Nance, formerly Operations Manager, has been with Zebra Print Solutions for over one year. Prior to joining the company, she was Departmental Operations Manager at the News & Observer for 24 years. She was responsible for directing and managing all aspects of the circulation system at the newspaper.

As Manager of Quality Control, Nance will focus on continuous improvement and seek to further refine the company’s ordering, production and fulfillment process to streamline work flow and achieve greater efficiencies to benefit the customer. She also will be responsible for monitoring conformance to Zebra Print Solutions’ quality control standards, processes and documentation that have been instrumental in achieving industry-leading accuracy ratings for on time delivery around the world.

“I am pleased to announce the promotion of Jane to Manager of Quality Control,” said Charlotte DiLeonardo, CEO of Zebra Print Solutions, “We are known for our precision and commitment to quality. Jane will enhance and improve our production process to provide even better job quality for all our valued customers.”

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The most effective vendor relationships are the ones in which the vendor and customer work cooperatively to solve business problems. Developing a strategic partner with thought leadership and experience can help you grow your business.

Here are the top 10 benefits of vendor partnering:

1. One single source for related needs.
2. Customized solutions tailored to meet your specific business needs.
3. Consistent—and steadily improving—quality with the ability to support your unique quality control initiatives (ie. Six Sigma, ISO, etc.).
4. Cost control through efficiencies such as inventory management and just-in-time delivery.
5. Responsive service to address rapidly changing needs.
6. Increased customer satisfaction and retention.
7. Free up resources to redirect energy and personnel focus on core activities.
8. Leverage the vendor’s extensive investments in technology, equipment, methodologies and people.
9. Gain a competitive edge by delivering better and faster on complex or rapidly changing products.
10. Benefit from the vendor’s expertise in solving problems for a variety of clients with similar requirements.

Partnering with the right vendor—one who shares your values and supports your goals—can revolutionize the way you do business, resulting in greater corporate profits, improved operations, and future growth.

Ready to find a true partner? Call Zebra Print Solutions at 919.314.3700.

MicroTek is a global provider of on-demand business learning solutions for project implementation, classroom delivery, virtual training, and meeting needs. They provide assistance with printing and distribution of training materials to their Fortune 1000 clients.

Initially, MicroTek used a print vendor they had done business with in the past. But they soon came to realize that they needed more than simply ink on paper. MicroTek’s customers asked for flexible and creative solutions for their rapidly changing needs. But their vendor was static and unyielding, unable to provide quick turnaround or accommodate unique client requests. It was clear that MicroTek risked the loss of their valuable clients’ business if they continued to use the supplier.

Approach

MicroTek turned to specialists in training material fulfillment, Zebra Print Solutions. After meeting with MicroTek, Zebra created a tailored solution for automating the training material printing and distribution process. The goal of automation was to provide greater flexibility for MicroTek customers and the ability to meet late requests with accuracy and speed. As a partner, rather than vendor, Zebra was able to help MicroTek solve their customer problems, ensuring a higher level of satisfaction and repeat orders.

Results

The impact of the partnership between Zebra Print Solutions and MicroTek has been an overall improved quality of service, with an increase in delivery quality of over 7%—well above Six Sigma levels. MicroTek’s customers have gained back confidence in services provided, which has led to superior customer retention as well as higher close rates for new deals.

Insight

This case study illustrates the true return on investment that comes from working with Zebra Print Solutions. Their partnership approach to solving business problems results in win-win solutions. MicroTek may have been looking for a print fulfillment company but, instead, found a partner that shared the same values and enhanced MicroTek’s position with important clients.

“Partnering with Zebra was the right decision for MicroTek and our customers. They care about our business success and have brought a high quality of customer care and attention to detail to the process. We now have conversations around business strategy and ways we can work better as partners versus conversations related to basic print operations.“
- Daniel O’Brien, VP Managed Learning Services

A Fortune 500 global power management company provides mission-critical backup power to such diverse operations as the aircraft cockpit, the hospital operating room, and even the amusement park ride. With approximately 70,000 employees in more than 150 countries responsible for ensuring reliable, safe power to diverse clients around the globe, the company places high value on employee lifelong learning. They sought to gain efficiency and reduce printing costs in the production and distribution of their exacting technical manuals and training materials.

Approach

Zebra Print Solutions met with corporate training management to conduct an in-depth needs analysis. The manuals used in training are extensive and complex, with one manual composed of multiple sub assemblies. In addition, the company needed to be able to meet very short turnaround cycles.

