I came across an unusual expression the other day. A Barmecide feast. I actually had to look it up. It refers to a tale from Arabian Nights where a beggar is entertained by a rich man (Barmecide) who promised him a feast, but instead put a series of imaginary dishes before him. It means something that doesn’t live up to expectations.
I sometimes wonder if software doesn’t sometimes feel a little bit like that. In a complex world like printing, management software has to walk a fine divide between being so simple that it doesn’t satisfy your need, or so complex that you can’t make it work, which is no less disappointing.
I think what makes it worse is that whatever system you pick, there has to be a certain amount of input from you, which can seem a bit daunting. So you hover on the brink, unwilling to commit yourself, and thereby get more frustrated.
If you look at the original Arabian Nights story, though, you’ll see that in the end, after pretending to eat the imaginary meal, the beggar finally does receive not only a real feast but a further twenty years’ unstinted hospitality.
So in software terms, we could translate the moral into ‘take the plunge and it will pay dividends in the end’.
It's interesting how relevant old stories can be – even in the 21st century.
Warm regards
Richard Fergusson
Showing posts with label printing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label printing. Show all posts
Wednesday, 8 December 2010
Wednesday, 7 April 2010
The final runup for IPEX
It's the final approach to IPEX now. Got your tickets yet? (apply on line at http://www.ipex.org/ and they should be free).
We're having the usual in-house arguments about how to make best use of our stand space, what posters for the walls, where to stay, etc, etc. But we'll be there - Stand F323 in Hall 9, and very much look forward to meeting you there. We'll be showing of a load of new stuff, too (some of which is still under wraps). Our new version 5 is bedding in very well and really makes our competitors seem outdated now, so we're excited about demonstrating it to you and showing you just how different it is from the rest.
Talking about that difference last night, a friend said 'but you need to encapsulate WHY you are different in a single memorable phrase'. I've been thinking about that, and it's surprisingly difficult. I suppose one difference is that, despite the fact that we've been going for 20 years now, we are as enthusiastic as ever. The original creators are still hands-on on a daily basis, and we do have a tendency to worry about about getting things right, even if it takes a bit longer. And we are concerned and have passionate arguments about 'usability' versus 'instant appeal'. How do you put that in a single memorable phrase? I really haven't a clue!
See you at IPEX!
Richard Fergusson
The PrintSum Partnership
We're having the usual in-house arguments about how to make best use of our stand space, what posters for the walls, where to stay, etc, etc. But we'll be there - Stand F323 in Hall 9, and very much look forward to meeting you there. We'll be showing of a load of new stuff, too (some of which is still under wraps). Our new version 5 is bedding in very well and really makes our competitors seem outdated now, so we're excited about demonstrating it to you and showing you just how different it is from the rest.
Talking about that difference last night, a friend said 'but you need to encapsulate WHY you are different in a single memorable phrase'. I've been thinking about that, and it's surprisingly difficult. I suppose one difference is that, despite the fact that we've been going for 20 years now, we are as enthusiastic as ever. The original creators are still hands-on on a daily basis, and we do have a tendency to worry about about getting things right, even if it takes a bit longer. And we are concerned and have passionate arguments about 'usability' versus 'instant appeal'. How do you put that in a single memorable phrase? I really haven't a clue!
See you at IPEX!
Richard Fergusson
The PrintSum Partnership
Sunday, 1 March 2009
In this job we get to talk to a lot of printers, and a question I always ask is “so how’s it going? Are you busy?” which I must say I have been asking with greater trepidation recently. The interesting thing is that some printers do seem to be extremely busy.
On the face of it that would appear to be encouraging, as it means that companies are trying to promote their way out of recession. On the other hand the recent BPIF Printing Outlook survey reports that almost half the printing industry has been forced to cut prices despite rising raw material costs. This is obviously unsustainable in even the short turn, so what is happening?
The obvious answer is that many printers are reverting to their discredited old motto ‘Turnover is king’, or as I once heard it put ‘If I work all the hours God sends I must be doing something right!’
