Operational Efficiency: Good for Business

Controlling costs while maintaining high-quality goods and services has never been more important or, thanks to new systems, easier. 

How efficient are your operations? How you answer could have a big impact on your organization’s ability to innovate, control costs and compete. Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) understood the need for efficiency when it embarked on a multi-phase initiative to cut costs, reduce waste and increase employee productivity. The world’s largest marketer, distributor and producer of products manufactured by The Coca-Cola Co., CCE had grown through acquisitions over several years, leaving it with a disparate mass of equipment, policies and procedures at its hundreds of facilities.

Click here to read the rest of the article.

This post originally appeared on the Lexmark Corporate blog.

United Supermarkets: Helping Shoppers Shop Better

AccessVia, a business unit of Lexmark and one of our most recent acquisitions, has a great blog that you should follow, The Scratching Post.  The blog features many interesting stories, in particular, those that highlight the success AccessVia has in helping retail customers design and deploy cost-cutting retail solutions for shelf-edge signs, labels, digital signs, and electronic shelf labels (ESLs).  

A recent blog post that you may find of interest, especially if you work in the retail vertical, featured their relationship with Texas-based grocer, United Supermarkets.  AccessVia is helping their shoppers make better buying decisions by adding product-specific nutritional labeling on their shelf tags and signs – an industry-wide initiative to include easier-to-read nutritional information largely speaks to the increasing interest in health-consciousness and curiosity.

Click here to read the entire blog post.

Continuing a legacy of environmental stewardship: Lexmark, PGA of America, Nature Conservancy and Penfield Park

John Gagel of Lexington, Ky., and Tony LaFountain of Penfield, NY, had never met before this week, but they share a bond for what happens when corporate America strikes the right chord with a small town. 

Gagel, the sustainability manager for Lexmark International Inc., and LaFountain, the Penfield town supervisor, gathered at Rothfuss Park, grabbed a shovel and dug a little deeper on a cool, windy Sunday to help give back more than a token offering for generations to come.

Volunteers from the community of Penfield,The PGA of America, Lexmark and Nature Conservancy planted 33 trees – 18 American Elm and 15 White Swamp Oak – on the 70-acre property that was once farmland. The planting did more than offset the impact of printing and paper products generated over the course of the 95th PGA Championship, Aug. 5-11, at nearby Oak Hill Country Club.

The project, the third collaborative effort between The PGA of America and Lexmark in conjunction with a PGA-sanctioned spectator championship, also restores shade to recreational participants at the park, increases native habitat, and improves storm water management by helping the soil absorb moisture during heavy rains.

“The Town of Penfield is grateful for this partnership,” said LaFountain, who was instrumental in the late 1990s in helping the town of 36,000 purchase the acquisition rights to the land from the Rothfuss family, which had farmed the property near a 1,000-acre swamp for decades. “There are similar efforts around the country where a town or city council wants to go it alone. We are proud of teaming years ago to preserve this land, building a great park for everyone and today celebrating what can be done by building relationships with organizations like The PGA of America, Lexmark and The Nature Conservancy.”

The event follows the PGA of America’s commitment to benefit the host communities that support its Championships. The PGA and Lexmark partnered for a similar event prior to the 2012 Ryder Cup and last May near St. Louis, prior to the 75th Senior PGA Championship.

PGA Secretary Paul Levy of Indian Wells, Calif., said “as a PGA member, days like today are so special for me. The oaks and elms that we plant offset the paper use this week during the PGA Championship. The bigger message is that these trees are going to be beneficial for the well-being of this community, well beyond this major golf championship.

“The fact is that we’re doing some real good here, and I know that for The PGA of America, it means a lot to leave a lasting legacy wherever we go.”

Lexmark International, headquartered in Lexington, Ky., is the Official Printing Technology Provider of The PGA of America, is a founding member of The Nature Conservancy’s Corporate Sustainability Council.

“The fact that The PGA of America is supporting these events is indeed a special legacy that can be repeated around the country,” said Gagel. “This partnership takes our efforts to a new level.”

Jan Miller, a senior philanthropy officer for The Nature Conservancy, said the tree plating “is what can take place through the power of collaboration. We hope that it will continue to make all our mutual projects as successful.”

To view pictures of the event, click here.

To find out how Lexmark and the PGA work together as valued partners, click here.

This post originally appeared on the Lexmark Corporate Blog.

Are You Getting The Most Out Of MPS, Or Just Getting By?

Companies sometimes go into managed print services (MPS) without realizing its full value. Many vendors talk about devices, device consolidation and simplified management, but that’s just part of what MPS can offer. 

True MPS focuses on what helps your teams be more productive. It’s not about printers and click charges; it’s about your people and the information they need to do their jobs. Most workers just want to print what they need when they need it. They don’t want responsibility for all the things that go along with making that happen.