A custom online ordering system was developed for them and Zebra Print Solutions instituted a versioning system with benchmarks of each manual to ensure all training materials were correctly produced and assembled. A dedicated customer service team was put into place to ensure accurate, on time delivery was achieved.

Results

Despite the challenges of frequent same day delivery requests and the complex assembly of handouts and schematics in technical manuals, the company has enjoyed a 100% on time delivery of their materials. Zebra Print Solutions’ technology-based processes and dedicated team have resulted in meeting every due date.

Insight

This case study exemplifies Zebra Print Solutions’ extraordinary ability to create custom ordering and production processes to meet the unique needs of clients. By partnering with clients such as this one, Zebra Print Solutions is able to gain the efficiencies desired and lower printing costs with the institution of a multi-step quality control process that ensures the correct materials are delivered to the correct location on time, every time.

“I have been very pleased with the work you do for us and with the team you have assembled. Not only have you helped us reduce our printing costs and gain efficiency through the online ordering system, the team at Zebra has gone out of their way to meet our needs.” - Dan R., Training Director

1. Improve quality
2. Eliminate waste
3. Reduce time
4. Reduce total costs

The concepts of lean production and its inherent just-in-time (JIT) delivery can be successfully applied to the fulfillment of training materials. This business strategy seeks to reduce costs by reducing material inventories. The application of internet-driven technology solutions to allow for rapid delivery and flexible change orders has further enabled companies to achieve lean goals.

Although the JIT concept has been around since Henry Ford introduced it in early automobile production, one problem has plagued successful implementation. The entire JIT process relies on the use of historical demand to predict future need. With today’s unpredictable business conditions, using historical demand data can have serious consequences.

The application of online ordering and print on demand principles to the JIT process has allowed for maximum flexibility in rapidly responding to fluctuating demand. The results are reduced price and quality volatility and improved supply stability. The obvious benefits of using online ordering in conjunction with a company’s lean goals is the ability to receive materials within very short turnaround times, make rapid changes to materials, create custom orders, and eliminate excess, outdated materials.

For training materials specifically, online ordering and print on demand provides:

• Improved quality control with the establishment of printing benchmarks and standards
• Single source purchasing that reduces time spent on multiple vendor sourcing
• Reduced administrative time through permissions-based ordering that accommodates multiple locations and/or individuals
• Reduction of waste from production, storage and disposal of old versions of documents
• Next day delivery around the world
• Significant reductions in costs inherent in empty training seats, missing, incorrect or outdated materials, and missed delivery deadlines

Finally, there is one additional, and significant, benefit to online ordering—the ability to address a company’s environmental concerns by meeting three JIT waste guidelines:

1. Time —reduce time goods are in transit, lowering the rate at which fossil fuels are burned
2. Inventory—decrease large supplies of materials that can quickly become outdated
3. Scrap—eliminate supplies of outdated documents

Read the case study that illustrates how online ordering helped a Fortune 500 power management company gain efficiency and 100% on time delivery of their technical manuals that incorporate complex assemblies of handouts and equipment schematics.

Zebra Print Solutions’ services are uniquely suited for education and training departments that require error-free production and fulfillment of materials for classes, courses, and training sessions. The quality control processes and advanced technology we deploy provide our clients with a 99.5% accuracy rating.

In addition, we offer fully automated training material efulfillment with a direct interface to your Learning Management Systems (LMS) and/or registration system. Our advanced technical experience working with many training registration systems provides a complete and seamless solution.

Contact Charlotte DiLeonardo to discuss your unique needs.

Red Hat conducts a wide array of industry-respected training classes around the world. While working with a previous vendor, instructors arrived at training sites and found they had not received the correct versions or quantities of training manuals for each class. The vendor’s lack of quality control processes to assure 100% correct and on-time delivery was impacting the bottom line of Red Hat.

Approach

Zebra Print Solutions met with Red Hat to understand the scope of their training material fulfillment needs and their business constraints. A custom online ordering system was then developed for Red Hat that tracked each component of each order through delivery, ensuring a 99% or better accuracy score.

Results

Training material fulfillment errors and failures fell from 18% to less than 1%. Zebra Print Solutions’ technology-based processes enabled the Red Hat team to eliminate an entire day formerly spent trouble shooting missed or incorrect deliveries.

With accurate, on time delivery, Red Hat no longer needed to use overnight shipping. Zebra Print Solutions was able to save Red hat approximately $156,000 of shipping costs in the first year alone.

