Read the following passage about the problems of the Printing Department.

Use the information it contains to write the 'Recommendations'

section of the 0 & M Officer's report.

THE PRINTING DEPARTMENT TERMS OF REFERENCE The Office Manager expressed concern over the delay in printing material called for by departments. The Print Room Supervisor didn't seem able to cope. Extra staff had not solved the problem. Office Manager asked 0 & M to 'have a look at it'.

FACT-FINDING Interviewed the Print Room Supervisor. He said that difficulties could only be solved by giving him another machine and operator. Asked what workload he had on hand he showed us three wire trays full of masters. He had no records of the number of print runs completed or the number of impressions printed (I've got my work cut out printing them, without having to count them too).

MACHINES Three offset machines, photographic equipment, platemaking equipment, guillotine, heavy-duty stapler, spine-taping machine.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS It was noted that a great deal of the Supervisor's time was taken up in dealing with queries, 'urges' and dissatisfied customers generally.

It was observed that, whilst everybody appeared to be busy, it was seldom that more than one machine was actually printing at any given moment.

Machine operators selected their next job for themselves, except when actually told to give priority to a particular one.

A great deal of work of dubious value (for example, personalised note pads for junior members of staff) was being done.

No formal stock-control methods governed the frequency or the quantity of print-runs to replenish stocks of standard forms and letterheads STAFF AND DUTIES Print Room Supervisor. Buys paper and other supplies. Costs and charges out all printing jobs to departments. Spends about forty per cent of time on artwork (for example, forms design) and chasing work when customers phone.
Assistant Supervisor. Does some artwork. Helps with accounts and stands in for Supervisor when absent. About sixty per cent of time occupied with camera and platemaking work.
Three Machine Operators. Occupied in printing, cleaning up masters, cutting paper from the flat sheet, collating, stapling, binding and moving work.
From '0 & M Case-study Notebook', Management in Action (January 1973)