Encore Presentation: Webinar with MPS Experts

Lexmark recently sponsored a webinar that covers this topic in more detail. It’s worth viewing again whether you’re considering a first venture into MPS, or planning your next contract.Computerworld has made the webinar recording available for an encore performance; you’ll find the link below.

MPS Nuggets – It’s Good Stuff

Here are some useful nuggets from that webinar. You’ll want to catch the entire presentation to learn more about getting the full value from your MPS investment.

Plan for Maximum MPS Value: Plan for capturing the full potential of MPS from the very beginning. Otherwise you end up with just a click-charge program that saves some money in the short-term, but misses out on maximum long-term sustainable savings and so much more: Infrastructure optimization, proactive management and business optimization.

Proactive Management Is About Freedom: Proactive MPS management frees employee to spend less time on getting output and more time on putting it to use. With fewer distractions, your employees can be more productive and spend more time with customers. Proactive management through automated alerts notifies the global fleet monitoring system that a device is heading toward a problem, or consumables are getting low at another location. The fleet is managed without getting employees involved.

Think Beyond Hardware and Clicks: A holistic MPS strategy goes beyond infrastructure and sets the stage for a bigger return on investment. Think broadly and creatively about your MPS decisions. Otherwise, you restrict the benefits your organization can realize from MPS.

Industry-specific Solutions Improve Customer Experience: From the beginning, think about what capabilities the technology you’re putting in place has to help proactive services and to enable business process optimization. Intelligent multifunction devices can do more than copy and print and scan. When paired with process improvement solutions, they improve the customer experience and make your business more productive.

Make Process Improvement Part of the Equation: Improving business processes is not part of the typical MPS equation, but it should be. Process improvement is within the scope of an MPS strategy. Don’t fall into a quick judgment to just consolidate devices without considering the technology you’ll need to do more, like proactive monitoring and process improvement. As a business optimization tool, MPS uses technology to streamline workflow, accelerate cycle times, reduce errors and increase accuracy.

Like These Ideas? Listen to this webinar to learn more about getting the most from MPS.

Lexmark Philippines open house highlights job opportunities

Lexmark recently held an open house at its Cebu facilities in the Philippines for local press and dignitaries. The event highlighted Lexmark’s employment opportunities for highly skilled professionals.

Lexmark has been operating in Cebu for more than 14 years, providing global support in the engineering, finance, marketing and back office departmental areas. Lexmark is also looking to expand its research and development in Cebu. Cebuanos provide support to globally integrated teams with challenging work opportunities.

“Lexmark and its employees have lived and worked in Cebu for more than 14 years,” said R.L. Bandy, president of Lexmark Philippines. “This is the first time that Lexmark has opened its doors to the community to share what we actually do here at this facility and to also highlight our excellent job opportunities and family friendly atmosphere.”

We asked local media personality, Emily Jade Valero, special publications editor for SunStar Publishing in Cebu, for her thoughts on the event. “The tour of the different offices and laboratories inside Lexmark broadened my knowledge of what the company is all about and what it really does,” said Valero. “I am now more aware of the exciting direction the company is going and of its current line of products and services.”

Lexmark Philippines is currently seeking qualified firmware, software and engineering job candidates and is also looking for professionals in our global support services, which include supply chain, accounting, finance, sales, marketing and technical support.

To learn more about job opportunities in Lexmark Cebu, please click here.

Unum accelerates processes, will achieve 376% ROI with Lexmark

Sharing a case study with our readers today featuring Unum Group, a Fortune 500 company and a leading provider of financial protection benefits in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Unum’s investment in Lexmark products, solutions and services will achieve a 376 percent return on investment in the first three years. Unum will achieve positive net benefits in year one, with net benefits of $6.8 million over three years.

Read all about it here.

Enable the New Loss Prevention Professional with Information

As retailers reinvest in their loss prevention teams, they’re looking for professionals who can enhance profitability, drive new ideas, and interpret, and act on, data that new technology makes available.

At a time when retailers lose more than $35 billion to theft and administrative errors in a single year, the retail loss prevention specialist takes on a more important role, and different duties, in the retail organization. 

Gone are the days when the loss prevention employee would spend most of his or her time walking a store’s aisles or poring over grainy video clips. Today, the best loss prevention specialists are part trainer, part auditor and part analytics specialist. He or she may also handle safety in addition to security, says Richard T. Mellor, vice president, loss prevention, National Retail Federation(NRF).

Click here to read the rest of the article.

You Can’t Make Me! Make Change Management Part of Process Improvement

According to 2011 Prosci research, 70 percent of surveyed organizations expect their rate of change to increase in the next two years. As if we didn’t have enough to deal with already.

