Outsourcing Business Processes

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A necessary business evil or not?

The term outsourcing immediately conjures up a feeling of fear, creates a sense of foreboding and there tends to be a general misconception that it will lead to redundancies. Factor in a lack of awareness or understanding of the benefits that can actually be derived from outsouricng a particular business function or process of your organisation and you can understand why people pale in front of you when the “O” word is mentioned.

There are 12 good reasons why a company might like to consider outsourcing here!

So what is outsourcing?  

Outsourcing business processes is when you contract out a business function either a task, role or process to a third party over a substantial period of time.  The outsource provider ostensibly takes control of the function and becomes responsible for managing its effectiveness and ultimately its success.

Outsourcing has become synonymous with large enterprises who offshore manufacturing or call centre operations to remote providers based in China or India. (I am pretty sure we’ve all had some very interesting conversations at some point in either our working or personal lives.)

This is not a viable option for the SME or for organisations wanting to outsource maybe one or two business processes. An effective and cost saving option is to consider “nearshoring” the process by which a company outsources to a local service provider (when I say local I am referring to a UK based provider)

Outsourcing core business processes may save you money, note I suggest the word may. The success of the process and its overall effectiveness must be clearly defined and managed and there are some guidelines to consider here!

An outsourcing partner can give you flexibility and help you manage growth; ultimately it affords your business benefits by giving you access to outside expertise and technologies without you having to make massive investments in infrastructure change and maintenance. Overall, outsourcing can be scaled to suit the changing needs of your business.

Should I outsource?

The benefits of outsourcing can be great. Capital for start ups is limited and outsourcing some of your business processes can ensure you know exactly what your on-going monthly costs will be allowing you to allocate much needed funds to the development of the business. How…

  1. Will outsourcing allow my business to focus on its strengths?
  2. Will it improve efficiency of the business?
  3. Will your business gain a competitive advantage?
  4. Will it save me money?

Points to consider…

Think through what you need and how the company will benefit!

  • What process(es) are you thinking of outsourcing and why?
  • Weigh the costs of doing it in-house V outsourcing
  • Consider a consultant to help you set up a service provider
  • Consider what the on-going costs would be if you don’t outsource it
  • Are you prepared to invest in the time and management of the outsourcing relationship?
  • Do you have realistic expectations?
  • Are you outsourcing a key function which you really need to make your business successful and competitive?
  • Finally weigh up the risks of outsourcing V managing the process in-house!

Whatever your decision you choose outsourcing or keeping the process in-house; you will need to consider the cost implications and the longer term impact on your business.

One final thing.. to reap true, tangible cost savings the process must be carefully managed and monitored. In other words the relationship must be built on trust, knowledge, security and ultimately become a partnership! Much like a marriage!

Until next time.. How to find the right outsource partner and how to avoid the pitfalls of outsourcing!

 

Filed Under: Outsourcing, Print Management Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Should you.. “Outsourcing Print V Print In-House”

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In the years I have been involved with print outsourcing one question that always comes up is the case for and against outsourcing print!

Print Outsourcing is not a new phenomenon by any means however, there are still many UK companies that manage their print in-house, in fact as I write this article I will be meeting with an independent foreign bank to discuss this very topic!

I am very biased of course, it’s a no brainer to me. I know that over the years we have saved companies thousands of £’s which has translated onto their bottomline!

However, I like to consider the customers perspective and fears, for example: “It’s too expensive!”, “Will I really see cost savings?”, “Just the thought of talking about it sends me into a cold sweat!” “I don’t want to give up control!” “The M.D. wants us to do our own!”

These are some of the comments that actually make me and my team cringe and have cropped up in our exploratory discussions over the years we’ve been promoting the argument for print outsourcing.

Come on, I bet you already do some form of outsourcing; take the domestic situation, maybe you outsource the ironing, or you have some domestic help with the cleaning derived to save YOU TIME. This is called domestic outsourcing. You are entrusting a service provider to deliver a specific service to suit your needs. So what’s the difference?

Whether to print in-house or not is an important decision for a lot of businesses.

But the real issue is the true cost of printing in-house?

When I refer to true cost I mean the £’s, time, the invisibles which a business can’t really quantify.

Big printer/copier manufacturers have spent vast amounts on promoting to businesses that printing in-house is cheap, fast and more efficient however, this is rarely the case. Printer manufacturers rely on us mere mortals to purchase again and again.

After the initial investment in your chosen printer, maybe even several top end range printers what about everything else?

Paper, ink/toner; maintenance; drums; fusers; repairs; power; and the biggest cost on a company’s bottom line TIME.

Yes, time it takes to evaluate, source and buy or lease a printer. Then you’ll need the ancillary equipment, if you’re going to be say printing and despatching your invoices in-house then you will need mailing equipment and so the list goes on. Oh, by the way, don’t forget about the training and the personnel required in-house to operate the machinery; then, what happens if he, she/they leave!

Printers and associated equipment bought or leased are often oversold in other words, are of a very high specification and way in excess of the requirement of the company’s needs.

So many times I have seen customers stuck with equipment that is either under used because they have been oversold or not configured or designed for the tasks required by the company allied to that a contract that states in order for them to have the kit at an attractive rate they need to lease hire for something like 5 years+!

Outsourcing by now is looking a very attractive option for the business owner surely?

Big companies are tempted to look at the large manufacturers to provide “managed print services“; in which the vendor takes control of the customer’s production of corporate, office and marketing documents; typically owning the machines, providing training on how to use them, maintenance and most likely take a per page or click charge.

In-house printing comes with a pretty hefty price tag when the above are factored in to the equation and then there is the lease hire agreement and the commitment the company then has to make to the vendor to ensure he hits the click rate/nos of pages printed monthly, heaven forbid if he doesn’t!

Some businesses are too small for managed print services to be able to offer competitive pricing but the reality is, there are many print management companies who will provide an excellent service at a fair price.

Coupled with the fact that we take the headache away by sourcing printed matter, material, consumables and thus streamline printing costs with ruthless efficiency making it a better proposition to outsource to an independent print manager than purchasing and running the equipment in-house.

One final thought on the above, independent means just that; as a print management company we are independent we aim to deliver a managed print service or print solution and are driven by the customers needs and wants.

Call us for an informal chat and with no obligation and see if what we can do for you!

 


Filed Under: Print Management Tagged With: , , , ,