Posted by: Joe Kern | April 8, 2010

New ideas motivate employees, alleviate stress

After dealing with months of layoffs, pay cuts and worries, employees are stressed out and in need of … something … from you.

As you keep the bottom line from slipping into the red, there are steps you can take that will improve morale, relieve stress and not cost anything.

Consider these moves made by various bosses quoted in INC and The Wall Street Journal. One or more could position you to move forward as business improves.

  • Upgrade job titles even if you can’t pay more or can only make a token increase in pay. Several of your workers could be called “manager” or “director” of some facet of your print shop.

    It’s especially appreciated by people who were out of the workforce for a time before you hired them. They can visualize the title showing up on future resumes. They will, however, probably want to stay with your company, where they already have an important job.

  • Let people work from home wherever possible. This is a stretch for your shop personnel, but office staff and desktop people can effectively do this with the right tools. They will appreciate setting their own hours, be they day or night. Working remotely gives them the autonomy that many people like. It makes them feel like entrepreneurs.
  • Create a bonus plan in lieu of pay raises. It could be tied to the amount of revenue they generate for the company.
  • Hold weekly meetings where they can talk about their jobs. Let them make suggestions and voice complaints about issues you may not be aware of but that you could deal with. One boss met with employees individually. The more he listened, the better they felt.

    Let them be part of the solution, how to increase business and cut costs.

  • Make a road map to company progress and share it with your people. Present a detailed plan you will execute over the next few months and in the coming year. Reinforce the company’s vision.

As one boss says, when people are focused on surviving, they forget that the end goal is thriving.

Always be frank about current circumstances, but demonstrate a positive view of the future. You know it’s coming even if you don’t know just when that thriving future will arrive.

Joe Kern  is the Marketing and Customer Care Manager at PagePath Technologies. PagePath was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Plano, Illinois. PagePath’s MyOrderDesk is an eCommerce solution that combines, Web-to-Print, automated proofing, pricing, reordering and more. It seamlessly integrates into a printing organization’s existing website or can be used as a standalone site. MyOrderDesk is known throughout the printing industry as the leader in Web-to-Print software.

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Posted by: Joe Kern | March 30, 2010

How to Find and Eliminate the Waste in Your Process

Today’s post is a guest post from Jack Perry. Jack is Vice President of Product Management at Onpoint On Demand. Jack’s role is to help commercial print companies become POD profit leaders through practical application of JDF-enabled technology.

Value stream mapping is a great way to find the waste in any manufacturing process. It provides an illustration of your current workflow along with important data about customer value-added steps, business value-added steps, and customer non value-added steps. Let’s define each of these categories. The best way to categorize the steps in your process is to ask a series of questions for each category. We’ll start with customer non value-added steps because that is typically where most of the waste is.

Customer non value-added steps (CNVA):
Does our process include any of the following: wait time, re-keying of job information, temporary storage, unnecessary movement, redundant inspections or rework, counting or inventory analysis, rushes due to poor planning?
By removing some of these steps, how much lead time (total time to deliver finished goods) could we eliminate from our process?
If we reduce our lead times, how much increased capacity do we yield from existing equipment and personnel?

Ask yourself why you take the non value-added steps you currently take in your workflow. Then ask yourself if each step is really required. Does it contribute to reduced risk? Does it make your company more competitive? Or, is it likely that these superfluous steps simply make you feel better? A common theme I see at commercial print facilities is redundant steps in an effort to quality control the process. Rather than add more steps to the QC effort, error-proof it by applying lean manufacturing disciplines.

Business value-added steps (BVA):
Does this process include any of the following: steps required by regulation, certification or program compliance, steps that reduce business risk, steps that include management visibility into the process, steps that keep the process flowing?

Recognize that these steps are really non-value added, but may be necessary. Do your best to reduce the costs associated with these steps.

