Cost Containment at Low Cost

By Pete Basiliere, Gartner

No doubt you will agree, economic conditions are getting worse. And I know from thirty years’ experience that print and mail operations are one of the first places senior management looks for quick cost savings (some things never change!).

But you must always be looking for savings. Fortunately, production print and mail productivity improvements can generate immediate labor cost savings of up to 15%. Better yet, as an operations manager you can achieve these savings with minimal investments that have low risk.

Productivity improvements are the quickest and lowest cost methods for generating near-term yet long-lasting cost savings. Paper and envelope savings can take months to implement given the need for prior approvals from marketing and procurement as well as depleting the existing inventory. More importantly, productivity improvements are under your direct control and can be implemented with little or no capital investment.

Now, I am writing for a broad audience of Output Links subscribers. Whether you are a veteran of numerous cost-cutting programs, have a robust process improvement process in place, or are looking for anything that will cut costs, consider these ideas as a starting point for your initiatives. At the very least they will be confirmation that you are already doing the right things, while at the most you will uncover tens of thousands of dollars in savings.

·         Inside delivery of supplies – with appropriate security practices, truck drivers can deliver the materials directly to the warehouse or your production area.

·         Relocation of roll stock storage from warehouse to print area – eliminates a warehouse move and operators do not have to wait for new paper to be delivered.

·         Begin warehouse shift one hour early – ensures the needed materials are in place for an immediate, productive start-up.

·         Begin each shift ten minutes before the prior one ends – enables a conversation to occur about how the current job is running, what jobs are coming up, whether maintenance is needed, etc.

·         Keep ‘em running – cover key printers and inserters during operator breaks using cross-trained personnel.

·         Schedule printers and inserters based on materials – use ADF 2.0 software to create production schedules that minimize printer and inserter changeover times.

·         Install “machine status” light poles – enables service technicians and managers to scan the room to see the status of each machine and whether assistance is needed, resulting in quicker response time and less downtime.

·         Regularly review and align the parts inventory – minimizes the cost of missed deliveries while waiting for parts to be delivered and overtime pay to catch up.

·         Supervisor, service and quality assurance offices on the production floor – reduces the time lost while your operators look for the support personnel needed to troubleshoot a problem or answer a question.

These productivity improvements may be the tip of the iceberg for your operation or you may have already implemented several. And if you know of additional productivity improvements, please let me know. We don’t compete as much with each other as we do with non-print media. I’ll share your ideas in another article so everyone’s print and mail operation can benefit.