You Can't Fix Something You Don't Understand

The February issue of Newspapers and Technology published an article by Frank Bourlon, which reads like he’s writing from the Los Angeles Times Olympic Pressroom. Mr. Bourlon has over thirty-five years experience in the printing trade, which makes his stories a must read for pressmen around the globe. I'm certain my colleagues will relate to this story completely.

"Sometimes press operators are blamed because they aren’t able to set ink on the press or because the press is not being maintained well enough.

The press operator may blame it on management because management doesn’t want to spend the money needed to keep the press maintained.

Wherever the blame lies is immaterial. What is important is that if the press isn’t being maintained properly, then the newspaper’s ability to sell advertising can be severely compromised, especially in a competitive market.

Managers have to understand the problems that might be affecting their production departments. Sometimes the manager need only ask the right questions in order to understand why print quality problems occur.

I know this sounds simplistic, but in many situations in which I’ve been involved, some print and production managers may not necessarily understand how their operation works.

These managers may have been promoted from other areas of the newspaper, and heading production is not something for which they’ve necessarily been trained. While these people may have done an outstanding job in their former positions, they might not have a grasp for production. Bottom line? The production department suffers as a result.

You can’t fix something you don’t understand."

To read the entire story click here

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