Using the Printing Industries of Americas (PIA) annual ratio studies, which rank firms by profitability, the paper looks at what differentiates profitable printers from the rest. The white paper claims that firms with lower non-production associated costs for the same turnover had higher profits.

It suggests that activity-based costing would make it easier for printers to reveal the true costs of administrative tasks and assist in methods to reduce such costs.

The white paper was produced by three veteran graphic arts advisors, David Dodd, Bill Lavelle and Stuart Margolis. Activity-based costing is a time-tested management technique accounting system, said Margolis. It has proven value in many organisations but what has been missing is its application to printing companies.

A printer must always improve the efficiency of his companys business pro-cesses, said Lavelle. The aims of the white paper have been welcomed by the BPIF, which uses the technique as part of its management accounting audit for firms.

The BPIF would welcome anything that makes management of print more professional and improves profitability of the industry, said head of corporate affairs Cicely Brown.

Contact: www.pointbalance.com or www.hrmargolis.com.

Story by Barney Cox