Manual tracking system

[cuongcamdieu]

We're small commercial printer in New York City. We have a case study about tracking a job in processing. The boss wants to save money and don't want to implement MIS system or hiring more customer services.
The problems occur like this:

1. Reception department picks up calls from customers asking " is my job ready?" (name/company info)
2. Reception area don't know the answer. the call BOUND to PrePress department. He/she physically have to go to post-press department to get the answer "is the job done?"


Do we have better ways of manual tracking? like putting all job orders on the blackboard where 3 departments (press, press, postpress) come to make SOME check marks: PREPRESS----PRESS----POSTPRESS----READY FOR SHIPPING.

any suggestion?
Thanks

 

[J]

An Excel spreadsheet, listing all jobs and their status, hosted on a server that your receptionist can access would work. As long as the various depts remember to enter the info in a timely manner of course.
A database application like Filemaker would probably work better but might be more expensive. Again, as long as the various depts remember to enter the info in a timely manner of course.

J

 

[andreisarbu]

Hi,

You should try PrintPoint (Print Estimating - Print Management - PrintPoint - PrintShop Management - PrintShop Estimating) a client-server application that isn't expensive and could help you a lot - estimates, quotes, job tickets, job status, etc. We are using that application for more than 2 years (thousands of jobs and estimates) and is quite Ok, taking in consideration the costs

Good luck.

Andrei

 

[nhprinter]

J had the most simple idea and least costly, but if you have estimating/job ticket software of any kind it should have some sort of plug-in for tracking. We use PrintSmith. All we do is scan a barcode on the job ticket and then the appropriate barcode for the location at each dept.

I also use a plug-in for PrintSmith called Scheduler that makes my entire job schedule viewable from any workstation in the building.

PrintSmith isn't cheap, but I know there's other software out there that does most of this and is very inexpensive. I guess you have to figure out how much time is wasted tracking down jobs and see if it's worth it to you.

Good Luck,
Dave

 

[Savage]

For small companies, i reccomend picking some old computer that lies around somewhere, install Linux on it and Open Office. On the computers that should edit information (like pre-press, press and post-press), you should install Open office also. On the computers that should read-only the information, you should install Opera.
All you have to do is make a spreadsheet in Open Office with all the info you want (run lenght, size, due date, if the plates are burn already, fields to put a simple Y after print, fold... you name it), and save that spreadsheet to the linux server. After editing, just export the spreadsheet to xhtml, to the server also. Then, you can point Opera software to the xhtml, and program it to refresh the page every 10 seconds. This will live update the info without the user intervention (which is nice for people that have difficulty with computers).
The rule uf thumb here is having an Editing folder in the server. When someone wants to edit the spreadsheet, he/she should first move it to the Editing folder. This will prevent errors resulting from more than 1 person editing it at the same time.
Since Linux, Open office and Opera are all free software, it will do the job for free. It's also very easy to setup and to operate.

Ps: Hope i made it clear, and sorry for the bad english

 

[Morning Flight]

We're small commercial printer in New York City. We have a case study about tracking a job in processing. The boss wants to save money and don't want to implement MIS system or hiring more customer services. Any suggestions?

Yes, check out http://printplanet.com/forums/prepress-workflow-discussion/16630-advice-needed-

The Gold Edition of Morning Flight includes Job Tracking. You can tell your boss the program is free while in beta, won't expire at the end of the test cycle which means it can be used forever, and comes with Estimating, Order Entry, and Invoicing.

Hal Heindel
www.morningflight.com

 

[eastppress]

I agree that there are simplified electronic solutions to job tracking such as those mentioned: Excel, FileMaker, etc. If you want to do this simply (and it's interesting that Lean manufacturing's Visual management systems go away from electronic solutions), is to create a tracking board with appropriate rows for jobs and columns for progress. Keep this board updated by the individuals doing the 'movement' in each area of responsibility (CSR's keep approvals, Prep keeps graphics/plates, press and bindery keeps the job card movement across the row.) Of course, you need to keep an 'open office' environment so the receptionist can see the board (or install a webcam giving her visibility to the board.)
There are a number of visual board methods including magnetic boards with magnets with job ID information, pulling lines across to completion, even just a white board and writing the information in the right column. For many decades several compaies I was involved with successfully used such a board for 60-100 new jobs daily.
I still think the electronic data tracking/collecting is best and can be expanded to interactive use inside and externally.

 

[jdsmurf1]

If you do not want to jump into an MIS system, you can simply use Google Docs which would allow other users access all the information from anywhere. It automatically updates and can be used for your press schedule and even your inventory with their spreadsheet portion. We color highlight jobs to show the status, i.e. Yellow - Approved, Green - Plated, Red - Waiting on paper and so on. Has some issues, but does work. We also keep the shipping status on Yahoo Calendar and works very well.

steve

 

[splashdesignz]

The Morning Flight Gold program (free) does a great job of doing this. Every morning I update the status of all jobs from the previous day...print out a new sheet and post it. This is then available to look at in hard copy -- just like a visual lean board.

 

[Ritter]

Option A: Get an MIS even a cheap one.
Option B [Ultra cheap, ultra simple]: Have a computer in each area of production or if your production area is small enough just one. Have access to the internet and a google documents account with a table like the attached image. Your people in the front can be logged in at the same time and just pull it up in a web browser as needed.

Have the operator of each department denote a C for complete in each place or a P if the job is on hold for any reason then denote the reason the job is hold: plates,paper,problem,ink,etc.

 

[Luc Talbot]

Talk to the boss again. EVERYONE needs some sort of MIS.