The two-year deal with Howard Smith Paper Group (HSPG), worth up to £50,000 per year, ensures the continuation of a scheme that offers a 10:1 return on investment for printers in terms of costs savings.
The Snapshot programme involves a ViP engineer assessing a print operation across 14 criteria, which are then benchmarked against world class and industry averages. The engineer also supplies the firm with a bespoke high-level process map of its operation to pinpoint bottlenecks and also identify low hanging fruit for improvement.
"While [Snapshot] doesn’t deliver an improvement process in itself, what it does is highlight the areas that would benefit from improvement," said Richard Gray, BPIF South managing director and board director of Vision in Print.
According to Gray, since its inception five years ago more than 400 firms have undertaken the Snapshot programme, and to date the scheme and subsequent programmes have offered participants an average value benefit of £127,000 in the first year.
HSPG managing director Malcolm Lane-Ley added: "Supporting Vision in Print is clearly aligned to our own strategy and by directly contributing to the Snapshot costs enables us to again directly provide the UK print industry the opportunity to seek out further competitive advantage."
There are two Snapshot programmes available: a £700 one-day programme for companies with fewer than 25 staff and a £1,400 two-day programme for larger firms. HSPG subsidises 50% of the cost of the Snapshots, which means that printers only pay £350 and £700 for each of the respective schemes.
"HSPG is a natural partner, because what we’re doing is constantly trying to promote the principle of adding value to our clients because if they’re not careful print will just be another commodity and therefore what printers need to think about is their added value, just as HSPG constantly thinks about the added value it can offer to its customers," said Gray.
"The print industry is clearly entering a very challenging period, but I think it will sort the wheat from the chaff and we’re going to see the best getting better and this is where ViP can help."
Howard Smith steps in to support Vision in Print's lean-manufacturing Snapshot
Vision in Print (ViP) has secured new sponsorship for its Snapshot lean manufacturing diagnostic programmes so that print firms can continue to analyse their businesses for as little as 350.
