Karen Hillmansen, (Production Director)

The LM Production Department operates as a service department to the rest of Learning Media (and PE) – we turn their content into the finished product. This year we are set to process over 2000 different products consisting of c350,000 pages and printing over 200,000 units.

Karen Hillmansen (Production Director) oversees three sections –Typesetting, Print buying and E-learning production:

Typesetting involves taking submitted material and styling it using typesetting software to ensure that it looks highly professional and is user-friendly.  Yolanda Moore (DTP Development Manager) is responsible for ingesting the briefs given by the authors and designing a product template.  A large proportion of the templates are constructed as highly sophisticated word files but other software used includes Quark and CorelDraw. As LM’s product range broadens into new subject areas, Yolanda is looking at other typesetting software to be able to offer enhanced design features to match the demands of the new content.

Tina Scott (Head of Studio) will be familiar to many - having been at BPP for over 30 years. Assisted by Shirley Smith and Yolanda, Tina ensures that the typesetting team (10 in-house staff and 5 home workers) are trained in each new template and the appropriate software.  Work is allocated to typesetters by Tina (and Janet-Malamah-Thomas for course material) as it flows into the “studio” and Tina keeps a close eye on deadlines and processing times. 

Jo Simon heads the Print Buying team who receive the material once the author has given their approval and PDFs have been created.  Jo’s team allocate work to printers based on their price, the kind of printing machines they use and their available capacity. We have a core group of 5 printers – but a wider group of approved suppliers to ensure deadlines are met.  Jo’s team will also process reprint requests if sales are greater than expected and stock runs low.

March Baldacchino is responsible for E-learning production – handling both the typesetting and printing elements.  On the e-products the typesetting consists of coding the content changes that the authors supply and uploading them to the I-Pass database.  Managing I-pass production involves the co-ordination of printing CDs and their jewel cases.  Maria also updates the cover designs for all of LM’s products.

Greenford Warehouse

In any given week the number of items dispatched from the Greenford Warehouse ranges from 3000 to over 13,000 during busy times. To manage this rapid fluctuation in workload, Les Mealing’s core team of 14 staff is supplemented by regular temps who live locally. So far this year, the Greenford Warehouse has processed 20,000 customer orders comprising 77,000 individual items. 

The warehouse’s mission is to provide storage and timely distribution for BPP’s Learning Media material.  We also handle HR records and Marketing material (brochures etc) for PE.  We endeavour to dispatch all UK orders received by 1100 hours the same day. Over 90% of our shipments are sent via Parcel Force for signed delivery.

The warehouse is situated just north of the A40 in Greenford. The borough has grown since 1086 when the Domesday Book records that there were nine "villeins", seven smallholders, three cottagers, six slaves and one French man. Probably its main claim to fame is that the Nolan sisters lived in Greenford in the 1970s.

Although the name Greenford conjures up images of rolling fields and open spaces, in truth we are surrounded with other warehouses and storage faculties. At just over half the size of a football pitch the warehouse is a substantial building. Our mile length of storage space is arranged in 8 rows of 5 shelves. The printed material is delivered on wooden pallets which we then move into position using our 2 forklift trucks.

Most orders are generated via X3 – but we also handle a manual ordering system for HR Training material, ICAEW and all the London Classroom courses. Orders and labels are generated four times per day - then picked, packed and stored for twice daily collection by Parcel Force and other courier companies.

Kamlesh Shah, Stock Controller is responsible for monitoring the stock levels of all our ranges and generating reprint requests for the Print Buying team. Every 3 months the stock is physically counted to compare against X3 reports. This year the count will include the warehousing sites at the regional offices. The warehouse also processes returned items which are sorted into current copies, merchantable items or scrap. The paperwork generated is sent to Customer Services for completion.

The London van delivery service is based at the warehouse and deliveries of classroom orders and the internal mail to the London offices are carried out daily by Iuriy Kolorov.