Customer value-added steps (CVA):
Does this process include any of the following: steps that add features or functions to the product, steps that contribute directly to manufacturing and delivery, steps that reduce price?

Ask yourself if your customer expects to pay for this step. Often in a manufacturing environment we tend to over produce. In other words, we try to deliver more than the customer expects or will pay for in an effort to please the customer. This is nothing more than waste. Ask yourself is your customer willing to pay extra for the steps you take to over deliver. If the answer is no, stop doing it. Good quality is what the customer expects and nothing more. Having a good understanding of what the client expects is an easy way for your company to be more competitive. By asking simple questions up front, you can eliminate over production and unnecessary cost which will make your pricing and margins better than the printer down the street who hasn’t asked the questions.

How to build a value stream map:
There are different methods of doing this. I like to start with a simple list of steps in the process. It is also standard practice to start building your map from delivery to customer working backwards through the process. But because our industry is so reactive – we jump into action when an order shows up – I like to start from the beginning of the process. Build a simple list of the foundational steps of the process. Here is an example of a list for workflow associated with a web2print production process:

  1. receive order notification via email
  2. retrieve job ticket and production file
  3. re-key job ticket into MIS system
  4. schedule job
  5. send job ticket and production file into production
  6. impose production file.
  7. print job
  8. finish job
  9. ship job
  10. update systems
  11. invoice

These are just the high level steps in the process. Each step has a number of customer value-added steps, business value-added steps, and customer non-value added steps that must still be identified and documented.

Convert your list to a basic diagram:

Begin to add workflow details to each step:
Example 1: Receive Order Step

  1. view email notification
  2. click link to job ticket and asset

How long does each step take? Which category does each step belong in? CNVA, BVA, CVA? Is it task time (time it takes to add value to the job) or is it lead time (time it takes to deliver the job but no add value to it)?

Example 2: Retrieve Job Step

  1. log into dashboard
  2. open job
  3. download job ticket
  4. download production file[s]
  5. log out of dashboard
  6. close browser

How long does each step take? Again, which category does each step belong in? And so on…

Begin to add workflow data to your value stream map:

view email: (task time: 15 seconds) CNVA
click link to job ticket and asset: (task time: 3 seconds) CNVA

log into dashboard: (task time: 8 seconds) CNVA
open job: (task time: 15 seconds) CNVA
download job ticket: (task time: 30 seconds) CNVA
download production file: (task time: 1.25 minutes) CNVA
log out of dashboard: (task time: 3 seconds) CNVA
close browser: (task time: 2 seconds) CNVA

For each step, document the wait time, waste, unnecessary movement and effort, rework, counting of inventory, etc. All these items contribute to the total lead time it takes to get the job from receipt to delivery.

You begin to get a visceral understanding of the waste in your workflow. Just in two steps of a very basic process we have found 2.5 minutes of task time and perhaps hours of lead time depending on when the order came in. And none of the time spent contributes to value-added time the customer expects to pay for. Value stream mapping is a great tool for illustrating waste in the process. It also provides wonderful data that can be used to measure costs.  Assume that you process 2,300 web2print orders for 8.5X11 sell sheets each year. In your current process you identify 11 minutes of waste. That’s 421 hours. And at $30 per fully-burdened hour it adds up to $12,630 per year. Ouch! Remove the waste and put the money into your pocket.

How to Improve:
Begin to build a new value stream map that reflects your future state goals. Follow the same steps. Begin with a list of the new steps in the process. Map them at a high level. Fill in the details. Now compare the data for the two maps and you have what you need to begin your process improvement initiative.

Great questions to ask yourself while building a future state map:
Does our customer expect to pay for this step?
Are we overproducing?
Do we really need this quality control step or is it redundant?
How can we error-proof this step so we don’t have to check it again downstream?
Can we use technology to automate what humans do over and over again?

Use value stream mapping often in your lean initiative. You’ll be glad you did.

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Posted by: pgrandsard | March 23, 2010

Do you treat others with respect?

