The Lessons of Semi-Retirement Will Look Good on Your Print Operations

As many of you know, I have retired from Solimar Systems and the Print Industry. Okay…semi-retired; truly, because I love the print and digital communication creation and delivery process. I didn’t want to give it all up, but I did want a chance to travel with my beautiful wife (who also recently retired and is now cooking something new every week), as well as, volunteer with the Red Cross for emergency help and relief. So, how has semi-retirement treated me so far? To answer that, I have to tell you a little story…

For many years, I have gotten up, checked email, answered email, taken phone calls, run for planes and meetings and, generally, never ignored a late-night email or text. In the moment, it is hard to take a step back and make sure that everything you are doing is efficient and impactful. Semi-retirement made something hit home. It is good to take a break. To step back from your day-to-day. In fact, maybe it should be mandatory for leaders and managers because it is that important.

How does this relate to your printing, digitally delivered communications and processes within your production floor or shop…or workflow?

Take a lesson from me; now as the official Relationship Consultant for Solimar and the Chemistry™ Platform…take a moment and step back. Really, look at your processes, how your team works and where the challenges are. As they say today, “The struggle is real!” As you take in the scenery and notice things you might not have previously…or remembered things you meant to address; write them down. Start to make some bullets of where your operation has a hitch in its get along. I am being a little tongue-in-cheek, but this is the most important thing you will do in the next few days or weeks.

You might be surprised that certain things are happening, and you might also be hit with ideas for change that seem obvious now that it wasn’t in the heat of the moment. As you continue to step back from the process and take it in (plus your list), start to think about how software like that at Solimar could help the daily “struggle”.

Whether it is how jobs are onboarded into your environment, the ability to process and load balance across your print and digital production processes, the need/want to transition to inkjet, clean up messy and cumbersome PDFs or track and report on your jobs and process on-site or on-the-go via a mobile device, these are things Solimar excels at.

I invite you to reach out to Solimar and see how we can help you. Mention this blog and our ability to help clients through our assessment process. You can get started by taking that step away from your operation to see it more clearly and then we can come in and help you define and refine today’s current state and your desired future state. It is likely cheaper than you think—and has proven ROI through our nearly 30 years of experience and named case studies.

I truly hope you will learn from my experience and not wait until you semi-retire to stop and smell the toner and inkjet.