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Increasingly Prism is hearing about members who are doing really well. General manager at G Bopp, Andrew Moss, for example, says the company is going from strength to strength and has had to increase its production capacity. What G Bopp is seeing is a transition in the screen printing industry to a demand for high quality screens produced to very tight tolerances. This is particularly so in the industrial market but also the graphics sector, which has adopted a similar approach.
Tight process control is now a necessity for successful companies and 'first time right' is becoming a reality rather than an aspiration. The recession has sharpened up our game, which means many members are taking a completely different approach to a few years back.
One of the biggest changes is the attitude of senior management to the shop floor. People who own and run companies now get onto the shop floor on a regular basis and communicate with their staff. It is easy to complain about increasing employment legislation, but in some cases, the tight regulation has forced employers to be more open with their staff and deal with grievances in both directions in a far more professional manner. A measure of how well employers deal with their staff can be the involvement of unions in the workplace. In our industry the penetration of unions is negligible, this not because they are opposed by employers, but staff cannot justify the cost of belonging when they are treated reasonably by the company.
One member has restructured his company by removing barriers between departments and multi-skilling his workforce. This has resulted in a 30 per cent increase in productivity and a much happier workforce. The really important point is that even on a slightly reduced turnover he has seen an increase in profits, not just as a percentage, but in actual monetary terms.
Working smarter, being more selective about the work taken on and keeping the workforce fully informed of how the company is doing, pays far greater dividends than just maintaining the status quo. Process improvement is not just about manufacturing. Aiming to continuously improve working relationships is just as, if not more, important.
It is worth remembering that the legislation can be draconian if you get HR issues wrong. Sadly there are times when redundancy or even dismissal is necessary, but if, as an employer, you have not followed the legislation to the letter and the matter comes to a tribunal you are stuffed. Whether large or small, companies have to have procedures in place that deal with such eventualities.
Prism is working with Business HR to provide a service that ensures members have all the necessary documents and systems available on a web site. Visitors to the Prism website can carry out an on-line audit of their HR structure to ensure they are up to speed with the constantly changing regulations. It costs nothing to check, but it could save a great deal of grief. Prism members will receive discounted rates from Business HR for this support.
The principal is like seatbelts, which are there when you really need them, but you have to wear them all the time. A free legal help line in all aspects of business has proven to be of real benefit to members. It is provided through Croners and accessed using a password over the phone. Our opinion is that you can never have too much support when things get difficult.
It seems that the general printing industry is starting to understand what we have known for years. That is - we are not just printers. It is to some extent understandable when a company has a multi million pound multi colour printing press, that they consider themselves printers, rather than service or product providers. When it comes down to it though, the customer isn’t really interested in what equipment we have, but what benefits we can provide for them.
As the market becomes more discerning, the skills available in our industry can be very useful to innovative companies. We understand design, colour, texture, profiling, substrates and how they can be manipulated to create innovative products. Simply ask customers: Have you considered making your products appeal to additional markets? Would you like to access a resource that creates compelling arguments to buy your products and services? Would you be interested having a one stop shop for enhancing your product offering. These are the solutions this industry can provide, so you see we are not just printers - we have a lot more to offer than ink on a page.
How many of your customers have asked about the carbon footprint of your printing service?
