NAA P2K Slices Ad Errors
by Heidi Ernst
"We won’t accept errors, we won’t create errors, we won’t pass on errors."
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The News-Press P2K
team gave itself 60 days to reduce internal and external ad errors
by 60 percent.
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That’s the pledge that staff members of the Santa Barbara (Calif.) News-Press took when they signed on with the NAA Partners 2000 program a few months ago–and it’s one they have taken very seriously, drastically reducing the number of ad errors in a few short weeks.
A change-management program designed by the Association to make newspapers easier to do business with, NAA Partners 2000 (or "P2K") forms teams of employees at newspapers to examine and streamline processes.
The resulting changes–in either advertising, editorial, circulation or production–quite often save newspaper staffers time, money and energy.
The News-Press decided to start by tackling retail advertising. Two main problems were identified: Sales representatives spent 70 percent of
their time in the office completing administrative tasks, leaving only 30 percent of their time to sell ads. Also, advertising customers had to go through the sales, ad-services and creative-services departments before they got to talk to pre-press production–one reason that ads sometimes appeared in the paper with too many errors.
The P2K team gave itself 60 days to reverse the office-field ratio for sales reps and reduce internal and external errors by 60 percent.
While most of the 35 papers already involved with P2K (plus an additional two signed at the end of September) give themselves 90 days to correct an ailing system, the News-Press felt confident it could realize its goals a month sooner.
The inaugural team was trained for a week on how to analyze and improve its selected process.
With two weeks remaining, project coordinator David Harvey (the "process guardian" in P2K-speak) reported the team was 75 percent of the way to its target.
"We’ve had zero external errors since we started the process, meaning no [ad] errors have gone out in the paper," says Harvey, the paper’s operations director.
To help give sales reps more time in the field and become less mired in paperwork, they now sit in the
same area as the production staff, eliminating wasted time. To aid in getting rid of errors, ad customers now talk directly to a production person, cutting out three steps.
If the P2K team fulfills its goals, it will save the paper about $300,000.
"They were exceptional in terms of a management team and operations team," observes Chris Sabo, NAA Partners 2000 director.
"Everyone rolled up their sleeves and gave the full commitment required to change the way they do business, and it made a difference in terms of getting to a quick result," she says.
"It’s a culture change, not just a process change," adds Harvey, who proudly displays an IFRA/NAA Color Quality Club award on his desk (TechNews, September/October 1999, p. 31).
"It empowers the workers to do their jobs, and with that comes accountability," Harvey adds. "We’ve had startling changes in morale and improvement in quality."
Heidi Ernst is an Astoria, N.Y., free-lance writer. E-mail, heidi_ernst@timeinc.com; phone, (212) 522-7437.
Y2K Plans in Focus
by Karen Doss
On Friday, Dec. 31, much of the world will anxiously await the arrival of the New Year, wondering if doomsday predictions of chaos will come true. But many newspaper employees will be standing by the presses when the clock strikes 12, ready to make sure the news is printed.
While most newspapers began taking steps to exterminate the Y2K bug years ago, few are letting down their guard as the new century draws near. "Everyone is printing before midnight–international and national news," says Gretchen Blake, Thomson Newspapers’ Year 2000 project manager. "If we have electricity, we will come back and print a wrap. But if we do go down, we still have a newspaper."
With much of the past two years’ Y2K-compliance efforts handled on the local level, Thomson now works with each of its 18 strategic-market groups to develop contingency plans for the New Year’s arrival.
The Gannett Co. began preparing for the arrival of Y2K as early as 1994. Karen Sweet, the company’s Year 2000 project consultant, has spent the last two of those years developing a Y2K Business Resumption Plan to go into effect "in the unlikely event that something catastrophic happens," she says.
Some newspaper companies initially considered sweeping vacation restrictions during the final week of December–and in some cases, well into the first quarter of 2000. But as the calendar creeps closer to the new century, more flexible policies have emerged.
Each of Thomson Newspapers’ local groups will determine its own vacation policy, though corporate employees have been asked not to take extended vacations between Dec. 1 and Jan. 26, according to Blake. Gannett’s corporate offices have set no general policies on who should report to work during that period, but "everybody is looking at who needs to be here and why, and they will make a decision based on that," Sweet says.
Y2K managers tout careful planning for the modicum of confidence. Thomson’s 18 SMGs have been responsible for making their own upgrades and report to Blake monthly. Additionally, a technology freeze went into effect Sept. 30 to stem the onset of new problems. Both Blake and Sweet credit support from top management. "It’s never been a sell," Sweet says. "The importance of Year 2000 has been acknowledged from the beginning by all levels [of management]."
Both Blake and Sweet remain con-cerned about external problems, most prominently utilities going down. But these information-technology gurus aren’t flinching. "Newspapers are so important during catastrophic events that they always publish," says Sweet. "That is the mindset in this business anyway. We are obviously prepared for emergencies."
Karen Doss is a Bridgewater, Va., free-lancer. E-mail, kdoss@bridgewater.edu