who plans your jobs?

madflexo

Member
Are any company's out there using a planning team to organize their jobs? Who in the company is responsible for assigning colors, line screens, dot shapes, print processes, etc. for each job? How are these decisions being made and at what level and stage of the process?

We are looking to streamline this process instead of having 8, 9, 10 people from all areas of the company at a planning meeting.

Any ideas?
 
Re: who plans your jobs?

Flexonaut, your nick makes me figure you are in the flexo industry . .. . so am I. We are providing flexo printers with prepress services. Your questions and concerns are my daily bread: who is gonna make the call on all those specs ????? Forget about salespeople, they want the whole package all the time . . . the printer wants to get away with the easy and low-cost run . . . . the designers want the best looking therefore the most demanding techniques . . . and most of the specs are self imposing based on press capacity, budget etc.. As a prepress manager I sit in the middle of all those people and I have to recommend a strategy and I will often have to sell it too . . . trying to get compromises from one or another and of course putting together something that will satisfy everyone down the line. I think the first step would be to document the technical elements that are specific to a press, a customer, a substrate , and so on This way half of the job of putting specs is there and done. The hard part of putting someone in charge of deciding on a strategy is the accountability that is tied to this responsibility. Being too stiff and systematic is a route you dont want to go because flexo is a very “case by case” trade and some room has to be left in for creative solutions.
I hope this helps you in approaching this issue.
Luc St-Pierre
 
Re: who plans your jobs?

We have a planning department. Saleperson gets a quote from a planner who decides on prepress time and material, paper, press, impo, bindery, etc. and cost. If quote wins, salesperson writes up the docket re: colours, line screen, page size, etc. Files are then preflighted to make sure files match docket, and to flag anything the salesman may have missed or the client "forgot". Then job goes back to a planner to make sure files and job match quote, and to write out the actual paper imposition for prepress, then job goes into prepress. Planner and salesperson, and planner and preflight are the only interactions needed, although others may be consulted by the planner if needed. Our planners are pretty key people.
 
Re: who plans your jobs?

> {quote:title=chworktap wrote:}{quote}
> We have a planning department. Saleperson gets a quote from a planner who decides on prepress time and material, paper, press, impo, bindery, etc. and cost. If quote wins, salesperson writes up the docket re: colours, line screen, page size, etc. Files are then preflighted to make sure files match docket, and to flag anything the salesman may have missed or the client "forgot". Then job goes back to a planner to make sure files and job match quote, and to write out the actual paper imposition for prepress, then job goes into prepress. Planner and salesperson, and planner and preflight are the only interactions needed, although others may be consulted by the planner if needed. Our planners are pretty key people.



Ditto
Last word goes to the printers and to the finishers.
They are the ones who, in the end, print and finish the damn thing.
Almost every folder has to have the diecut fixed because clients always eat more than they can chew .
"Glue flap, what is that." Gussets, funny word
At the end designers are mainly kids with great ideas but no experience.
No reason to get mad.
I get paid to fix things.
Everyone has a job and it is everyones job to make things work.
Cheers

Edited by: Adriano on Feb 21, 2008 4:14 AM

Edited by: Adriano on Feb 21, 2008 4:17 AM

Edited by: Adriano on Feb 21, 2008 5:29 AM
 
Re: who plans your jobs?

I'm assuming it's a wino, from out on the corner, but I cannot confirm that.
 
Re: who plans your jobs?

I am *the* job planner at our company. This used to be a team of 4-5 people who did all of the estimates and tag-teamed on getting the orders processed once they were awarded. Management has since broken us up - 4 members of the "marketing team", who's primary function is to work with sales to get the jobs in here; and me(one man *is* an island).
It is working and has been for the past year and a half. It does help to have more consistent planning with one person making the decisions on how things will flow through the plant. Although, my stress levels have pretty much gone through the roof. Also responsible for all purchasing (except ink), training and reasearching new workflow ideas.
We are a commercial print shop - sheetfed, $13.5 million last year and on track for at least $15 mil this year.
The main problem I have is that since i am the one planning everything, everyone else comes to me for answers to all sorts of questions. So when I have a line outside my door, I am not getting the jobs planned.
hope this helps a little.
 

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