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Strength in numbers
Meeting with peers and colleagues to discuss the issues everyone is currently facing ensures you are not alone in these uncertain times. The Prism AGM, which is running at Robert Horne in Northampton on 7 May, also provides the opportunity to improve your company's performance with advice from industry specialists.
Not since the Second World War has there has been so much uncertainty. Seemingly healthy companies can be destroyed by being starved of working capital by the banks or taken down by bad debts. Prism aims to provide members with additional support that can make all the difference to survival.
As electricity and gas prices fluctuate, Prism's energy survey informs members of the most competitive price. Others save hundreds of pounds on insurance costs with the PrintProtect scheme and probably the most important service is the legal help line that has saved the membership tens of thousands of pounds. Increasingly, the technical advice line is also proving useful, with answers to a host of queries that printers are faced with on a daily basis. These and a range of other services provide ongoing support to the membership at a time when every little helps.
Despite market conditions, the prevailing attitude in the industry is one of 'trying to get on with things.' This is certainly the case with Fespa Digital in Amsterdam, set to run 12 to 14 May. Larger than ever before, the event demonstrates the optimism in the industry.
This is in addition to the World Wide Format Survey, which contains some business critical information and is available free to Prism members. This was taken in January and showed continued growth in the market for equipment and applications. According to the results, most print service providers are optimistic about their business and are expecting the market to bounce back.
According to Prism, the majority of its members are beavering away - not necessarily aiming for sales growth, but maintaining their profitability with initiatives for waste minimisation and lean manufacturing. Far from being simply a means of generating work for consultants, lean manufacturing helps achieve best practice in all aspects of manufacturing, creating more value with less work.
The techniques encompassed within lean manufacturing are aimed at identifying and eliminating waste on an ongoing basis. As waste is reduced, so quality improves, while production time and costs are reduced. From the manufacturers perspective, there is an increase in profitability without having to increase turnover, and from the customers viewpoint, quality and service improve.
In a static or declining market, there are real gains to be had in adopting these principles. Take a look at what you do and how you do it and whatever improvements you make, send the cost saving right to the bottom line. Talking to Prism can help members to understand and implement lean manufacturing successfully, utilising the strength of its combined expertise.
Prism is a member of Fespa and the UK association for print specialists and manufacturers. For more information on Prism, go to www.prismuk.org. If you have any comments or questions, please call on 01737 240792.
