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Dear ,
When was the last time you took a look at the documentation that your operators use to set up printing or inserting jobs? If you answered "Last year", "I don't remember", or "What documentation?" now would be a good time to take a peek.
In the majority of shops I visit, this documentation is out of date. It's easy to see why. Things can change in a hurry in our business, and sometimes it takes all our energy to just get the daily work out on time. Updating the operator run books always seems like a task to put off until tomorrow.
This spring and summer you could be especially vulnerable as key members of your staff go on vacation, leaving the shop in the hands of less-experience operators. With no current documentation, what your staff doesn't know can hurt you!
It only takes a few minutes to assess your risk. What is the impact of sending the bills without remittance envelopes? Or failing to include a government-required notice? What if the printer operator loaded paper stock bearing the wrong phone number for customer service?
A lot of corporate executives are still looking for ways to reduce costs. Your in-house print and mail center could be a prime target for further cuts. Document processing mistakes might be the match that lights the outsourcing fuse. You really can't afford to leave anything to chance.
Here are some things to look for when you inspect the operator documentation:
- Condition of the Contents - When you pick up the book, do some unbound pieces and pages fall out? Are jobs grouped and tabbed so they can be easily located by a rookie operator?
- Current Examples - Are the sample documents in the documentation representative of the current production or are they several generations old?
- Completeness - Are there samples of all the components (paper stock, outbound envelope, remittance envelope, inserts)?
- Comprehensiveness - Are all the jobs in the book? Is there information on obsolete jobs that might be a source of confusion?
- Correct Settings - Sometimes settings on folders or feeders change when new parts are installed. Do your written specifications match what is really being used?
- QC and Authorizations - Are there special processes that need to be followed? Does someone need to review the set-up before running the job?
The payoff in saved time and accurate work is pretty good compared to the effort required to keep documentation up to date. We recommend that you schedule a quarterly review of operator documentation to prevent easily avoidable mistakes. |