We all know we should follow the golden rule in life – “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” but do we? The ability to empathize is very powerful yet sometimes we fail to use it and end up mistreating others. Treating others with respect compels them to treat you the same way.

Look around. Do you know the names of your coworkers? Do you know where they live, what their interests are? Knowing these simple facts creates a sense of fellowship, camaraderie. People who feel welcome and are part of the team treat each other with respect. They try their best not to let each other down, provide help when needed and solve problems together.

A disrespectful person erodes trust, creates conflict and puts others into a bad mood. When this happens, the respect of others vanishes and the person feels isolated, unwanted, or unneeded.

What can we do to gain the respect of others? A respectful sales person learns about their customers’  business, values their time, offers solutions to problems and listens to their needs. A respectful teacher listens to his or her students and helps them understand and learn. A respectful spouse listens, complements and encourages. Listening, understanding and accepting feedback are all tools for respect and being respected.

Stop and reflect on how you communicate with others and decide, “Are you treating them with respect?” Are you empowering them to respect you back?

Phillip Grandsard  is a Software Developer at PagePath Technologies. PagePath was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Plano, Illinois. PagePath’s MyOrderDesk is an eCommerce solution that combines, Web-to-Print, automated proofing, pricing, reordering and more. It seamlessly integrates into a printing organization’s existing website or can be used as a standalone site. MyOrderDesk is known throughout the printing industry as the leader in Web-to-Print software.

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Posted by: Michael Herz | March 16, 2010

Being in Multiple Places at One Time

Ever want to be in more than one place at a time?  Have a desktop computer and a laptop?  Do you get frustrated when you are on the road and the file you need is on your desktop computer at home or work?  This month’s topic is all about being in sync.

There is a service out there called www.SugarSync.com that will allow you to automatically back up your important files and keep them in sync with other computers with almost no effort.

My suggestion is to sign up for their free version to experiment which allows 2GB of storage and the ability to use it with up to two computers. Simply install the software on the two computers you want to keep in sync, specify the folders (Desktop, My Documents, Favorites, etc) and then using their management interface specify the folders to sync.   For example on computer A I chose the Desktop folder to sync with computer B’s Desktop folder.  This way if I save a file to the Desktop on either computer it will be there.  Now keep in mind that you do need to make sure that you have an internet connection to make this all work.  That doesn’t mean you have to have your computers on all the time.  When you boot up your computer and are connected to the internet it will sync any new changes.

Should you be on the road and not have your trusty laptop with you, you can still access your sync files via a web browser on any computer.  This also works well with providing the ability to share your files with others.

Be aware that not all online back companies provide the capability to sync and share files.  Most are on a per computer license.  Even though they may offer unlimited backup storage for a low yearly fee but does it fit your unique needs?

I’m not saying that SugarSync is the end all be all solution it does have its limitations.  The top future improvements for the product are the support of Outlooks files (pst), mapped network drives and external drives.  Hopefully I’ve given some insight into what other possible options to look for in an online backup solution.

Mike Herz is in Tech Support and Sales at PagePath Technologies. PagePath was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Plano, Illinois. PagePath’s MyOrderDesk is an eCommerce solution that combines, Web-to-Print, automated proofing, pricing, reordering and more. It seamlessly integrates into a printing organization’s existing website or can be used as a standalone site. MyOrderDesk is known throughout the printing industry as the leader in Web-to-Print software.

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Posted in General Business, Technology

Posted by: jimatpagepath | March 9, 2010

Fake winnings, dead debts, false bills: How to recognize scams

A few days after the funeral, a “collection agency” calls and says your deceased mother or dad owed $500 and it’s up to you to pay the bill. This scam takes advantage of people who are still in grief.

Elderly people are often targeted. When threatened with legal action, they may rush to settle.  Another goal of the con artist is to obtain bank account and Social Security numbers. Unless you are a cosigner, you are not responsible for the deceased’s debt and you should not pay, whether or not it’s a legitimate bill.

