Who said print was dead? Certainly not the Print Production Coordinator/Manager whose primary job is to oversee the creation of the documents that you can touch and hold. Despite the prevalence of digital communications, these print-focused professionals still have a place in both corporate and agency settings.
The Print Production Coordinator/Manager is responsible for taking the concept and layout of a printed document and selecting the vendor that can create the perfect items without cost overruns. Then the Print Production Coordinator/Manager must negotiate with the vendors for the best price. They must also prepare a cost analysis for Managers and Department Heads to inform the final vendor selection. This may seem like a lot of tasks for just one project, but it’s only after all this prep that the work to produce printed documents really gets going.
Once a vendor is selected, the Print Production Coordinator/Manager must ensure the print schedule is adhered to. They must also coordinate the various proofs that frequently occur. Many times they are also responsible for reviewing any of those mockups or proofs for accuracy and formatting, as well as conducting a final review for quality assurance. If something comes out wrong in the end, it’s the Print Production Coordinator that is responsible for correcting the problem. Finally, they must ensure that the vendor is paid and the project put to bed.
Print Production Coordinators/Managers work with all kinds of printed documents: corporate brochures, direct mail, seasonal promotional catalogs, business cards, technical documents, reports, and the list goes on. It can be a big juggling act with multiple types of projects in production simultaneously.
You’ll find a Print Production Coordinator/Manager working in almost any field, from transportation and utilities to construction, higher education, and government. It’s a stressful, fast-paced job, but for the Print Production Coordinator/Manager with the right skills, it’s absolutely perfect.
Skills Needed
The Print Production Coordinator/Manager must initiate requests for competitive bids from print vendors. They must have excellent people skills in order to get all of the vendors on the same page for an apples-to-apples comparison of prices. While they’re vendor-wrangling, they must also juggle the various departments clamoring for their printed goodies. The Print Production Coordinator/Manager could work internally with Copywriters, Art Directors, Editors/Proofreaders, or Graphic Designers to ensure high quality written materials. The Print Production Coordinator/Manager must bridge the gap between the external vendor and internal business and creative professionals.
The myriad of tasks associated with just one print project requires the following skills and qualities:
- Collaboration
- Communication
- Creativity
- Deadline-driven
- Decisiveness
- Determination
- Flexibility
- Follow-through
- Imagination
- Initiation
- Intelligence
- Intuition
- Leadership
- Meticulousness
- Motivation
- Multitasking
- Negotiation
- Organization
- Patience
- Planning
- Productivity
- Strategy
- Task-oriented
- Teamwork
- Troubleshooting
They should have a customer service mindset that enables them to manage vendor relationships while keeping their customers satisfied, whether their customer is an internal department or an external client.
Even though the Print Production Coordinator/Manager handles printed documents, they must also be well-versed in computer technology. The next section covers what digital tools they’ll need in order to work in print production.
Suggested Software Proficiency
A Print Production Coordinator/Manager must know the basic Microsoft Office suite (including Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint), as well as the Adobe Creative Suite, particularly Adobe Reader (for PDFs), Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator.
They should know collaboration tools like Microsoft SharePoint, Basecamp, and Google Docs. They should be savvy with both a Mac and a PC. The Print Production Coordinator/Manager should understand the print world, including the variances in ink and paper that can inadvertently take a printed document off-brand from the digital format. They likely will use a digital document management platform like DocuWare or Templafy to manage their print projects. Some copier companies, like Ricoh, also have document management tools to help with print projects. Generally, the Production Coordinator/Manager will use whatever in-house tools will increase their efficiency by building and automating print production workflows.
Depending upon the industry, they may need experience with point-of-sale or point-of-purchase systems or potentially with inventory control or job ticketing systems. Generally, they will need to know something about the type of printed material they are coordinating. They may need in-house printing experience with HP or Xerox printers or even UPS and FedEx shipping experience.
Find Your Print Production Coordinator/Manager Here
Finding the right Print Production Coordinator/Manager is crucial to your business’s bottom line. From your sales team having the collateral they need to close deals to a printed annual report for stakeholders, the Print Production Coordinator/Manager has a real impact on your business. Employers seeking help on the print side should talk with the Artisan Talent team now. Click here to start the conversation.
For Print Production Coordinators/Managers, consider talking to a Talent Manager from the nation’s leading staffing agency for the creative fields. Employers come to us for the best talent and we can match you with just the right fit. Contact us today.
