What’s trending in the mail and print industry? PCI Group President and Co-Owner Chris Kropac spoke to York County CEO about the transition from in-plant to outsourcing. An in-plant is a print and mail facility run directly by a company. These made sense fiscally and operationally years ago, but not so much now. Here’s why.
“An in-plant seems to indicate more control of the process and costs, but that’s changing,” Chris said.
It all depends on volume. Most companies that send out transactional mail, including invoices, statements, and notices, want to move to electronic communications. However, that’s not going to save them in-plant costs.
Chris described a scenario, “If you want to move 25% of your communications to electronic, that doesn’t mean you save 25% on print and mail costs. The infrastructure, labor, leasing, and other costs don’t go away. Maybe you save 10%.”
Further, these in-plants are usually unable to stay up to date with technology. The post office is very technically competent. Those with responsibility for print and mail need to understand changes and innovations.
Whereas if companies go from in-plants to outsourcing with PCI Group, they’ll benefit from SLAs (service level agreements), streamlined workflows, and best-in-class processes. “With outsourcing, you’re at cost per piece, so that when you move that 25% of electronic, you really do save 25% on print and mail costs.”
Outsourcing can substantially lower costs without a compromise on accuracy, quality, or reliability.
