Take Advantage of a Healthy Outsourcing Partnership

In these challenging economic times, it can be tempting to try to keep as much work as possible in-house. The popular notion is that a complete printing, binding and finishing "superstore" will attract more customers and help keep costs down. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. Straying from core competencies will needlessly pull your attention away from the foundation of your business, causing all aspects of your business to suffer. Sure, it would be nice if a printer could offer top-notch prepress, press, bindery, finishing, design, photography, mailing and trucking services under one roof, but in today's world of scarce resources, this just isn't practical.

Good bindery performance is necessary for printers to thrive, but requires a sufficiently different set of skills and knowledge. If you want to really keep costs down, attract new customers and maintain strong relationships with existing ones, outsourcing binding and finishing operations is a great place to start. To help make your outsourcing experiences efficient and worry-free, here are a few tips to keep in mind:

Find an outsourcing partner you can trust - Deciding whether or not to do business with a particular company isn't all that different from deciding whether or not to hire someone. Both decisions require a hefty amount of due diligence to give yourself the best guarantee for success. Of course, both decisions really come down to one thing: trust.

Get in touch with industry friends and inquire about a potential business partner's reputation for timeliness, honesty and courtesy. When outsourcing bindery work, be sure your choice has the C's and E's (capability, capacity, experience, enthusiasm and expertise) to do your job right.

Establish benchmarks for mutual success - The fastest way to build a mutually equitable business relationship is to lay down a set of ground rules that precisely define what constitutes success. A key factor in establishing a long-term partnership is developing a shared "vision" of mutual benefit.

When outsourcing high volume bindery work, consider establishing quality and delivery benchmarks. It is important not to set standards so high as to be unrealistic. You will not get a 100% effort from someone who considers your goals unattainable. In the graphic arts world, where goals so often appear to be moving targets, getting people to buy into a work vision is crucial.

Involve your outsourcing partner at the earliest stages of production - Very often, a design or layout that's optimized for efficient printing can wreak havoc during binding and finishing, giving any cost and time savings right back. Consult with your binding and finishing partner to be sure you select the best procedures from a pool of good ideas.

Provide plenty of feedback - After significant outsourced jobs are delivered, offer feedback directly to vendors. All but the least progressive subcontractors will be eager to receive honest performance evaluations, even when the feedback isn't positive. If you are happy, let everybody know it. If your expectations haven't been met, address your complaints to business managers and other key business influencers. They will do a good job of delivering an accurate representation of your message throughout their organization.

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A mutually-beneficial outsourcing partnership will help you win more business by offering your customers a wide range of solutions to choose from. This means economical, expert binding and finishing service combined with the peace of mind that every job will be handled exactly as you envision it.

Sue Hein is president of Rapid Bind, Inc., a leading trade bindery serving the northwestern graphic arts community since 1977. She serves as the vice president of the Pacific Printing and Imaging Association. Russ Haines is vice president of production at Rapid Bind and serves on the board of the Portland Graphic Arts Association. Rapid Bind's extensive post press services include remoist and seam gluing, saddle stitching, die cutting, mechanical binding, folding, rotary & press scoring, wafer sealing, index tabbing and much more.