We Need Better Tools --Dickeson

Printers try to predict—estimate—the cost of a job in order to mark it up for pricing. Thousands of dollars are spent on computerized systems and many hours of effort are devoted to job cost predictions.

All the while, printers know that internal cost computations are not relevant to customer value perception and the competitive environment. It is the ultimate trivial pursuit. One writer suggests that one would do as well in pricing by examining the entrails of road kill. Another used his computer to generate random numbers and doubled profitability. So why do printers try to predict costs? "Tradition!" It's our own fiddler on the roof.