print buyer

How to Get Started with Print Buying Software: a Beginner’s Guide

If you’re involved in any phase of the print buying process you know exactly how overwhelming it can be and how quickly project organization can spiral out of control. Are you considering a print management solution to help centralize these various moving parts? In this beginner’s guide to getting started with print buying software we […]
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Q and A: The Problem With General Procurement

What is General Procurement? General procurement is the purchase of finished goods. Right now, the software and systems in place to help facilitate general procurement are not ideally designed for goods that are manufactured, no matter the goods. A specific good to think about are manufactured print goods. There are a lot more elements in printed items over items […]
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Finding Your Hidden Savings

Everything we buy – whether an item, commodity or service – comes with a price. Sometimes we have to wonder if we are getting our money’s worth. Did we overpay? What went into the price? Could we have negotiated a better deal? That’s where buyer’s remorse can set in.  Print buying is complicated. There are […]
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For Print Buyers and Brokers Who Buy Printing

Being 100% sure you are doing things the most efficient way is nearly impossible. There are always cheaper, better or more qualified options available. That’s why the printing business is not easy.  It is competitive, sophisticated, heavy on investment, light on profit and dependent on obtaining an array of projects requiring management of overwhelming details. […]
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Beyond Efficiency: Print Managers should think Productivity

In an often-quoted Harvard Business Review article three years ago, Michael Mankins argued that U.S. companies have maxed out on improving efficiency over the past 30 years. Print managers should focus instead on increasing productivity to be truly successful. The difference between efficiency and productivity: To put it another way, efficiency means maintaining a holding pattern (not slipping). This […]
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Why Qualifying Print Suppliers is Often a Crapshoot

For print buyers, qualifying printers is more important than ever with the urgent need to spend wisely in a tough economy. But it can be complicated and time-consuming—and no matter how diligent you are, most of the available methods don’t guarantee that you’re getting the best deal on price, quality, and service. Qualifying methods vary […]
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As a Print Buyer, what’s your LIMFAC (limiting factor)?

What holds you back as a print buyer? When the military makes plans, they consider what could hinder success. It’s referred to as the LIMFAC, or the limiting factor—the one big element or condition in a situation that you have to overcome in order to succeed. We all run into limiting factors when we try […]
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A World of Complexity Confronts Print Buyers and Vendors

On a daily basis, on our phones and television screens, we’re seeing the effects of complexity—and how leaders struggle to deal with it and often fail. Complex environments and systems share certain hallmarks: There are ongoing, nonlinear interactions of numerous, sometimes millions, of interrelated parts/events. Unpredictability: no one can predict how the interactions will play […]
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