Subject: Two studies can cut TTW's composing cost by 10%+ — recommend proceeding Situation: Composition is TTW's largest production cost — roughly 40% of hardback cost and 50-55% of paperback cost — and every title, simple or complex, passes through the same quality-control stages regardless of value. Complication: TTW is uncompetitive on simple work, and Aylesbury does not yet know whether its composing costs are actually excessive or, if so, why. Answer: Two targeted studies — simplifying q...
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Subject: Two studies can cut TTW's composing cost by 10%+ — recommend proceeding
Situation: Composition is TTW's largest production cost — roughly 40% of hardback cost and 50-55% of paperback cost — and every title, simple or complex, passes through the same quality-control stages regardless of value.
Complication: TTW is uncompetitive on simple work, and Aylesbury does not yet know whether its composing costs are actually excessive or, if so, why.
Answer: Two targeted studies — simplifying quality control on inexpensive titles, and a methods study of the composing process — should cut composing cost by at least 10%, with further savings possible from closing a 20-50% productivity gap against the benchmark.
Recommendation, in order of expected payoff:
1. **Simplify quality control on inexpensive titles.** Test fewer, differently timed checks on selected jobs and measure the effect on quality and customer response. Expected saving: ~10% of total composing cost.
2. **Run a methods study of the composing process.** Measure why productivity trails the benchmark by 20-50% and identify changes to the composing method that would close the gap. Potential saving: additional, not yet quantified.
3. **Address the capacity shortage feeding current overruns.** The manual composing department is overloaded — below-market pay, difficulty hiring and retaining compositors, two recent departures, chronic lateness, and overtime running 50%+ over budget — so it should be fixed alongside the cost studies rather than treated as a separate problem.
Next step: George Kennedy has agreed to lead the quality-control test and the productivity review; request sign-off to begin both within [timeframe].
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Omitted from the body (context, not argument for the recommendation):
- Names of people interviewed (Roy Walter, Brian Thompson, George Kennedy) beyond Kennedy's role as study lead
- The two weeks spent gathering information
- Comparison with three other printers — noted as unlikely to settle the issue, so not pursued
- Disagreement among managers on whether costs are high — resolved by the recommendation to test rather than debate
- The union's pending pay claim — relevant to the capacity issue but not to the cost-reduction studies; flag separately if needed
