Advice on outsourcing final production and printing

["Mike (aka MSz)" <SZCZEPANIK -at- IDICL1 -dot- IDI -dot- OCLC -dot- ORG>]

I need some help from those of you who may have traveled this road already.

In the past, we have always laser printed our manuals and given this copy
to our printer to print from.  Thus, we did all of the final production
and proofing ourselves.

For the upcoming release of our product, we want the standard form of our
documentation to be online doc with printed doc as an option.  To allow
our small tech writing staff to focus on the online version, we would like
to outsource the final production of the print version to a printer/publisher.

Before sending a formal RFP to a list of printers/publishers, I'd like
to get some advice from any of you who've taken this approach and,
specifically, for your answers to the following questions:

1. In general, are our expectations (see below) reasonable?

2. What problems have you experienced in outsourcing these tasks?
   Where in the process are we most likely to run into problems?

3. At first, we plan to check the proofs as closely as we used to when
   we produced the hard copy ourselves.  But eventually, we would like
   to be able to trust in their proofing of the hard copy and only spot
   check the proofs.  Is that a reasonable expectation, or we will
   always have to proof the hard copy closely?

4. What kind of turnaround time can we expect, from original submission
   of files to delivery of printed manual?

5. Can you recommend any printers that you have had good experiences
   with?  Are there any printers we should avoid at all costs?

6. Finally, have any of you made use of the LithoBID listserv service?
   If so, what pros and cons did you encounter in using this method of
   soliciting bids on a printing project?

Our Expectations
================
Our expectations take the form of requirements, which we have divided into
2 lists:  one list of requirements that we consider essential and another of
requirements that are desirable.

Essential Requirements
----------------------
The printer/publisher must be able to...

* work with MS Word 6.0 for Windows files

* work with files submitted either on diskette or electronically (i.e., FTPed)

* generate and format the Table of Contents for each manual

* generate and format the Index for each manual from index tags in the files

* print out each manual and proof the hard copy for:
  - the accuracy of page references in Tables of Contents
  - the accuracy of page refereces in the Index (spot check)
  - correct content and alternation of running headers/footers
  - any unintentionally blank pages and other obvious errors

* correct any errors found in the proofing stage and reprint affected
  pages till all errors are corrected

* send proofs back to us for our review

* correct any errors found in the review

* print the manuals, print the covers (2-color), and perfect bind the
  manuals/covers

Desirable Requirements
----------------------
We *hope* to find a printer/publisher that can...

* (before generating TOCs and Indices and producing hard copy) review
  each manual online and insert manual page breaks at appropriate,
  pre-specified places (e.g., to keep from splitting up a short table
  over 2 pages)

* warehouse the stock of manuals for us

  or better yet, warehouse the stock of manuals for us AND ship the
  manuals to our customers

  or beter yet, warehouse the stock of manuals for us AND take orders
  for the manuals directly from our customers AND ship the manuals to
  our customers


Please send your answers/questions/comments directly to me at the e-mail
address given below.  If the response warrants it, I will summarize the
results and post them to TECHWR-L.

Thanks,
+=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=+
| Mike Szczepanik                      |"Dreamer of dreams, born    |
| SZCZEPANIK -at- idi -dot- oclc -dot- org              | out of my due time..."     |
| Mgr., Server Products Documentation  |           - William Morris |
| Info. Dimensions, Inc. - Dublin, OH  |       The Earthly Paradise |
+=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=+