Neglect Maintenance

Proactive and preventative maintenance should be part of a print operation’s assessment. If you’re not already doing scheduled equipment maintenance, you should be. The worst case is reacting to a crisis or an emergency when machine improvements or software upgrades can become unnecessarily complicated. PSPs need an operational assessment plan to schedule maintenance and avoid these situations. Start by talking to manufacturers and service organizations to determine which devices need attention—and how often.

To get the assessment ball rolling, conduct due diligence when selecting a consultant to lead your efforts. Talk with industry partners and peers to find out whether they’ve done it and how they went about it. Ask them what they did; how they did it; and who they used. Ideally, you’ll find someone with the necessary background and experience to perform a thorough assessment, including an ability to recognize the pitfalls before they become significant problems.

An operational assessment from Gimbel & Associates can be as broad or as narrow as you need it to be. We offer clients customized consulting services that can include workflow analysis, strategic planning, sales training, marketing plans, and more. Contact us to find out how our experienced consultants can evaluate your operation and help your company grow.