Change Order Forms

[tommrz]

I am looking for a form that our CSRs can fill out when a change is needed on a job. Recently, there was an email forwarded by a CSR to myself that had a change needed on a job. I made the change and sent it back out. My supervisor was not aware of the change and when the job went to press the pressman questioned the change. My supervisor was called and told the press room to pull the job because she didn't know anything about the change. The next day everything was cleared up and the job went to press 2 shifts after it was supposed to be scheduled causing even more problems with scheduling other jobs.
This form would travel through the shop with each job from prepress to billing. I think it could help us avoid the situation above.
Does anyone have a form I could use to tailor to our specific shop or any ideas what should be on it without it being another meaningless form with too much information on it that no one bothers to read it?
Thanks for any help out there...

 

[gordo]

You probably don't need another form.

If you made a change didn't you make a new proof? If not of the whole job - at least just the part that was changed so that it could be dated, signed by you and/or the CSR, and attached to the proof that went out to the pressroom.

best, gordo

 

[Boneck]

Gordo is correct... at the very least a laser proof indicating the change... and who and when it was approved.

 

[Sev]

Gordo is correct... at the very least a laser proof indicating the change... and who and when it was approved.

Generally if we have to reRIP a job because of any type of change, we will make a new imposition proof (Sherpa proof) of the new RIPed files. We learned that the hard way, when once alot of changes were made on a job, and lasers were made and approved, but the job never got reRIPed and was printed and delivered wrong. Because of this mistake, we lost an important customer.

-Sev

 

[Stephen Marsh]

This should be handled by both proofing and a good MIS system, where everybody can find the change noted in the system without having conflicting level of knowledge by different people that may or may not have been informed of changes.

Stephen Marsh

 

[airyk]

we make spot dylux's of changed pages and staple them over the old page.
Then everyone can see what it was and what changed, along with a "final proof" sticker on the new approved dylux.

 

[Mark]

We made an elaborate change order sheet, so the sales person would write down all the corrections ensuring nothing would get missed and the information could be explained in greater detail if necessary.

They write "see proof" on the form!?!?

 

[Stephen Marsh]

We made an elaborate change order sheet, so the sales person would write down all the corrections ensuring nothing would get missed and the information could be explained in greater detail if necessary.

They write "see proof" on the form!?!?

Haha! There are prospects and customers to talk to, visit and lunches to attend. No time for paperwork!

Seriously though, a good print MIS with a change order facility and/or CRM has all of this covered.


Stephen Marsh

 

[rich apollo]

…a good print MIS…

MIS? "Men In Suits"? "Massive Ironic Supposition"? "Meat In Supper"? "Monkeys In Space"? "Morphology Indicating Spasticity"? "Mystical Iodine Suppliers"?

To quote an old hand I worked with years ago, "Does it cost more than $40?" :~)

 

[tommrz]

I agree with all of your posts. We are currently looking into a more comprehensive MIS. We have been looking into this for the 3 years I have worked here. In the mean time, I am looking to create a simple tracking sheet where we can clearly communicate and document changes that need to be made. I will often work on a job in the beginning of the month only to have accounting call me the last week of the month and ask what changes I made to a particular job. If accounting calls the sales person they have no idea. Most of the time the CSR doesn't either because it is a matter of them forwarding on an email from the client to prepress without really reading it...you know "see customers email for changes".

 

[naplajoie2000]

We have a pretty good workflow when it comes to changes and the process in which we document and follow through on those changes. First, we create a change order in EFI Logic and designate where the change originates, customer or in-house, as this will determine how the change will be billed and track our spoilage if it is an in-house correction. We create a C-16 for customer authorized/requested alterations and H-16 for House alterations/corrections. These are logged into the job by the CSR or Supervisor that is making the request. That sheet then is passed on to operator that is tasked with making that change, and they in turn sign off on that change once it is made. We include any proofing requirements that need to be made to verify that change has been made and both the operator and the supervisor sign the proof to verify that it is correct.

On every job that we do, we make a low-res proof of the imposed job that we check to the customer supplied proofs, along with a multiple high res booked proofs that are given to the customer to sign off on and then stored in QC for pressroom checks. When an alteration is made, a new full imposed LR res proof is made for internal check, and new HR pages are pulled and stapled to the QC book for press check.

All paper work (C-16 & H-16) is given back to the CSR to ensure it can be billed. It seems to work well for us.

 

[tommrz]

naplajoie2000-
That is exactly what I am looking for! Would you be willing to share the verbiage and layout of your C-16/H-16 forms?

 

[naplajoie2000]

It is actually a very simple layout. The CSR will fill in the page with change, the form and side that has change, and what type of proof they require. In the text area, they describe the change required (color, text, format, etc.) and attach any laser, fax or PDF printout that shows change area. We then attach these C-16 to the laser of the page with change and give to operator to make described change. That printout is then filled out and given back to the CSR for tracking and billing after completion. Operators log into these jobs through EFI Logic and bill their hours and materials used. A nice feature of EFI is that I can go into that job and pull up all the C-16 for that job and see what changes have been made and when they were made, and who made them.

 

[Stephen Marsh]

MIS? "Men In Suits"? "Massive Ironic Supposition"? "Meat In Supper"? "Monkeys In Space"? "Morphology Indicating Spasticity"? "Mystical Iodine Suppliers"?

To quote an old hand I worked with years ago, "Does it cost more than $40?" :~)

Rich, where would the graphic communications industry be without acronyms to "ease communication"?

Yes, a Management Information System does cost more than $40, however it can cost a lot more not having one! In fact, you can startup with a very good MIS at around $40 a day for a single user, with extra users adding about $6 a day. The short ROI (damn another acronym), productivity and profit that these tools bring into a print business are great. The print MIS system will "pay for itself" in next to no time. EDIT: Those $ rates are for over one year to fully pay off the investment.


Stephen Marsh