Maybe you’re thinking about the change of optimizing a paper-based process. You can improve workflow from the front line to the back office, as long as you get the buy in of knowledge workers along the way. Maybe your organization is considering a Managed Print Services Strategy. Your entire output fleet and its distributed users will be affected by that change. 

Free Webinar: Change Management for Business Process Improvement

Lexmark helps all kinds of customers navigate change management as part of our Managed Print Services offering. We also help customers transform their daily work through process improvement using process design and process mining.

If you want to know more about increasing your odds with change management, join us July 18, 2013 at 2 p.m. EDT for a new Lexmark-sponsored webinar. Hear author, teacher, speaker and advisor Phil Eastman share his expert insights on change engagements. Lexmark process evangelist John McCoy offers ideas to help you navigate process and change.

Register today for this free webinar and tune in on July 18 to learn how to connect change management to successful process improvement, engage your employees in process improvement change, target the source of employee resistance, involve leaders in change management to get sustained results and understand the human aspects of process improvement.

Click here to register.

This article was featured on the Lexmark blog

From the Blog: Working Across the Globe

Business Lexington recently interviewed two Lexmark executives (click here for the full article) who discussed their experiences working internationally. We wanted to expand that conversation with two follow-up interviews with other Lexmark executives who have or are working internationally. Click here to check out the first post if you missed it.  The following is the second in the two-part series. Our second Lexmark interview features Cathy Iacobo, vice president and general manager of Lexmark customer support services.

Lexmark: Where was your international assignment and what did you do?

Iacobo: My international assignment was three years in Orléans, France. My role was vice president and general manager of Lexmark’s EMEA (Europe / Middle East / Africa) supply chain. I also served as the general manager of Lexmark’s site in Orléans, France.

Loire River, Orleans France

Lexmark: How difficult was your initial transition on your assignment?

Iacobo: There were several challenges in my initial transition. My role was in a new functional area for me, so the business content was all-new and as I did not speak French, the language was definitely a challenge. Also, learning how the team worked was very different. There was more discussion and exchange before decision making than we are used to in the U.S. However, I soon began to appreciate the fact that once a decision had been reached it could be acted on more quickly than a decision handed down.

Villefranche-sur-Mer France

Lexmark: What did being in a new, diverse culture teach you?

Iacobo: It taught me that looking for the commonalities between people and between cultures is a great starting point for engagement. It also taught me that understanding the history of the region or country you work with is extremely helpful in understanding the people themselves.

Lexmark: How has your experience in Orléans helped you add value to Lexmark?

Iacobo: Upon completion of my assignment, I returned to Lexington in a global service leadership role. I have no doubt that I am a much more effective global leader in this role due to my international assignment. Thinking globally now comes naturally. I have been able to help my Lexington based team in their global thinking, planning and acting.

Mont Saint-Michel France

Lexmark: What is your advice for people considering an opportunity to work overseas?

Iacobo: When considering an overseas assignment, consider both the professional and personal aspects of the assignment. If possible, talk to other people in your company who have been on international assignments and gather as many facts as possible. If you take an opportunity, be sure to take the time to travel in the region you are assigned, as you’ll never be able to do so again with such ease. It will enrich your experience immensely.

Working overseas is an once-in-a-lifetime experience that few of us get offered. Once armed with facts, I hope you can say yes to this enriching opportunity.

Click here to read the article in Business Lexington featuring Lexmark executives, Todd Hamlin and Ronaldo Foresti.

Lexmark Helps Kentucky Science Center

Guest blogger Terry Samuel, Lexmark vice president of worldwide managed print services operations, serves on the board of Louisville’s Kentucky Science Center (KSC). Below Terry writes about his experience at the most recent KSC Youth Science Summit, held on Lexmark’s campus.

On June 29th, Lexmark was one of the sponsors of the Kentucky Science Center’s (KSC) Youth Science Summit, which took place on our corporate campus here in Lexington. A committee from Lexmark’s “Women at Work” Diversity Network Group led the event, which hosted more than 100 students.

The event (which is geared toward middle and high school students) is a perfect fit for Lexmark, as our philanthropic focus is on diversity and education, specifically science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education. Giving back to the communities in which we live and work is also a core value, so Lexmark was very excited to host this event.

For the past three years, Lexmark has helped staff an engineering day program at KSC in Louisville as well, which was primarily focused on elementary-aged students. However, Jo Haas, executive director of KSC, has a powerful vision of reimagining the Kentucky Science Center into more of a Commonwealth-wide resource, bringing science to all Kentucky students in fun and engaging ways. To implement her plan, she needed to expand their reach beyond metro Louisville and into central Kentucky. Lexmark strongly supports this effort.

“We so appreciate and value that Lexmark has committed to help us establish a tangible reach into the Lexington area,” said Jo Haas, executive director of KSC. “All Kentucky students deserve to be inspired and motivated by the great work of Kentucky-based STEM companies, and programs like the Youth Science Summit are a perfect way to do just that.”

