At On Demand Expo, Dave Zamorski, COO at AGS, and I chatted about taking his company green. Can a company be green and profitable? "The bad news is," says Dave, "I don't know how to be green and not pay a lot of 'green' for it." It's expensive to modify lighting and substitute alternative energy sources. After completing a Department of Energy audit, even with good results, AGS found it very costly to implement the suggested actions. Even for a moderate-sized operation the improvements can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. AGS has found a logical starting place: waste elimination. While companies right now are scrambling to expand capacity and grow sales, a focus on improved productivity results in increased profitability. Sales increased almost 29% from 2007 to 2008, even when sales were contracting across the industry. By careful attention to improved processes and workflow, AGS has reduced paper waste by 11% over the last 2 years. More telling is the reduction in wasted time - and we know time is money! AGS has 20 active storefronts where 55%-60% of all digital projects come in. More than 200 line items a day come in from the Internet and there is no human touch until they come off the Xerox iGens. These orders are then out the door with 4 touches. On the conventional offset side of the house, online orders go all the way to plate makers and proofers before human contact. "We've taken jobs that took 28 touches to get through the shop down to 8," notes Zamorski. Similar projects are batched automatically and a job with multiple items is assembled after production. To do that, AGS has 200 bins along one wall and each item in a job with multiple line items is assigned to the same bin. As each portion is completed, it is scanned, and when the final piece is placed in the bin, a shipping ticket is produced in the shipping department. The dispatcher knows exactly where to pick up the completed order to package and release it. Estimates used to take 7 touches and multiple passes between the sales rep, the estimator, and the CSR. Now, for AGS' top 12 products, the sales person does his/her own estimate, and then sends it to the customer. Automated estimating is built in the company's plant management system. According to Dave, "We've gone from two estimators to one who also does paper purchasing." AGS also shares their knowledge with their customers. By walking through the print procurement process, AGS can show customers how to improve their own systems. For example, if it takes 14 touches for a customer to order tri-folds, Dave's team can take it down to literally one touch when sales people order the product online themselves. "People don't realize that when they think green, they should really be thinking lean," says Zamorski. "It's lean manufacturing that gets you there." Incorporating lean manufacturing can be done for very little cost. A company that is able to critically and objectively examine its own processes can become lean without spending a lot of money. The money you do spend will be mostly for training and value stream mapping. When it comes to value stream mapping, Dave recommends that you bring in someone to help. He says, "You really need someone from the outside to help you do the value stream mapping; you're all going to lie. Everyone lies about it - you need someone objective." While your clients may be pushing for you to become green, they may not be willing to pay a premium for it during these tight economic times. When you go green by going lean, you will not only save time, energy and money, and eliminate waste; you will be more productive and profitable. For more information on lean manufacturing, PIA has a number of books, resources, and consultants to help you learn more.