After attorneys, more barbs are thrown at consultants than any other profession.

Here is a sampling: A patient was at his doctor’s office after undergoing a complete physical exam. The doctor said, “I have some very grave news for you. You only have six months to live.”

“Oh, doctor, what should I do?” the patient asked. The doctor replied, “Marry a production plant construction consultant.” “Will that make me live longer?” “No,” the doctor replied. “It will only seem longer.”

Or this one, courtesy of Consultants News: “A consultant is someone who comes in to solve a problem and stays around long enough to become part of it.”

Yuks aside, hiring a consultant to help you plan your expansion or new-facility project is no laughing matter. Undoubtedly, consultants play an important role as they help newspaper production managers better plan their upgrades and new projects.

But beware. We’ve heard from more than a handful of vendors, production executives and others who felt burned after their consultant experiences. A common complaint: consultants who already have their minds made up regarding which vendors they will use to construct the project and won’t budge from their already-conceived lists.

“We’re running into more and more situations where we can’t even get our equipment considered because (the consultant) already has his list of favored suppliers,” one supplier executive told Newspapers & Technology.

Not only is that vendor losing business, newspapers aren’t being made aware of that supplier’s technology.

A consultant’s blinders might be risky enough if it results in a recommended vendor whose product might be inferior to that of a rival’s, but it’s even more dangerous if a recommended vendor suddenly disappears or no longer has the resources to support its equipment as required.

Another pitfall: Consultants who don’t plan diligently enough before a project begins to ensure that all of the vendors selected can iron out any differences well in advance of equipment installation and rigging.

In today’s diverse operating environment, where newspapers select systems designed by multiple vendors, such integration is vitally important, if not necessarily painless.

Ask Timothy Williams. The production manager at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale basically locked his major suppliers in a room to make sure their assorted postproduction equipment would work seamlessly. After some arm-twisting, the companies shared code and set up the communications conduits through which the machines could exchange instructions. The result: a sealed Sunday insert package that’s winning raves from advertisers, retailers and subscribers.

Would that have happened if Williams hadn’t take the initiative and instead relied solely on an outside consultant? Perhaps. But why take the chance?

Clearly, consultants aren’t going anywhere soon. For one thing, there are too many jokes floating around. Second, most do provide invaluable assistance and help resource-strapped newspapers plan their new facilities and systems. But production managers also owe it to themselves to make sure they’re indeed getting what they want and they need, and not merely taking their adviser’s word on it.

After all, when the consultant moves on to his or her next job, it’s the newspaper that owns the responsibility of that consultant’s decisions.