One of my favorite quotes from ultra-nerd Bill Gates is about finding an easy fix to a complicated process. In regards to his employees:
I choose a lazy person to do a hard job. Because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it.
I totally agree with Mr. Gates on this one. Lazy people, or even people who value their time, don’t want to undertake tasks that are unnecessarily complicated. That’s why I love the idea of making shortcuts in the print procurement process. Inventory management is a big deal for organizations that do not have a central location, as print procurement can get cumbersome if not streamlined thoughtfully. Keep in mind, however, that this solution is not for everybody. Ask yourself the following question to determine if inventory management would be a good fit:
- Do you currently inventory printed material in a central location and pull and ship orders to remote branches as needed?
- Do you have to check to make sure you have enough material in inventory before you can give your internal customer a delivery date?
- Do you currently maintain inventory and usage levels on a spreadsheet that has to be prepared manually? Is it cumbersome to keep that spreadsheet updated?
- Do you have remote branches or divisions call you when they need to replenish basic brochures, stationery supplies or business cards? Could you be adding more value to your organization if you didn’t have to process those orders?
- Do you have to check back through old records for pricing information before you place a reprint order? Does this happen often, thereby slowing your work?
Inventory management services are designed to help minimize the time you spend on repetitive items that do not add substantial value to your organization. This is enterprise empowerment to its fullest! Industry studies have shown that your internal costs of ordering, storing, and managing the average print order are more than twice as much as the cost of the printed job. Inventory Management Services are the way to go if your organization is looking to cut out some of those unnecessary costs! (We know Bill Gates would agree with us on this one)