DOCUMENT Magazine - April 2008 - (Page 10)

these processes, output makes collected data more interesting and provides the basis for differentiating people, work and machines. Data collection paradigm: With just time and output gathered and systematically mapped against major activities, process analysis provides a valuable resource for decision-making reference, since cycle times are measured and capacity and utilization are more clear. However, beneﬁts really start to accrue once additional descriptive variables are included in the process analysis program, such as equipment identiﬁers, equipment operators, customers, work types, formats, ﬁnancials, time/date information, etc. Once these variables are matched with time and output, process analysis can drive and support the full gamut of decisions on people, work mix / customer management and equipment. Analysis, analysis, analysis: For example, key metrics — actual versus expected productivity by operator by job, customer proﬁtability by work type by time period, etc. — become routine to generate, distribute and base decisions upon. Because analysis is so easy to generate, it should be done extensively. Standard reporting should be developed, for example, to determine which operators should run what type of work on which machines and on which shifts, as well as which machines really ﬁt the work mix and the operator skill set and which do not. Also, by constraining analyses by customer, managers determine which customers should be developed and which relationships should be reevaluated. Phasing and Implementation Precisely because the possibilities for analysis are so extensive, they can also be overwhelming. And instead of encouraging action, they encourage inaction (e.g., “paralysis by analysis”). One approach to avoid this is to experiment with a lot of analysis. For instance, output by equipment by operator, output by operator by job, output by operator by job by shift — until three or four reports are identiﬁed that really support effective decision making. Once these are found, they become part of operations, as essential to making people, customer and equipment decisions as email is to communicating. This approach can be repeated for all managerial levels (supervisor, manager, director / executive) of the organization and with highly detailed (e.g., average hourly throughput on machine six) and highly abstract (e.g., aggregate customer proﬁtability for billings customers) data elements. Document Processing Now I was introduced to print and mail at an early age: My father started H.M. Surchin Co., Inc., an inserting machine remanufacturing and specialty engineering company, in 1968. At that time and for a good while thereafter, our industry was growing rapidly. Service providers could just about name the price to their customers (and these customers bought a lot of equipment from them). In this environment, with consistent revenue growth and healthy pricing, why worry about operating costs? In today’s industry, however, the dynamics have completely changed. Companies that are not improving efﬁciency and reducing costs face ever-more difﬁcult prospects, especially when confronted by competitors that are doing so (and they are doing so). Process analysis, by systematically collecting and examining a company’s operations data, can help document processors adapt to and lead in this environment — and, having made that investment, maintain and even grow proﬁtability all the while. Seth Surchin is the managing partner of Chair Four Development Group, which was founded in 2007 to provide consulting and related services to print and mail businesses seeking to implement process analysis initiatives. For more information, call 212-327-2717 or email him at seths@chairfour.com. ■ 10 document april.08 www.DOCUMENTmedia.com http://www.DOCUMENTmedia.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Document Magazine - April 2008

Document Magazine - April 2008 Contents Editor's View The Research Desk The Response Center BPM: Improving the Way You Process Contributing Writers Mapping Out Performance Build the Context Before You Move into the House of ECM Taking On the Big 3 The Human Connection Addressing Your Addresses Don't Call Us, We'll Call You The Mulitplying Image Recognizing Accuracy New Products Calendar Advertisers

Document Magazine - April 2008

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