In-course obstacles exist daily. The right skills, training and the right gear are paramount for a more streamlined and capable production process for the entire run — from pre-flight all the way to fulfillment.
When it comes to Double Black Diamond runs, experts only dare exit the ski lift.
These heart-racing, often terrifying runs are characterized by exceptionally steep slopes, and other hazards such as narrow trails, high winds, and obstacles like steep drop-offs, rocks, moguls or trees. You may contemplate such slopes with hope, but you'll likely retreat with "nope."
The conditions that Production Printers face today can be equally harrowing. Shorter run lengths, mounting costs, increasing customer demand, and the constant pressure to plow through production with more speed and agility, are just a few of the challenges that make it difficult for print operators to stay straight-forward in their skis.
In-course obstacles exist daily. The right skills, training and the right gear are paramount for a more streamlined and capable production process for the entire run — from pre-flight all the way to fulfillment.
Double Black Diamond Runs are intended for experts only. Is your production team properly trained and equipped? How confident, as they exit the ski lift, are they in approaching this level of run?
The Ski Run: HariKiri, Mayrhofen, Austria — “Skiers come fast down the 1,230-foot drop, and if you fall, it is almost impossible to stop yourself before reaching the bottom.”
Named after the Japanese suicide ritual performed by warriors who fell on their swords rather than allow capture, HariKari boasts a 78 percent incline — pretty much a vertical drop. Production Print operators may find themselves screaming “HariKari” as they plow through impending deadlines and impossible print specifications. It’s easy to feel like you’ve reached bottom as you fall further and further behind increasing customer demand.
From negotiating click/rates, supply and medium costs, and training print operators for optimum efficiency, a professional commercial printer or CRD faces a steep question: How can I reduce costs, and find new ways to improve turnaround time?
The Expert Skills Necessary:
The Ski Run: Needles, Red Mountain Resort, Canada — “The double black run ‘Needles’ is in the middle of Granite Mountain and is known and feared by skiers for its speed and impossible steepness."
Needles isn’t just steep. The top third of the run is completely littered with rocks and moguls skiers will need to navigate around at a high speed.
After too many on-the-fly adjustments, color consistency can feel impossible. Many Production Print operators, too, feel the pressure of navigating back and forth between color profiles trying to make that “perfectly incorrect (aka, it looks right on the screen!)” fit for the client.
The Expert Skills Necessary:
The Ski Run: La Grave, France — “La Grave is named 'the grave' for a reason. People die here. It demands that you do your homework. It demands respect and competence.”
Despite high-profile accidents, the handful of guides who call La Grave home balk at its reputation as "death mountain.” As demanding as it may be, it offers hugely rewarding challenges. La Grave presents possibly the best free-style skiing on this planet.
Your clients are more demanding than ever before. Deadlines are shrinking. Runs are getting shorter. And the people you serve wanted to be updated regularly on ongoing progress. Print managers should still strive to reward them with strong communication and streamlined, fast-as-ever submission processes.
The Expert Skills Necessary:
The Ski Run: Corbet’s Couloir, Jackson Hole, Wyoming — "The most terrifying part of the run is the very beginning of it. The route starts with a drop-off that requires skiers to first fall 10 to 30 feet before hitting a 60-degree all the way to the bottom. While Corbet's is intimidating from the top, the view from below shows the great snow that usually awaits skiers once they have taken the plunge into the couloir."
Described often as "America’s Scariest Ski Slope," anyone who's standing at the top finds themselves stuck on the edge, with any sense of dread or hesitation, may not be committed just yet. Your air time, necessary skills and commitment level will need to expand to complete - or survive - this run.
But the pay-off, judging by who those who’ve conquered Corbet’s, can be life changing.
So, too, with Production Print automation. With the right technology partner and capable solutions in place, taking the plunge can be life changing from an operations perspective. Automation solutions accelerate the entire process for the print operator, from order acquisition, pre-flight, make-ready, client communication, all the way to production and fulfillment.
The Expert Skills Necessary:
The Ski Run: Body Bag, Crested Butte, Colorado — "The ski patrollers at Crested Butte cannot be any clearer. The name alone should steer you away from this snowy mountain precipice. DO NOT DO IT. Body Bag is not for beginners. Body Bag is for finishers."
An ominously named run at Colorado's unofficial home to extreme skiing, Body Bag is a steep mix of trees, rocks and cliffs. Skiers must be decisive and keep their edges straight with the fall line. Grabbing air here is necessity, not braggadocio.
Grabbing all necessary finishing options for the final stretch of a print run is a must: Stapled documents. Saddle-stitched booklets. Full-bleed documents or perfect-bound books. The options are boundless.
The end game? To produce high quality documents that delight and impress your customers. To finish the run with style ... and a pulse.
The Expert Skills Necessary:
Double Black Diamonds represent "advanced to expert terrain" on any mountain. The professionals will tell you: Don't attempt to ski these runs without experience on the mountain. It would be naive - not to mention dangerous - to approach your next production run without the right expert level guidance and training.
Your next run is approaching. Are you ready to conquer the Double Black Diamond? Schedule a meeting with one of our expert ski instructors (aka Production Print Specialists) and give it a run today!
(Watch the whole video ... It's NUTS!)