By Howie Fenton, Rochester Software Assoicates: The combination of the paper shortage and staffing crisis has created new problems that become clear when we compare two companies’ journeys to overcome staffing issues. Both had been struggling with prepress staff issues during the pandemic. Both had to: close their doors (at first), offer early retirements, and cut staff. Fortunately, some staff returned, but others joined the “mass resignation” movement and pursued other work. This article talks about how these companies approached staffing issues differently, experienced different results, and the resulting higher costs and risks of hiring and training.
For anonymity, let’s call these companies Company A and Company B. Company A decided to hire a graphic artist and a high school graduate. Company B invested more time in its Web-to-Print portals by creating new sites for more customers and adding more products to clients’ customer portals. After a few months, the differences became apparent.
Company A started to see production errors in the press room and the bindery increasing the amount of rework. Rework itself is always a problem, but now the situation is much more significant due to the paper shortage. In contrast, Company B experienced the opposite; productivity increased as automated workflows performed the order entry, preflight, and imposition with no issues.
Changing Factors of Hiring VS Automation Decision
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SOURCE Rochester Software Associates
