Center Of Excellence

Newgen’s “Center of Excellence” model for prepress clients March 2009

The prepress industry traditionally works in functional silos

rooms full of people performing the same repetitive subtask

A room full of XML coders A room full of paginators A room full of proofreaders A room full of quality controllers (not to mention support functions)

THE RESULTS: Low individual accountability for quality High organizational complexity Flabby delivery schedules

Newgen’s “Center of Excellence” model was introduced to address these problems

Definition The Center of Excellence is a company-wide training model aimed at providing an individual with the technical skills and knowledge required to take one book or journal article from manuscript through to print files and XML

Training Training is based on the adult learning model introduction of a concept supervised practice retest continued feedback & training live work practice self-study test feedback

using dedicated training facilities

THE TRAINING FOR COMPOSITION-ONLY WORK LASTS 6 MONTHS Supervised productive hours

THE TRAINING PROGRAM FOR FULL SERVICE WORK (EDITING AND COMPOSITION) LASTS 12 MONTHS Supervised productive hours

Training in core editorial & production skills is supplemented by contextual training about publishing and by soft skills training

Individual performance metrics are simple:

Error rate is zero

Delivery is always on time or ahead of schedule

Low individual accountability for quality High organizational complexity Flabby delivery schedules High individual accountability for quality Low organizational complexity Reduced schedules

1. High accountability In the COE model, tracking errors is simplified: each error can be attributed to a specific individual

2. Low complexity In the COE model, layers of support functions are reduced, capacity planning is simplified, and technology efforts are focused on production rather than management

3. Short schedules In the COE model, work does not wait between stages, start-up tasks happen only once, and individuals “pull” work from the pool of waiting jobs

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT Prabhakar Ram [email_address] m: +91 99406 38900 INDIA OPERATIONS 60/3 L.B. Road Thiruvanmiyur Chennai 600041