Every operation has them. Those difficult clients with messy jobs, bad files and unrealistic expectations. The customers that your team tries to avoid. Their jobs result in chaos. And the refrain is: “Why can’t they be like department X (insert name of your best customer)?”

Advancements in inkjet technologies have transformed how direct mail is produced. We’ve come a long way from generic direct mail addressed to “current resident.” In the 1970s and 1980s inkjet addressing systems were limited to text address blocks. They ran slowly and the resolution was very low.

Next-generation inkjet heads improved high-speed addressing and barcoding for matching, delivery and mail tracking. Further advances in inkjet heads and ink formulations enabled hybrid direct mail solutions with inkjet heads mounted over offset presses. This type of configuration still facilitates high speed variable data and versioning of direct mail content.

Operational excellence starts with a singular vision and a commitment to an extraordinary culture. Recently, I spoke with the director of logistics for a midwestern BlueCross BlueShield healthcare provider. The organization serves 2.1 million members. The manager leads a team of 21, providing printing, mailing and logistics services. His print team is comprised of five people who produce 2.9 million pieces of mail annually.

The director embraces the qualities of a servant leader. He demonstrates empathy, listening, stewardship to the organization and a commitment to the growth of people.

Sales enablement means getting the entire company to support the sales process, and celebrate wins by the entire company, not just the sales team.

Building trust is the foundational step to creating a plan for sales team motivation to maximize revenue. In my last article I shared ideas on changes in B2B selling and how sales leaders must understand individual motivations to successfully coach salespeople. With rapport and trust, sales leaders can motivate salespeople and improve sales results.

In this episode of the podcast "Postal Biz-Buzz," Lois speaks with podcast host Jon Reynolds from the Connecticut PCC, about direct mail and other strategies for executing a successful multi-channel campaigns.

Technology innovations are impacting every facet of the healthcare industry. That means in-plant operations must evolve to continue to provide value to their organizations. Recently, I spoke with Delvecchio Shankle, Director of Operations at Christus Health about their recent transformation and continuing inkjet journey.

Over a period of seven months, Shankle’s team has successfully consolidated from five in-plant operations down to two sites and moved one operation to a new facility. His print-mail operation serves the communication needs of 29,000 Christus employees providing healthcare across 600 patient care facilities in the US, as well as patient care facilities in Mexico, Columbia, and Chile.

I recently spoke with two respected in-plant managers running sizable operations in their respective states. Kristen Hampton is the Division Director, Department of Technology Management & Budget, for the State of Michigan, and Tim Hendrix is the State Printer, state of Oregon Publishing & Distribution.

Hampton and Hendrix are both running fully digital shops, with a mix of inkjet and toner devices on continuous feed (CF) and cutsheet platforms. Hampton’s inkjet journey led to the elimination of offset printing. Hendrix’s recent inkjet installation is driving operational efficiency. They shared their perspective on staffing, operational cost, inkjet as an enabler and considerations for future investments.

Owners of companies often ask me, ‘We have the best equipment and workflow, why can’t my sales team sell more?’

There are no easy answers to this question. Investing in an effective approach to motivate your sales team and create a company culture to support sales enablement can drive revenue growth.

Inkjet has changed how printers define themselves. For the last 40 years five categories described the print industry. Companies would say their primary purpose was transactional, direct mail, financial, commercial or specialty print. Print buyers, procurement teams, lines of business staff, and original equipment manufacturers (OEM) sought services based on the category the company fit in.

In-plants have experienced the shift to shorter runs, increased personalization, versioning and suppression of print. Your marketing and customer service teams may have explained what is driving change for print and the need to manage communications across digital channels. Data from more sources is driving marketing and customer engagement strategies across organizations in every industry.

Many for-profit and in-plant print mail operations have made significant investments in production inkjet. Each organization arrived at their decision after prioritizing the most relevant impact to their operation. The primary factors cited in the decision to move to inkjet include:

Do all your customers know everything your operation can do? I rarely get a ‘Yes’ when I ask this question. In-plant operations typically serve many customers and internal departments producing a wide range of products and services. Yet many of those same customers may have little comprehension of the full breath of services your operation can produce.

Many print operations are considering new inkjet investments to realize their strategic goals. There are many cutsheet and continuous feed production inkjet options to choose from, with more product announcements expected before the drupa trade show.

According to Peter Drucker, “Only three things happen naturally in organizations: friction, confusion, and underperformance. Everything else requires leadership.” Leaders in printing, mailing and fulfillment have a worthy goal of striving for operational excellence. In the last few years, the mix of applications and volume of print work has changed dramatically at many in-plants. Managers are focused on strategies to improve their operations, increase efficiency, and enhance value to their organizations.

The holiday season is upon us and 2024 is in sight. A new year, time for new thinking and new approaches. Do you have a defined plan to achieve specific goals in 2024? If your organization does not have a formal process for annual strategic planning, consider a conducting a strategic assessment for your print mail operation.

Fall is when many organizations finalize strategic plans and budgets for the coming year. What new ideas will you bring to your team and your organization? In Part Two of Leaders Driving Operational Excellence I will describe an approach to embrace three of the ten guiding principles of the Shingo Model from the Shingo Institute. The model focuses on the behavior of individuals and how to inspire teams which drives improved operational results.

Smaller in-plant operations are evaluating and installing production inkjet presses. In-plants in the manufacturing sector are migrating to inkjet to address a trifecta of challenges: labor resources, workflow automation, and printing costs.

Labor and training

Much has been reported about the ongoing labor challenges in many vertical markets and the printing industry in particular. In-plant operations across the U.S. are devising new strategies to address the convergence of:

Aging workers retiring, lack of skilled workers to run offset and finishing equipment, younger workers preferring to work with technology, and needing to onboard and train new employees without printing experience.

As leaders, we focus on strategies to improve our leadership approach and increase value to our organizations. Striving for operational excellence is a worthy goal. As management guru Peter Drucker said, “only three things happen naturally in organizations: friction, confusion, and underperformance. Everything else requires leadership.”

At the Hunkeler Innovationdays conference back in March, I spoke with several print service providers who shared their goals for growing and evolving their print and mail businesses. They also talked about challenges in production and how they are approaching new investments. The conversations brought to light three themes driving investments: innovation, workflow optimization and partnership.

For the last ten months my colleague, Mark Fallon, and I have been working with an in-plant to assist their team in right-sizing their print operation. In the utility sector, Salt River Project, (SRP) is a community-based, not-for-profit water and energy company. SRP provides reliable, affordable water and power to more than two million people living in central Arizona.

Many changes were underway at SRP.