Raw Excluded

Subject: TTW composing costs: start with a quality-control test

Composition is TTW’s largest production cost—about 40% of hardback cost and 50–55% of paperback cost—and TTW is uncompetitive on simple work, yet the company still cannot say whether its composing costs are excessive. So what should TTW do next? TTW should start with a test of simplified quality control for inexpensive titles, using the results to shape a methods study.

Recommended steps

1. Select inexpensive titles for the test.
   - Every title currently passes through essentially the same quality-control stages, whether it is a complex reference book or a simple novel.

2. Test fewer or differently timed quality-control checks.
   - Kennedy is willing to test whether some stages can be removed or differently timed.
   - The saving might reach 10% of total composing cost.

3. Measure the effect on quality, customers, and cost.
   - Managers disagree about whether costs are high, but all are willing to investigate, so the test must produce internal evidence.
   - Comparisons with three other printers can provide context, but a simple comparison is unlikely to settle the issue.

4. Use the findings to shape a methods study.
   - Industry comparisons suggest weak productivity and high cost, and TTW trails the benchmark by 20–50%.
   - A separate methods study could identify further productivity improvements by changing the composing method.
   - Kennedy is willing to examine why measured productivity trails the benchmark.

Omitted: staffing, wage, overtime, union, late-job, and interview-detail material that explains pressure or access but does not support the recommended test.