Police say con artists are ramping up their old false winnings game. In difficult times, people are eager to win at something. Some will send thousands of dollars to “pay taxes in advance” to receive lottery winnings.

After getting the money, the con man disappears.

One type of improper “bill collection” may be initiated by legitimate companies. It involves accounts that are settled for one reason or another. But five or six years later, the company sells a list of old debts to a collection agency for pennies on the dollar. In one case, a cardholder’s brother asked to borrow his card so he could use it “just to check into a hotel.” The brother charged $3,000, moved to another city and couldn’t be found. The card company settled for $1,500. Six years later, a collection agency came after the former cardholder for the balance. In spite of the threats, he insisted the account was settled. He never heard from the collector again.

Other cases involve smaller amounts of money.

A collector called to say a woman owed $55 in bank charges on an account that had been closed for several years. He said he could ruin her credit by reporting that she had a bounced check and never paid for it, which wasn’t true. Though some people would be bullied into sending money, this woman was not.

The AARP Foundation offers advice about fraud. Call 1-800-646-2283 for information.

Jim Dummer is the Sales Manager at PagePath Technologies. PagePath was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Plano, Illinois. PagePath’s MyOrderDesk is an eCommerce solution that combines, Web-to-Print, automated proofing, pricing, reordering and more. It seamlessly integrates into a printing organization’s existing website or can be used as a standalone site. MyOrderDesk is known throughout the printing industry as the leader in Web-to-Print software.

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Posted by: Joe Kern | March 2, 2010

We’ve looked at the economy from many angles … but not this one

We’re running hard to get new customers and increase sales with those we already have.

We’ve turned out the lights and saved power wherever we can, and we’ve checked for every possible savings on material and supplies.

These steps would help any organization preserve the bottom line, but there is one factor that can do more.

Keeping people satisfied with their work is a big item. We all have more to do today. Some of us are wearing two hats, according to job descriptions.

That could be one reason university professors say today’s workplace is rife with rudeness and lack of respect for each other. Some 60 percent of their study respondents say the situation is getting worse.

Workers who are in a hurry may think they don’t have time to be polite. But it saves time in the long run because it increases cooperation and creativity.

Civility goes beyond please and thank you (but those words can help). It includes listening and body language.

A study published in one psychology journal says positive relations with co-workers are a big factor in how people feel from day to day. They are less stressed, even if they are very busy, and more productive.

Besides respecting others, as well as yourself, it’s important to know what makes you angry or frustrated. Decide that when it happens, you will have a solution-driven attitude. Focus on the problem, not the other person.

When one person becomes a role model for civility and respect, those qualities can spread to others.

Joe Kern is the Marketing and Customer Care Manager at PagePath Technologies. PagePath was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Plano, Illinois. PagePath’s MyOrderDesk is an eCommerce solution that combines, Web-to-Print, automated proofing, pricing, reordering and more. It seamlessly integrates into a printing organization’s existing website or can be used as a standalone site. MyOrderDesk is known throughout the printing industry as the leader in Web-to-Print software.

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Posted in General Business, Printing

Posted by: Joe Kern | February 23, 2010

Do you suffer from “time poverty?”

The most common problem in the workplace is “time poverty.” It’s a term for not having enough time to handle all your work responsibilities.

Putting in a lot of extra hours could help a little, but it’s not the answer. Neither is trying to do two things at once. Some steps that would help:

  • Become an expert at what you do. Study the work practices of people who are very efficient and copy them. You will find that they are extremely well organized. Learn from experts in your field.
  • Decide what is the most important thing to do. Decide how to do it, then concentrate on that alone until you are finished. No email, phone calls or pleasantries for people who stop by to see you. Tell them you can’t stop now to chat or deal with anything else.
  • Be open to new ideas. Consultant Brian Tracy says some overwhelmed people think they already know all they need to know on a subject. Never stop learning.
  • Be flexible. Saying “I changed my mind” solves many uncomfortable situations people get into. They stay there because they are unwilling to admit they have changed their minds.
  • Face up to mistakes. Saying you made a mistake is a sign of mental maturity, personal strength and individual character.
  • Become an expert on time management. Read books, listen to audio programs and take a course. Then practice every day until you master time management skills.

