Production Scheduling Procedure

[printmonger]

The Pressroom is looking to upgrade it's production scheduling traffic board. Currently, it is a manual procedure involving hand written hangtags on a pegboard that are moved as a job progresses through the shop. It is time consuming and repetitive. We also use a similar system for the stitcher traffic...more repetition. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Mark D. Sharadin
Production Manager

 

[RGPW17100]

Do you guys use printsmith? They have a scheduler module for that program

 

[Muddy]

For what it's worth we use exactly the same system (pegboard and tags). For us it's a very quick visual reference for every job in the shop and where they stand. We've tried lots of other things but always come back to this very manual (and archaic) method.

I guess it comes down to what your intention is with this board.

I didn't really tell you anything did I?

 

[nhprinter]

Do you guys use printsmith? They have a scheduler module for that program

I use Scheduler every day. I haven't tried any others, but I don't think it can get any better.

You really need the wands that scan the tickets though. You also still need to rely on your people scanning the bar codes on the tickets just as you need them to move the pegs with the system you're using now.

Our scanning locations right now are:

Prepress - out on proof - approved - production - bindery - complete

You can add others.

Dave

 

[Morning Flight]

I'd be surprised if much has changed since my earlier post, printmonger (http://printplanet.com/forums/prepress-workflow-discussion/16630-advice-needed-please/4#post103179). Most scheduling in the average print shop is probably still going to the wall. The big advance will come with the kind of plasma screens the national news networks are having so much fun with - the kind where you can move jobs around with your index finger.

 

[Keith]

I'd be surprised if much has changed since my earlier post, printmonger (http://printplanet.com/forums/prepress-workflow-discussion/16630-advice-needed-please/4#post103179). Most scheduling in the average print shop is probably still going to the wall. The big advance will come with the kind of plasma screens the national news networks are having so much fun with - the kind where you can move jobs around with your index finger.

THAT WOULD BE SO AWESOME!!!! Could you imagine, after you convert a job to a ticket, an image of the ticket (using animation and a plasma screen) would post on the "board". Or better yet, when you enter an estimate, it would post and then remind you in BIG, RED LETTERS, and a loud gong, to follow up with the customer! (I am terrible at follow-up. I attribute any loss in sales to my lack of having a system in place.)
Buuuuut. Then I realize that kind of wishful thinking would only contribute to a paperless society. And we love paper, don't we?!

LOL! I apologize as well printmonger as I don't think I have been very helpful as well. At least you can see, with all the posts so far, what everyone's thoughts and feelings are concerning the subject of scheduling. I'm all digital and crap moves so fast and changes constantly, I feel that our manual scheduler is almost burdensome (and an electronic one wouldn't be much better).

 

[mattbeals]

Somewhere in every pre/press room there is a peg board or a magnetic board with tags. I've never seen a shop completely rely on electronic scheduling. A few shops have had a scheduler who walks around with a clip board checking a jobs status in different parts of the plant. Department managers would come and "observe" the board, but never touch it, so that one person had the definitive answer. The shop I worked at worked much like that. If the regular "scheduler" was out for some reasons someone else took over and moved the board.

For what ever reason a board like that is able to communicate to everyone what they need to know as compared to a web page with the same info. I don' know what it is or why it is but that old manual way always works. Always...

 

[RGPW17100]

We use scheduler exclusively. As a production manager I like it so I know where jobs are without having to tour the whole shop to find things. We do not use the wands. We had all kinds of tracker issues when we did that. Each operator either bindery, prepress or press operators log into their work center and their jobs are there. We schedule every job to the first open slot and then I move them when higher priority items come in. Bindery tags are always moved to the day they are due. We do this because bindery always has the most tags and it is tough to find the jobs unless you know the due date. The way our schedule works we are pretty much doing the bindery the day it is due so it is pretty accurate. The hardest part of scheduler was getting enough computers so access was easy for mainly production people. The next issue was getting CSRs and Sales reps to click the job status to proof ok. I periodically check the work in progress for the Proof Ok jobs then release all the production tags and assign the correct dates at this time.

 

[Morning Flight]

The next issue was getting CSRs and Sales reps to click the job status to proof ok. I periodically check the work in progress ...

Sounds like your job scheduling and tracking is as organized as it's going to get, RGPW17100. As long as someone with a pulse has to update the status of pretty much anything, someone else always has to follow up.

Quick question: Does Scheduler consolidate? Say you have two jobs of the same sheet size and with the same ink colors, neither of them time-critical. Will Scheduler put them in sequence to minimize set-up and wash up costs? During my 36 years of owning and running a print shop, scheduling jobs for efficiency often took priority over getting them out the door when the customer or sales rep wanted them.

Hal Heindel
Morning Flight: Print Estimating Software for Offset and Digital

 

[meddington]

We use simply a dedicated calendar in Outlook to schedule print production and color code projects based on where their at in the production cycle. Very simple, and everyone can access it anywhere. Its still very much manual, particularly as far as scheduling for efficiency, but it works for us.

 

[marktonk]

First things first, Gordo, great cartoon, reminds me of my production days!

