HA: Print shop could be outsourced - USM Forum -- Message Board

Date: Oct 11, 2004

HA: Print shop could be outsourced

Date: Oct 11, 2004

to provide a bit of historical context--this issue has been discussed since 1988. those that had printing to do often found it cheaper in the community than on campus.

Date: Oct 11, 2004

A Printing Center customer survey is the current "Special Focus" on the Southern Miss home page: http://www.usm.edu/pubnprnt/survey/

Date: Oct 11, 2004

My spouse was a regular user of their services and found them to be the most competent folks he encountered on the entire campus. They did excellent work, the turn around time was fast, the service was pleasant, and the price was reasonable. He's had a hard time finding the equivalent in our new location. Looks like another stupid move.

Why are internal musings ("well we might do this. . . .") in the paper? Are they trying to scare all USM employees? Behave or we'll outsource you?

Date: Oct 11, 2004

i know the staff was competent, pleasant, and the like. however, i know someone who was running a professional association and could spend the association's money on printing anywhere they wanted to. took bids to the printing center, because they wanted to support USM, and off campus. on every occasion, the printing center was $500 or more than off campus bids.

Date: Oct 11, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: stinky cheese man
"i know the staff was competent, pleasant, and the like. however, i know someone who was running a professional association and could spend the association's money on printing anywhere they wanted to. took bids to the printing center, because they wanted to support USM, and off campus. on every occasion, the printing center was $500 or more than off campus bids. "

You're a pretty savvy guy SCM, a little to the right of center perhaps but good for a reality check most of the time. I have to ask at this time, however, whether you have become the assistant adjunct risk manager to the CFO?

Date: Oct 12, 2004

nope. just a reality check for those relatively new to USM. what's the expression--the more things change the more they stay the same. that's USM. what some see as change i see as USM for over 20 years.

Date: Oct 12, 2004

SCM is probably correct regarding costs. While I'm not familiar with the USM print service, I am familiar with college print shop operations. In general, if the comparison is between an instructor running off 100 handouts on the departmental copy machine vs sending a bulk job to the campus print shop, the print shop wins out. But if the comparison is between sending a multi-color "PR type" piece to the campus print shop or outsourcing, outsourcing wins.

I have found that a campus printing operation is justifiable in the first case & usually beats off-campus outfits because the work is relatively uncomplicated & doesn't require ultra-expensive equipment. But for "puff pieces," outsourcing is the way to go, simply because the off-campus outfits have a lot more work for their equipment.

Another area that is ripe for abolishment is "campus stores." In general, an campus-based office supply store can't compete with the larger chains & wholesale outfits.

The main arguments in favor of running these "auxiliary services" are sentimental. On the dark side, outsourcing is a terrific way for public officials to play "scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" with the business community & there must be serious controls against abuse. Outsourcing is a great way to hide cronyism & political favoritism. Which is one reason "certain" political factions really like outsourcing.

If the goal of outsourcing is to save money & obtain better products, then "lowest & best bid" rules must be strictly followed & strict ethical standards observed. In practice, this seldom occurs.

Date: Oct 12, 2004

fyi: though it's not widely publicized, PPS (or PGS, now) has long offered price matches. additionally, they have the only 4-color press in the local area--or so they've advertized.

Date: Oct 12, 2004

i've heard about the price match. but why is it that their price is high initially but if someone does the legwork to find a better deal that they'll then match it! why not lower from the start?

Date: Oct 12, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: Invictus
Another area that is ripe for abolishment is "campus stores." In general, an campus-based office supply store can't compete with the larger chains & wholesale outfits.

This is because the state of Mississippi has seemed to understand or applied the principle of "bulk purchasing." If all state agencies were required to use the same vendor for duplicating paper, for instance, the product could be supplied as a cost substantially less than outsourcing to a private vendor. I don't know the current situation, but there was a time when departments purchased certain supplies (e.g., duplicating paper, manilla folders, paperclips, staplers) from the Hub bookstore. I never quite understood why that was the case. It was actually less expensive to purchase out of state than from the campus bookstore. I always supected that there was some political reason for such a system. It it that some of the proceeds were funneled back into the university's ancillary programs? Essential supplies should be available to departments at the lowest possible cost. A well organized statewide "not for profit" purchasing system should be much less expensive than outsourcing it to a private "for profit" vendor.

Date: Oct 12, 2004

The first sentence of the above posting should have read " . . . . . because the state of Mississippi has not seemed to understand the principle of bulk purchasing."

Date: Oct 13, 2004

They also do excellent design work. In my program we are strapped for both time and money so we use them do put together much of our printed PR and I think that the cost/quality ratio is great. In addition, it is a lot easier to have the print shop help move the thing through the university proofreader -- that would be a horror if you had to do the same thing with an off campus agency.