Joe Kern is the Marketing and Customer Care Manager at PagePath Technologies. PagePath was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Plano, Illinois. PagePath’s MyOrderDesk is an eCommerce solution that combines, Web-to-Print, automated proofing, pricing, reordering and more. It seamlessly integrates into a printing organization’s existing website or can be used as a standalone site. MyOrderDesk is known throughout the printing industry as the leader in Web-to-Print software.

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Posted by: Joe Kern | February 15, 2010

Five Reasons Why JDF Will Save You Money

Today’s post is a guest post from Jack Perry. Jack is Vice President of Product Management at Onpoint On Demand. Jack’s role is to help commercial print companies become POD profit leaders through practical application of JDF-enabled technology.

JDF is here to stay and with good reason. It can deliver significant financial, operational and competitive advantage to those companies who leverage it the right way. Here are five reasons why JDF will save  you money:

  1. JDF reduces print production costs by removing manual, repetitive steps from the production process. And lower production costs yield higher gross margins
  2. JDF shortens lead time, the downtime that eats into a printer’s value add percentage. Shorter lead times yield higher value add
  3. JDF optimizes the equipment on the production floor, generating greater productivity out of existing investments. Greater productivity yields faster return on capital invested
  4. JDF also makes it easier to manage order volume variations yielding tighter resource management. When volume is down, fewer people on the production floor reduces overhead cost
  5. JDF Reduces mistakes. Less mistakes equals less waste.

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Posted in General Business, Printing, Sales, Web-to-Print

Posted by: Joe Kern | February 11, 2010

What makes a good flyer?

I came across this article on producing good flyers. This might be something that you can pass off to your customers or prospects.

Getting a flyer printing project to work effectively for your business  is like looking for a husband (or a wife) to be with you through thick and thin, for richer or poorer, till death do you part.

In order for your relationship with your flyer printing project to succeed, it takes a lot of hard work and perseverance. It’s not something that you can just come up with in a flick of your fingers. You need to have the patience to carefully plan your flyer printing design to get the attention of your prospective clients.

What makes an effective and successful flyer printing project? Here are a few of the factors that should be considered in your flyer printing project:

White Space

White space is basically used to lead your target readers’ eyes to the most important part of your flyer printing project.

Contrary to popular belief, your white space is not there to create an aesthetically pleasing appearance in your flyer printing piece. White space is provided to emphasize, as well as provide your eyes with an area in your flyer printing design where they can rest, to be able to see the focal point of your print flyers.

Although it’s a tad tempting to squeeze in as much information in your flyer printing project, always remember that a sea of gray or black text only makes for an overwhelming design that will only confuse your prospective readers.

“S”- Pattern

Actually, the pattern looks more like the letter Z than the S. It is how your target readers’ eyes go when scanning an ad – it starts from the top left corner of your flyer printing ad then ends up at the bottom right.

Although they look at your flyer printing design according to the S-pattern, make sure that you make it easy for your target readers to understand what you have to say to them. It doesn’t do you any good if your target readers suddenly ask whether they’re still reading the same flyer printing piece halfway to your design.

Consistency

Being different is laudable, especially when it makes you stand out from the rest. But making it hard for your target readers to know your top from your tail is also not commendable.

People expect consistency in whatever marketing material they come across (e.g. brochure printing, flyer printing, postcard printing, catalog printing). They want to see certain elements at certain areas of your flyer printing piece. And believe it or not, they do look for them whenever they look at your flyer printing ad.