The day began with an address by former University of Kentucky President Lee Todd, explaining how his love of electronics led him to degrees in electrical engineering and ultimately to starting and selling two companies. He also shared his journey to become U.K.’s president.

Next, the kids traveled from program to program and experienced a broad array of STEM fields. Opportunities included: learning about horse organs, developing and controlling robotic vehicles as well as tours of some of Lexmark’s engineering labs.

In addition, the students rotated across 12 “speed mentor” sessions of eight minutes each, with the chance to ask any question of real STEM professionals (including engineers, chemists, food scientists, architects, programmers and medical professionals).

Finally, the students had the chance to take part in a “Reverse Science Fair” where they were given time to visit booths displaying STEM subjects, touch and feel the displays and ask questions of the professionals.

Our feedback from the student participants was great and we were pleased to see them inspired by all of the STEM offerings. It was very rewarding for our team to watch young minds engaged in STEM activities. I would encourage everyone to get involved to help spark interest and support STEM education for the bright minds of Kentucky’s youth.

To learn more about the Kentucky Science Center, click here.

Working Across the Globe: Lexmark execs share experiences

Business Lexington recently interviewed two Lexmark executives who discussed their experiences working internationally. We wanted to expand that conversation with two follow-up interviews with other Lexmark executives who have or are working internationally.  This is the first in a two-part series. Our first Lexmark interview features Leea Haarz, general manager of Lexmark Juarez.

Lexmark: Where is your international assignment and what do you do for Lexmark?

CPT leadership team and families celebrating “Las Posadas” last December in JuareLexmark?

Haarz: I’ve been on assignment for Lexmark for about two and a half years. My original assignment was to manage our CPT (chemical process toner) facility which is one of several manufacturing plants on Lexmark’s Juarez campus. I was recently promoted to general manager of the Lexmark Juarez campus.

Lexmark: How difficult was your initial transition for your international assignment?

Leea and her family on a recent hike in Sedona, AZ.

Haarz: For me there were the predictable differences of location, culture, language and work, all of which I have absolutely loved. However, it was also a big change for my family in our lifestyle and experiences, and their support has been critical. Living in El Paso has allowed us to travel all over the U.S. Southwest and do things we wouldn’t have otherwise had the chance to do. We deliberately plan our weekend adventures around our location and we love them.

Lexmark: What has being in a new, diverse culture taught you? 

Some members of Lexmark’s CPT team celebrating the start of production for a new toner product in the fall of 2011 in Juarez.

Haarz: Working in a new culture is an opportunity to practice emotional intelligence.  The culture in Juarez is warm, optimistic and relational, and I try to share that with the rest of Lexmark when possible. I just love the people I get to work with every day.

In addition, being on assignment in general gives you a chance to have more authority as well as accountability for your decisions and work. This is a great way to learn.

How has your experience in Juarez helped you add value to Lexmark?

Haarz: I’ve worked at Lexmark for 18 years in many different areas including manufacturing, development, engineering and environmental, health and safety.  In this assignment, I use my experience and Lexmark knowledge to help bridge together our teams in Lexington and Juarez as well as our team in Lexmark’s Boulder, Colorado, facility. I strive to provide perspective and insight to all Lexmark locations on our goals, initiatives and motivations, because I understand what it’s like in multiple areas of the business. It’s a more complicated form of “translation” than just language. The better we can all communicate, the better we can meet our customers’ needs and manage our business.

What is your advice for people considering an opportunity to work in an international position? 

Haarz: I think the best assignments (international or otherwise) are those that match an employee’s skills, talents and interests with business needs. The adventure of an international assignment has the potential to grow you at a faster pace than others, but if you find one that matches your career and development goals, it’s a home run.

Lexmark: How has your experience in Juarez helped you add value to Lexmark? 

Haarz: I’ve worked at Lexmark for 18 years in many different areas including manufacturing, development, engineering and environmental, health and safety.  In this assignment, I use my experience and Lexmark knowledge to help bridge together our teams in Lexington and Juarez as well as our team in Lexmark’s Boulder, Colorado, facility. I strive to provide perspective and insight to all Lexmark locations on our goals, initiatives and motivations, because I understand what it’s like in multiple areas of the business. It’s a more complicated form of “translation” than just language. The better we can all communicate, the better we can meet our customers’ needs and manage our business.

Lexmark: What is your advice for people considering an opportunity to work in an international position? 

Haarz: I think the best assignments (international or otherwise) are those that match an employee’s skills, talents and interests with business needs. The adventure of an international assignment has the potential to grow you at a faster pace than others, but if you find one that matches your career and development goals, it’s a home run.

Click here to read the article in Business Lexington featuring Lexmark executives, Todd Hamlin and Ronaldo Foresti.