Copy That

Terry Rayner knew things had to get lean when he moved from Texas to Sarasota to take over operations of a printing firm smashed by the recession.

Not the traditional business kind of lean, though, which usually means cuts in staff, services or both. The kind of lean Rayner had in mind was lean management, a business practice more commonly found in factories and manufacturing plants. Popularized by Toyota engineers, the lean theory is guided by one principle: Money or resources spent on something other than customer value is a waste and should therefore be eliminated.

Rayner thought that kind of philosophy would be perfect for Sarasota-based Coastal Printing. A British native who has been in the printing business in England and Dallas for more than 20 years, Rayner was hired as Coastal's chief operating officer last summer.