The Outside View and the "Intrapreneur"

By Noel Ward
Executive Editor,
On Demand Journal

The new manager of the in-plant print facility at a large university inherited a primarily offset-only operation that was divided into printing and duplication departments and was rife with inefficient manual processes, increasing workloads and unhappy customers. Faculty, staff and students alike looked for ways to avoid using the facility which was nearing the edge of permanent closure.

The new manager realized he needed to make some profound changes. But he also saw opportunity. Coming from the outside he was able to take a totally objective view of the operation, but he also spent time with his staff and customers—faculty, staff and students—to learn how he could better serve their needs while growing volume and positioning the shop for the future. He was thinking like an "intrapreneur."

Already familiar with digital printing technology, he convinced the university of the advantages of having an entirely digital print center. He soon accumulated a range of cut-sheet monochrome and full color digital presses. He cross-trained staff to run multiple machines and perform different tasks to provide more operational flexibility. He added new capabilities, such as wide format printing to serve university needs for signage and a number of student applications. New binding services made course packs and university marketing collateral materials more attractive and easier to use.

When you view your operation this way you can develop a fresh understanding without the explanations and excuses you may use to rationalize the way your existing operations have evolved. This gives you a new look at your strategy, along with insights into staffing, training, operational capabilities, flexibility, responsiveness to market conditions, and more. It gives you an initial "take" on how you look to an outsider who understands what makes a printing operation successful.

Now, professors and students who once went outside for printing submit jobs electronically to the university print center. Turnaround times have shrunk from days to hours. Billing is also automated, simplifying what was once a manual, disjointed process. Finally, instead of being a cost center the operation now pays for itself and has begun taking in work from some small local colleges that lack print centers, opening the door to actually generating a profit.

Taking an outside view, and thinking about this in-plant as a business rather than a cost center, the manager transformed an operation on the verge of closure into a vibrant part of a university community.