Forms Management Partnering with Print Vendors

Transcription

1 Forms Management Partnering with Print Vendors Presented by Bonnie Harper Manager of Document Administration Premera Blue Cross Page 1 of 8

2 Forms Management Partnering with Print Vendors: A print vendor can merely be a source for printing forms or they can be a company s partner in managing a forms program. The most successful arrangement would be a partnership wherein both parties work toward common goals. This discussion includes various levels of a forms department s involvement with printers, recommendations for developing a partnership, and a case study of Premera s print management organization and the RFP process that ensured its success. Part I Depending on organizational structure and other factors, different forms departments might have varying levels of involvement with printers, ranging from no involvement whatsoever to complete outsourcing of the forms management functions. Regardless, forms management is an important core responsibility of a company that s crucial in audits, adherence to industry regulations, and records retention. As such, the core role of the Forms Manager should include: Controlling policies and usage guidelines Controlling the creation of new or revised forms Controlling information about forms, numbering, indexing, cataloguing, and maintaining history files (life cycle management) Setting and maintaining design standards Establishing and updating procedures for ordering forms, printing them, and storage and distribution guidelines If a Forms Manager has some interaction with printers, such as forms management and design but no procurement responsibility, a level of comfort with the print process is required. While forms manufacturing tends to be less than complex, a forms designer might work with an end-user to create something bold and new. However, some concepts do not work in the manufacturing process. Good print vendors will keep their customers apprised of new technologies. Vendors should partner with the forms group even if the forms group isn t the procurement agent the vendor can protect the forms department s interests from being overshadowed by the needs of the procurement department (for instance, cheaper isn t always better). The forms department should have a role in selecting the vendors, and in quality review of the final products. If the forms department also has print procurement responsibility: Decide whether to use selected vendors or to bid out each job or job type. If possible, create a partnership with a selected vendor who can offer bundles services, including printing, inventory, fulfillment and distribution it saves time and money, and creates efficiencies. Own your own data about printing: print history and costs and inventory usage and costs. Sometimes forms departments don t know if forms are being used or not without accurate print production or inventory information. Page 2 of 8

3 Arrange with vendors to provide raw data to upload into your own database. This way you can combine this information with other information that you may track for complete, fully loaded costs and usage information, and it s always yours to keep. Fully outsourced forms management: Outsourcing forms management might be the best solution if your situation is completely out of control and/or your company lacks internal expertise, however the core roles of the Forms Manager cannot be fully outsourced. Outsourcing works best when: The Forms Manager fully defines the process The Forms Manager owns the decisions and the information (including the authorization to print/reprint) The vendor manages production and participates as a partner; and has the expertise where it s not present internally There s strong corporate support to funnel work to a vendor. Outsourcing forms management does not work well (or quickly) when: The products are skewed to vendor capability, not the Forms Manager s needs Vendor doesn t share reports or information (this can be a nightmare if you change vendors vendors don t often want to share what they consider their proprietary information ). You must insist you own information about your forms and their usage. If you don t, then you re completely reliant on the vendor - you could lose any history should they chose not to share it after you terminate the relationship. Forms Manager won t let go of the reins you have to agree on the terms of the relationship and abide by your agreed roles There s little corporate support for centralization. You don t want to put a vendor into a situation where they must fight your company s employees in order to do their job. Part II There are a few things to think about before entering into any relationship with a printer, no matter how deep it is. Any good forms printer can provide a quality printed product, but the goal, again, is to enable the Forms Manager to make good business decisions. A later section will focus on an RFP process, but even without a formal contract, you can get more from the relationship if you have an understanding with your vendors up front. It s very important to set the ground-rules. Develop service level agreements and clearly define processes used by both parties. First, because data management is crucial for decision-making, own your data. Integrate vendor data into your own. You could ask for a regular feed of raw data to upload into your own database. Premera gets daily reports of inventory usage information from the print/inventory vendor, which we import into our document database. At any time, we know exactly how many forms are being used, when and by whom. This information, combined with our own production information, provides us with total cost of ownership. If the relationship with the print vendor is terminated, we still have the historical data needed to make decisions and this information could be provided to new vendors. Page 3 of 8

