It's funny how some conversations can stick in the mind for years. Reading the recent article Cash in the Trash I was reminded of a conversation that took place the best part of a decade ago.

While visiting a print site the highly-experienced factory manager said that from his point-of-view "a bin of waste in the bindery is like a bin of five pound notes". It was a vivid description that perfectly illustrated the potentially high cost of waste and sloppy practices.

Today the industry overall is light years ahead of where it was a decade ago in terms of general housekeeping and waste management - driven in some part of course by ever-tightening legislation and the drive for environmental accreditation. Exemplar companies such as Stralfors and Interflex show just what can be achieved when a company wholeheartedly embraces environmental and business efficiency.

But it's still possible to visit printing businesses in 2010 and find piles of, well, crap all over the place. Those piles of crap are effectively piles of money - be it tied up in surplus stock or unnecessary overs.

Which brings me to another memorable quote, from a piece about finance and cash management last year: "If it was suitcases of money in the warehouse, they'd be onto it like a shot. Because it's paper on pallets, people just walk by it every day."

Maybe today could be a good day to take a walk around your site on the lookout for potential five pound notes.