The Business Communication Industry and print in particular, continue to face challenges from many fronts. The demands and requirements placed on business communications by the end consumer have changed. People want to be able to get their information where they want and when they want it. The technologies utilized in communication are changing at a very rapid pace.

Print itself has gone from mass production and distribution of the same information to all, to communication targeted to a market segment sharing a specific characteristic, to highly personalized one-to-one communications. Production has gone from high speed web litho print with lots of offline finishing, to digital print and inline finishing, and “onserts”, (even our language is changing).

New channels for communication have emerged and are being adopted at very high rates, from e-presentment of documents to social media and mobile applications.

Competition has increased among the providers of communication services with consolidations and companies going out of business, and yet still there is a lot of underused capacity.

How are companies in the industry going to survive and even thrive?

One possible answer comes in the form of an old and proven education technique, “Cycles of Learning.” Jack Welch used the cycles of learning principle in building GE. Jack Welch and GE went through three cycles of learning for the improvement of the business. In the first cycle, he focused on the elimination of variety in GE’s portfolio of businesses by reducing the non-performing business units. During a subsequent learning cycle Welch focused the company on simplifying and eliminating non-value-added activities. The third phase of discovery focused on the elimination of variation. This business approach would be valuable for today’s print businesses.

I also think a more tactical day-to-day approach and process can provide results and accelerate business improvements. At the core of this approach is to begin every project or quality improvement with the idea that you are going to teach others about your experience and results at the end. Educational research has proven that performing a task or learning experience knowing that you will need to teach it will improve your understanding and memory of key principles.

Cycles of learning means being able to apply what was learned from one activity or project to the next or similar ones. The progression is depicted in the following graphic.

Looking for new information and ways to learn about Production Printing for your business?

In a recent discussion with a number of folks at a client company, the point was raised that one of their main issues was that problem resolution by one function or department often resulted in a new issue arising in another department. In today’s environment, value is placed on taking responsibility for rapid resolution of problems, however, caution must be taken to assure that the root cause of the issue is resolved, and that the issue is not merely a “can kicked down the road”, just moving the pain from one function to another.

Every process, regardless of how simple, has at least three components, and likely three functions involved. There are inputs, work tasks and outputs. In reality, most processes are much more complex, with multiple steps, with the involvement at each progressive function increasing. To truly resolve problems as quickly as possible, it is critical that a cross functional group representing all of the stakeholders from inputs, work, and outputs be included. Successful problem resolution, through defining the root cause and eliminating it, must begin by defining the end to end process in which the issues have arisen. The input, the work itself, and the output handed off to the next process must be examined. In order to do this accurately, and to gain the greatest benefit from this effort, subject matter experts and owners of each functional area should be involved.

In many cases, the step where an issue has been identified is not where the cause is; it might be upstream in the process. For example, a quality issue identified in digital print might not originate in the printing function itself; it might be upstream in the composition function, or even further upstream in the specifications for purchasing the paper. Use of the cross functional team approach in problem solving will assure that the knowledge necessary to identify the root cause is included in the investigation and that communication of the issues to all impacted functions during analysis and implementation of the corrective action is accurate and complete. Without use of a cross functional approach to problem solving, it is easy to make assumptions based on an individual area without considering the impact on the prior step or next step in a process. While putting together a cross functional team might initially be perceived as slower, and certainly involves more effort and cooperation, ultimately it is the most accurate and efficient method to the permanent elimination of a problem. The scope of the team’s assignment and timeline should also be established up front to accelerate resolution. Whatever quality system approach is used to identify a problem: Six Sigma, ISO, etc., the problem resolution will be more successful by incorporating a cross functional approach to problem resolution.

In today’s competitive environment, most of us are faced with three major factors impacting our profits: more capacity than work, aggressive pricing to get the sale, and our client asking for additional features or benefits after the project is booked.

In the typical scenario, sales works hard to bring in opportunities, and estimating cuts the price to a minimum profit margin to try to secure the work, and if you’re lucky you close the deal.

But then the fun really begins as you start to work on the project and realize there is more to it than you thought. Maybe a lot more. 

It may start very simply and innocently – changing a few words in the copy, a couple of line-break changes for better layout, and the next thing you know you’ve happily agreed to move the mail date up by three days.  Whatever the request, the result is the same – you do the extra work, (incur cost), to keep the client happy, (loyal?), and it eats into your narrow profit margins even further.  If you do not have a detailed activity-based cost system, the total impact of small, incremental changes, or even larger ones, could go unnoticed.  At the end you look at the financials and wonder where the profit has gone.

One way to change the trend is to implement a Statement of Work, (SOW), for every project – even small ones.  Make sure the statement of work reflects all aspects of the project: data, composition, print, finishing, distribution and reporting.  You will get push back that this is too much work and slows down the sales process, but in fact we have seen over and over that making the effort up front can significantly reduce delays in the contracting and production of the project, and the clarity it provides saves time, (cost), for both you and your client. 

The statement of work would be provided to or reviewed with the client to confirm that you and they are in agreement as to the scope of the work.  Ideally, the client and you sign off on the SOW when the pricing is finalized and the purchase order is provided. Track the actual work performed against the SOW and make sure the changes are documented so they can be considered in repeat or similar future work.  Communicating to the client the changes and additional work being performed can minimally be used as a way of creating good will and improving the relationship, but can also be an objective way of identifying and communicating additional costs.  You decide in advance of discussion whether these are costs you wish to pursue with your client.  Most importantly, you know that the work and costs exist. 

This may seem simple and obvious but we have found time and time again that even if there is a Statement of Work process in place, it is used inconsistently or steps are left out.  Most often, the closing review of a project is left undone, as we have moved on to focus on the next project.  So the next time you wonder where profits have gone, take a look at your SOW process.