4 In addition to usage and cost information, the ability to provide invoices and other financial information in the format you need it is very important. Vendors should be willing to customize their reporting for you, as there are unlimited variations in how companies manage finances. Next, be careful of vendors who rely on solutions that aren t portable because you ll be locked into an expensive solution and possibly even hardware (an example: statement self-mailers that require proprietary machines to print and seal). A vendor should always have the customer s best interests at heart without trying to up-sell or maximize their print volumes. Trust is at the heart of any good relationship. Having a good vendor means having one that will be accountable to your needs, and who will quickly rectify any mistakes. Setting metrics by which success can be measured helps because the vendor then has skin in the game. Your vendor can provide great reports that you can use to measure your department s success, such as cost savings, inventory management savings, reduction of administrative costs, etc. They can help you look good to your upper management. Make sure you own your own art files. This is easy if your forms department creates the file. Even if a printer does the creation for you, make sure they are using software that s compatible with your own, and have them send you the native art and any other digital representation of the art for every form. Some vendors may say no to this. If they do, find another vendor, but have this discussion up front before committing work to the vendor. Having these files is crucial in terms of being flexible to use other vendors and, more importantly, could make all the difference in a disaster recovery situation where the vendor s files are unrecoverable. Also, make sure your art files are on a server that s backed up and maintained for business continuity in case of a disaster. Constantly educate vendors to understand your needs, requirements, policies, form numbering systems, etc. In some situations the forms department might be the only ones in contact with the print vendor, but in other situations, users might contact them directly. Does the vendor understand what to look for and how to react? What s in it for them? At Premera, in addition to offset printers, we have an in-house vendor-operated Copy Center. They know when to redirect orders to the print procurement department and they assist us in policing the procurement policy to reduce the instance of bootleg forms. Part III Premera Case Study and RFP development: Because printing isn t Premera Blue Cross core business, a decision was made to outsource the internal print shop and to centralize print procurement under the Forms Manager. This changed the focus from forms to all printed and web-posted documents that were to be under the control of the Document Administration department. We had a choice either to contract with several specialized printers or to bundle services under one or two full-service vendors. We sent a Request for Proposal to twenty-six vendors with varying degrees of service, but because we were also concerned with inventory management, Page 4 of 8

5 fulfillment, mass mailing and distribution services, we decided that the full-service, bundled approach was preferable. RFP development: Development of a Request for Proposal can take many forms, but a project plan is required, with some key decisions made early in the process. Premera approached the RPF process methodically, using common tools such as MS Project and boilerplate RFP language to start. Step 1 - Project Team Overview: Determine the key strategy Determine players related but cross-functional stakeholders Assess current situation, volumes, costs, etc List potential vendors Develop requirements statement Meet regularly Step 2 - RFP Develop Components of project Boilerplate language: instructions on how to respond, timelines, etc Develop pricing matrix or model Other requirements: determine key steps and decision points (see Exhibit A for the steps in Premera s project plan) Decide on methodology for evaluating responses for decision-making. Premera used an objective points-system Decision Matrix (see Exhibit B) based on particular weighted criteria, plus objective decision points such as site-visits and gut-reactions from the team. Step 3 Issuing and Evaluating the RFP: Have a central contact point and a formal process for fielding questions and distributing answers Organize responses to compare points separately (example: place pricing in a grid) Evaluate responses Perform site visits and other due diligence (financials, references, follow up questions) Select your preferred vendor(s) using the methodology you ve decided upon in advance Negotiate contract(s) (include the important implementation details listed below) Step 4 - Pre-Implementation Vendor Management tools and processes: Set rules for managing art work and data (stipulate that you own both) Create process for file and report data transfers Create detailed workflow processes between all parties that are involved Determine communication channels and timelines for: estimating, job submission, printing turnaround time, inventory release/management/fulfillment and invoicing Agree on metrics and reports for success; cost savings, on time, etc. Set meeting schedules Page 5 of 8

6 Step 5 - Implement: Share information and meet frequently; be open to needs of all parties. Set a schedule for vendor review to evaluate metrics, discuss issues and opportunities. Step 6 Celebrate! Celebrate the new relationship with the vendor to increase the feeling of having a partnership. Just like any good relationship, the partnership between a Forms Manager and a print vendor should be allowed to evolve and mature over time. Implementation efforts often take several months, with bumps in the road at first. If addressed quickly and honestly, the relationship will settle into a comfort zone where mutual trust is nurtured and both parties can share in success. Page 6 of 8

7 Exhibit A: RFP Project Plan Page 7 of 8

8 Exhibit B: Decision Matrix Each criterion is weighed by level of importance to the decision-makers; in this case, on a scale of 1 10 (10 being extremely important). Each vendor is evaluated on a point scale of 1 5 on how well it met the criterion (5 being excellent). So the points are weighed by importance, and the vendor with the highest number of points wins the objective evaluation. This objective comparison helps narrow the field, but isn t the only decision-making tool. Sitevisits, impressions, overall feeling of compatibility, and gut reactions are also considered. Page 8 of 8