Gene Therapy: The 3 Cardinal Rules for Optimizing Production Management
The Answers
Faced with the previously mentioned situations, here’s what you would do if you adhere to the cardinal rules of P-O-D:
Situation #1: Overlook the standard in favor of delivery.
Situation #2: Put some of your work with a new printer to test out the benefits of combined shipments going out one door.
Situation #3: Prepare some cost/benefit studies, discuss them with the boss and recommend that you experiment with a few titles, to be ready with solutions when they are needed.
Situation #4: Arrange to meet with the publisher in a relaxed environment, over lunch or for coffee, and ask him where he wants the company to be five years from now so that you can be sure that you have a supply chain waiting to support that goal.
Eugene G. Schwartz is a regular contributor to Book Business. He is a publishing industry analyst, writer and editor-at-large for Foreword Magazine. A former board member of PMA (now the Independent Book Publishers Association), he is president of Consortium House, a management and business consultancy to publishers. He previously was a manufacturing, production and operations executive.
- People:
- Howard Goldstein
Eugene G. Schwartz is editor at large for ForeWord Reviews, an industry observer and an occasional columnist for Book Business magazine. In an earlier career, he was in the printing business and held production management positions at Random House, Prentice-Hall/Goodyear and CRM Books/Psychology Today. A former PMA (IBPA) board member, he has headed his own publishing consultancy, Consortium House. He is also Co-Founder of Worthy Shorts Inc., a development stage online private press and publication service for professionals as well as an online back office publication service for publishers and associations. He is on the Publishing Business Conference and Expo Advisory Board.