Well, OK. If you’re working round the clock you may be making fuller use of your resources, and your rent and admin. costs etc. are spread over more jobs, which could, if you're careful, bring your print costs down by as much as 10%. The problem is we’re beginning to see reductions in price of far more than that, which in an already squeezed industry is not, on the face of it, healthy.
But there is a rather paradoxical light at the end of the tunnel, which is that people who reduce their costs that far are actually chasing turnover for immediate survival – they simply have to, in order to pay the wage bill at the end of the month. That £30,000 job they are doing for £23,000 can be factored for £18,000 which gets them neatly out of the mess - for this month. What about next month? I suspect that we are about to see a major shake-out of those printers who do not stick to their guns when pricing.
We live in interesting times!
Richard Fergusson
On the face of it that would appear to be encouraging, as it means that companies are trying to promote their way out of recession. On the other hand the recent BPIF Printing Outlook survey reports that almost half the printing industry has been forced to cut prices despite rising raw material costs. This is obviously unsustainable in even the short turn, so what is happening?
The obvious answer is that many printers are reverting to their discredited old motto ‘Turnover is king’, or as I once heard it put ‘If I work all the hours God sends I must be doing something right!’
Well, OK. If you’re working round the clock you may be making fuller use of your resources, and your rent and admin. costs etc. are spread over more jobs, which could, if you're careful, bring your print costs down by as much as 10%. The problem is we’re beginning to see reductions in price of far more than that, which in an already squeezed industry is not, on the face of it, healthy.
But there is a rather paradoxical light at the end of the tunnel, which is that people who reduce their costs that far are actually chasing turnover for immediate survival – they simply have to, in order to pay the wage bill at the end of the month. That £30,000 job they are doing for £23,000 can be factored for £18,000 which gets them neatly out of the mess - for this month. What about next month? I suspect that we are about to see a major shake-out of those printers who do not stick to their guns when pricing.
We live in interesting times!
Richard Fergusson
Thursday, 6 November 2008
An Industry First
Well - its been a long time in the making, but I think we're about to score a Print MIS industry first.
We've now fixed November 28th as the official launch date, but pretty much everything is in place now for the first FREE fully featured Print MIS. This should finally mean that the estimated 50 percent or so of printers who don't currently have an MIS has no excuse to remain ignorant about whether they are covering their costs.
This industry is known for its suicidal undercutting. That normally gets even worse in a recession. Now maybe there's a way out. All it takes is for printers to work out the real cost of doing each job - including an allowance for indirect costs, and then to dig their heels in and refuse to budge lower than that figure. Sounds simple, but you'd never believe the reasons for not doing it!
"If we included all the costs we'd never get the job" (no comment)
"If we're working all round the clock we must be doing something right" (then where is your enormous expected profit?)
"It's a sprat to catch a mackerel" (but it's interesting to see that the customer who stitches you up for a small job will fillet you even more efficiently for the larger ones!)
"But we've already covered our costs this month" (so why give it all away?)
So thats it. If independent print companies are to survive, they have to keep an eye on their profits. There's really no excuse any more. Not when there's a free MIS available.
Richard
We've now fixed November 28th as the official launch date, but pretty much everything is in place now for the first FREE fully featured Print MIS. This should finally mean that the estimated 50 percent or so of printers who don't currently have an MIS has no excuse to remain ignorant about whether they are covering their costs.
This industry is known for its suicidal undercutting. That normally gets even worse in a recession. Now maybe there's a way out. All it takes is for printers to work out the real cost of doing each job - including an allowance for indirect costs, and then to dig their heels in and refuse to budge lower than that figure. Sounds simple, but you'd never believe the reasons for not doing it!
"If we included all the costs we'd never get the job" (no comment)
"If we're working all round the clock we must be doing something right" (then where is your enormous expected profit?)
"It's a sprat to catch a mackerel" (but it's interesting to see that the customer who stitches you up for a small job will fillet you even more efficiently for the larger ones!)
"But we've already covered our costs this month" (so why give it all away?)
So thats it. If independent print companies are to survive, they have to keep an eye on their profits. There's really no excuse any more. Not when there's a free MIS available.
Richard
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