Heidelberg launched a scheduling module as an option to our Prinect Pressroom Manager. This does require our Prinance MIS or JDF enabled MIS to be functional (i.e EFI Pace or Monarch, etc.). Once a job is entered into the schedule, it is dynamically updated. Example, if you desire to have prepress included as part of the schedule, with our Prinect Prepress Manager workflow, once a proof or plates are made, the schedule is automatically updated via the JDF/JMF. Same would happen with a integrated Heidelberg press, as you are printing, the JDF is updated with what job is on press, how many makeready sheets it took how many good sheets are done or how many it took to complete the job. Even running speed and wash up time can be captured. The Scheduler is dynamically updated. Let say the press run was behind schedule. The schedule would be updated and flag you if there is a conflict. You can then adjust the schedule accordingly. If you have devices that are not JDF enabled, the information can still be capture via a touch screen data terminal. Say you have a folder that is not JDF enabled. The operator would log on the data terminal, call up the job. The job even shows the folding scheme from our Imposition workstation, Signa Station. Operator folds job, enters the makeready and good sheet count into the data terminal and logs off the job. This is captured into the JDF and updates the scheduler. When a job is completed, the information can be fed back to the MIS for cost analysis versus the estimate.

Heidelberg - Prinect Pressroom Manager

 

[RGPW17100]

Quick question: Does Scheduler consolidate? Say you have two jobs of the same sheet size and with the same ink colors, neither of them time-critical. Will Scheduler put them in sequence to minimize set-up and wash up costs? During my 36 years of owning and running a print shop, scheduling jobs for efficiency often took priority over getting them out the door when the customer or sales rep wanted them.

Hal Heindel
Morning Flight: Print Estimating Software for Offset and Digital

No it does not. Printsmith told me this was a quick put together program and does not have that type of sophistication. Press operator looks for schedule first then goes for productivity second. Communication to the operator letting him know of an uncoated job two sided is coming up so he can work that in. We typically try and get two days to print uncoated.

 

[pcmodem]

The following is what I have heard about Hagen OA's Scheduling system. It will look at the colors on each job and make a recommendation for which jobs to run back to back. Allows you to rearrange the schedule to see how it will effect production without changing the actual schedule. If you don't like the arrangement, you can cancel it and no changes have been made. If you do like it, you can apply the changes and your schedule is updated accordingly.

 

[mark_anderson_us]

Take a look at Technique

Take a look at Technique

We have a great scheduling program. It can be used standalone and updated throughout the plant or can be run as part of our full system and updated with JDF or other modules. With many of flavors of shop floor data collection you get actual vs. plan in real-time so you can see when jobs are running early/late.

You can customize events you want to track (e.g proofs out, proofs in, plates made, paper in, etc.) These events can all be set through the planner interface directly, JDF/JMF or XML messages.

Any user can have their own view. So prepress might set their view to color items based on the status of approval and plate making: the first job approaching its press time that is not green, needs either plates or approvals or both (you can see which). The planner can also see this and bring forward another job that does have plates, approvals, and other pre-requisites met. He would typically look at the jobs colored based on the status of plates, paper and ink.

You can see a screenshot and some more info here:

t e c h n i q u e   g r o u p - innovative MIS solutions for print - production scheduling

 

[marktonk]

Grouping of similar jobs is also a feature of Prinect Scheduler. If you have jobs with commonality such as 5 color, 4 color process and PMS 185, it will recommend running the jobs back to back, saving on wash up and change over time.

Regards,

Mark

 

[nhprinter]

I guess it shows how everyone still does things differently even if we're using the same program.

The beauty of Scheduler is that you see the jobs as soon as the CSR writes them up and turns them from estimates to jobs. I pull up my "job list" a few times a day(mostly at the end of the day) and schedule them according to their due date. Once they're all in the schedule I can move things around to make it work.

The biggest difference in the way RGPW17100 and myself use it though is that I use it mostly for myself. Prepress will look at it to make sure we have plates for the jobs ahead, but I type up the schedules for the presses every morning. The press guys don't every see it and the CSR's feel the schedule changes so often they'd just rather call me and ask about a job.

My biggest problem in scheduling, (and the reason it changes so often), is getting proofs approved by the customer. I'm constantly changing the schedule for lack of approvals and of course they still want us to make their deadline. I guess no matter how you schedule or what program or system you use there is always the "customer factor".

 

[TUT]

Scheduling

Scheduling

I've been with my current company for almost 29 years and we have never been able to get rid of the manual "tag" board. Ours is magnetic instead of the pegs. We have real time data collection with everyone logging in and out of every process. 20+ DC stations. CSR's, Sales, Management can all check to see where any job is at any given time. But...for purposes of scheduling the print portion (over 300 jobs in process at any given time-hopefully) we just can't do without the "big picture". We gave up on the bindery part of the board because there were too many tags, too many processes, and same job at multiple machines. The industry is SOOOO customer driven these days that our schedule changes like the (New England) weather.

TUT

 

[jboet]

The touch screen technology referred to earlier is called SURFACE and is owned by who else, Micro Soft and it is coming to you and me sooner than you think.

 

[Morning Flight]

The touch screen technology is called SURFACE and is coming to you and me sooner than you think.

No doubt, jboet. To be accepted in a print production environment, though, it will need fingerprint recognition technology to keep the office prankster from re-arranging jobs just for laughs.

Hal

 

[spurs501]

I need to get one of these production boards up and running ASAP for our company (in the UK) could somebody be so kind to upload/email a picture of their board, so I can get an idea of how it should look.

Do you have the days of the week across the top (if so, how many weeks?) and the different depts down the left hand side?

Would really appreciate ANY feedback.

Thanks guys.

S.