Insight

This case study exemplifies Zebra Print Solutions’ approach as a partner with their clients, seeking to understand and integrate with client business processes. By offering online ordering, version numbering, additional inspections and automated shipping, Zebra Print Solutions was able to drastically increase the accuracy with which orders were delivered to each training site. As a result, Red Hat realized significant cost savings in both freight charges and staff hours.

Although much of the challenge to getting all the elements right is within the control of the vendor, their performance declines over time. They fail to consider what we like to call “wild card elements” that can impact results.

Here’s the typical scenario:

1. You place an order for training manuals with your new vendor.
2. The new vendor pays special attention to your order, ensuring everything is perfect.
3. You are delighted and proclaim the vendor the best you’ve ever worked with.
4. You place your next order for training manuals with a new section added and new ship to location.
5. The new vendor takes a day to confirm your order and then passes you along to his assistant. The order is shipped to the right place but the new section is missing.
6. Your instructor finds the error and reports it, but it’s too late—class is in session and the damage to your reputation is done.

Is this starting to sound familiar? The problem isn’t that the vendor is necessarily bad. It’s just that they have not instituted the quality control processes necessary to ensure complete accuracy the first time and every time.

While these kinds of vendor failures are not uncommon, it is important to recognize the hidden costs of taking corrective action. Considering that budgets are tighter than ever, the cost of vendor error goes far beyond simply replacing and reshipping. Three major hidden costs include:

Hidden Cost No. 1: Managing the vendor

Problem:

Companies typically underestimate the cost of people involved in identifying and solving vendor problems. In fact, vendor invoice errors alone can erode any expected savings from selecting a low cost bidder, sometimes as much as two to 10 percent each month.

Solution:

Identifying typical vendor errors and screening replacement vendors for a demonstrated ability to accurately provide product and services can weed out some poor performers. Invest the time to check references, meet with vendor management, and learn what established quality control processes are in place to ensure accuracy.

Hidden Cost No. 2: Poor change order communications

Problem:

Change communication to vendors can be complex and burdensome. Who do you communicate an order change to? How are you assured that everyone in the vendor organization got the message? What safeguards are in place to guarantee your order, with changes, will be shipped on time and to the right location?

Solution:

Your vendor should have in place a system of checks and balances to ensure accuracy. An ability to quickly adapt to your requested change with ease is essential. But more importantly, they must have a seamless and streamlined communication chain that relays order changes down the production line. A single point of contact is all it should take to assure your order changes have been received, understood, and will not impact timelines.

Hidden Cost No. 3: Shadow organizations

Problem:

Shadow organizations—those employees in your organization who continue doing things the old way—almost always exist when vendor errors cause lack of confidence. Left unchecked, redundancies created by shadow organizations can greatly reduce the value of outsourcing your production and fulfillment.

Solution:

As part of managing vendor relations, introduce all employees involved to their vendor contact right away to establish trusted relationships. Educate your organization on why it’s important to use the new vendor’s services and what quality control processes the vendor has in place that they can rely on. Your vendor will gain trust by repeated accurate performance and your employees will learn to let go.

Read the Red Hat Case Study and learn how we were able to provide $156,000 in shipping savings alone in the first year.

Zebra Print Solutions’ services are uniquely suited for education and training departments that require error-free production and fulfillment of materials for classes, courses, and training sessions. The quality control processes and advanced technology we deploy provide our clients with a 99.5% accuracy rating.

In addition, we offer fully automated training material efulfillment with a direct interface to your Learning Management Systems (LMS) and/or registration system. Our advanced technical experience working with many training registration systems provides a complete and seamless solution.

Contact Paul Shene, Account Manager, to discuss your unique needs.

Promotional products are effective in an unobtrusive, friendly approach to building brand awareness. These items tend to be kept and used, leading to voluntary repeated exposure, recognition and retention of your name and message.

TOP EIGHT USES OF PROMOTIONAL PRODUCTS
1. Promote goodwill/image
2. Reinforce marketing of existing products, services, facilities
3. Recognize employee performance
4. Generate sales leads
5. Promote trade show traffic
6. Introduce new products, services, facilities
7. Stimulate employee sales performance
8. Stimulate employee productivity

Which products should you choose when there are tens of thousands to choose from? We can help!
Zebra Print Solutions is licensed by the Advertising Specialties Institute. With the same commitment to quality that you’ve come to know us for in printed materials, we’ll guide you to the right item and ensure it arrives on time, every time.

Click to see 8 Great Promotional Items

Need other ideas or ready to discuss a promo item order? Contact us