About MeMicroscope and Spectro

I am a career printer and a Quality Management professional.  Over the years I have learned about how Quality Management applies in the printing industry, especially in the offset commercial printing sector.  An ability to think strategically from a systemic level has evolved for me personally using the methods of Quality Management, engineering, and science - I simply try out ideas, keep the good ones, and discard or modify those that don't stand up over time. 

I came into the industry through production.  In my case it was the camera room.  After college I took an opportunity to manage a two-press general shop in a small town.  I was available, interested, and knew something about photography.  We did well, managing to build up a small customer base which included the local offices of two international companies.  We managed to print acceptable work all without actually knowing what we were doing.  We simply followed the steps, like I do today when I bake a cake. 

When pre-press went digital I decided to move into Quality Management rather than spend my time in front of a computer monitor.  I went back to school, joined the American Society for Quality, and began reading, thinking, and applying what I learned where I could.  I have had some local success applying the methods of Quality along the way.  These methods have been new and unsettling in many instances.  I have learned that change management has required as much attention and work as anything else.  The larger systemic gains, however, are yet to be realized.

To realize the systemic gains I am looking for a position as Quality Manager in a large shop.  My greatest experience is in commercial sheetfed offset.  No matter, that experience applies well to other formats and other markets.  My methods are diverse and include Six Sigma, Lean, TQM, and Systems Thinking.  I include a resume here.  

Challenge for the Industry and Industry Leaders:

It would be naive and irresponsible to avoid the subject of change.  Everything I propose brings with it change.  There is resistance to change: it's part of the human condition.  Willingness to change, then, becomes the critical variable.  That willingness might come from desperation or it might derive from good sense.  It's been my experience that the absence of a willingness to change has been the greatest roadblock to Quality Management in the printing industry.  That much is changing, however, with more leaders and managers at least entertaining the idea of Quality Management: how they deal with change when the time comes to change is another matter. 

This website is meant to help overcome the resistance to change by providing a view of the subject of Quality Management so that it's concrete and, well, manageable.  I want to give assurance and have the website reader take away an understanding of the requirements for Quality Management in printing today, along with the feeling that, "Yeah, we can do this stuff."  All this is because I'm looking for a manager or executive who is not afraid of change, or whose fear cannot be overcome by willingness.

If you are a top manager, a CEO or plant manager, or a corporate leader of a multi-branch organization I will work with you to transform your plant, or a plant in your organization, to become a bench-mark for the industry and/or organization.  If you are a leader or top manager in a multi-plant organization and have a local plant manager who wants to become that benchmark for the organization, I will work with him to set a standard for the entire group: our efforts will be leveraged throughout the organization.  Other managers will be invited to participate in the transformation and be offered the tools with which to succeed.  I will work with them, having built a management infrastructure along the way.  We will see management willingness to change to the practices of Quality Management appear where it didn't exist before.

A more detailed proposal is here.

The business case for quality is here.   

The Time is Now:

The industry is moving toward modern management methods.  We see it more frequently especially in packaging, where repeat orders are more common and the substrate is more expensive.  To stay competitive a shop will have to employ these new methods.  We see already a competitive advantage to those shops which do.  At the present time there is nothing lacking for this transformation to occur: all the management methods are there; the technology is there; and the need is there.  What is missing is the will and the application.  I'm ready to help put all these pieces together.  I will provide the wisdom, willingness, and leadership to bring the transformation to life. 

What I offer

I know what needs to be done.  I know why it needs to be done.  And I know how to do it.  We will work together to apply the most effective model to each process.  I will work with management to keep them up to date on the transformation and coach them along.  Our methods will be repeatable and instructive; we will use the scientific method, or the Plan-Do-Check-Act method, or Six Sigma's DMAIC method: they are all equivalent, they all involve a single model and all lead to learning. 

Where To start

It's an old saw about a journey of a thousand miles beginning with a single step, but it applies.  What matters more than where to start or even the choice of models to use is that we do start, and then don't stop.  All roads to Quality and system transformation lead to the same place.  Different methods are more effective in certain applications.  We will choose wisely.  I have some ideas on where to start derived from experience in the industry.  We will begin immediately.