Simplicity

Always keep your flyer printing project simple and short. People have other things to do aside from skimming through your print flyers. So make it easy for them to get your message fast. Don’t put too much elements that will only make them distracted. Include fewer elements in your flyer printing project.

Joe Kern is the Marketing and Customer Care Manager at PagePath Technologies. PagePath was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Plano, Illinois. PagePath’s MyOrderDesk is an eCommerce solution that combines, Web-to-Print, automated proofing, pricing, reordering and more. It seamlessly integrates into a printing organization’s existing website or can be used as a standalone site. MyOrderDesk is known throughout the printing industry as the leader in Web-to-Print software.

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Posted in General Business, Printing

Posted by: Michael Herz | February 2, 2010

Sales Calls on the Cheap (continued)

Last month I discussed sales calls on the cheap which essentially was all about price.   Well cheap is great but what about quality and reasons behind choosing Skype other than price.  Let’s face it if it’s cheap and the quality isn’t there it’s not worth it especially if you’re conducting business.

Let’s address the fist point of quality.  What is Skype? Skype is a VoIP based phone system that relies on your internet connection to make phone calls.  In order to use it you must be connected to the internet and the connection needs to be high speed.   Being that high speed internet is becoming the norm and not the exception this allows you to make phone calls from virtually anywhere in the world.  In my particular situation I use it at home the majority of the time over a cable internet connection but I do go into the office a few times a month where they have a DSL connection.  At either location I have no issues with call quality.   When I fist started using Skype I would occasionally ask my prospects “how’s the phone quality, we are testing out a new phone system”.  Every response was favorable and they had no idea that I was using Skype.  Now I haven’t had the opportunity to test the dinosaur of dial up but my suspicions would be that the results are unfavorable.  In fact my new laptop doesn’t even have a modem to connect a phone line.  In those rare particular cases that I am not around a high speed connection I just use my cell phone.  Even then I can use a SkypeToGo number to make my calls using a local number even though the call is international.

The second point was reasons for choosing Skype.  Most of the time sales people like to be mobile so they’ve got their trusty laptop to be on the go.   Being that Skype is software based you can take it with you where ever you go.  At the very least  you should have your Skype headset with you as well.  So, not bad a laptop that you lug around anyway and a headset that weighs only ounces.  With other VoIP solutions such as Vonage and Packet8 you need to lug around a little box and a phone or phone/box combo.   That may not sound like much but you have to plug in the power cords and network cables.   What happens when you can’t plug in a network cable and only wireless is available, uh oh!    Since Skype is installed on your laptop no wires necessary.   Look mom no wires!!  At least till your laptop battery dies but it’s much easier to find an outlet than a wired network connection.   Also, if you think about when you go to a hotel, airport or hotspot what do they have you do?  They have you sign into a webpage to enable the wireless connection, try doing that with Vonage or Packet8 hardware.

I mentioned earlier about getting a Skype headset which is very important.  Since it is designed to be used with Skype this means they’ve done all the testing for you there’s no need to play Russian ruellet with headsets.   Make sure you get a headset that has a USB connection.   The USB headset can be assigned to only be used with Skype within the Skype application.  So when instant messenger pops-up or arriving emails make noises they won’t be blasted in your ear.   Computer noises are directed out the computer speakers and Skype calls are directed to the headset.  This also allows you to mute the computer speakers but not the headset.

There you have it just about as mobile as you can get on $8.95 to $18.95 a month to make those paycheck impacting phone calls.

Michael is a Sales Representative and Support Manager at PagePath Technologies. PagePath was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Plano, Illinois. PagePath’s MyOrderDesk is an eCommerce solution that combines, Web-to-Print, automated proofing, pricing, reordering and more. It seamlessly integrates into a printing organization’s existing website or can be used as a standalone site. MyOrderDesk is known throughout the printing industry as the leader in Web-to-Print software.

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