Free advice for improving your printing organization.

Printing Industry Best Practices:
Start The Job Off Right!

Preproduction workflow starts with the customer and follows through until the job enters the prepress department. An efficient pre-production workflow will enable you to get jobs into production quickly, accurately, and thoroughly without sacrificing quality, service, or profits. The longer it takes to get a job into production, the less time you have to manufacture the job. On the other hand, taking the time to prepare a job for production will allow you to produce it more efficiently, more quickly, and more profitably.

A major component of the preproduction workflow is the communication of job information among the customer, sales, customer service, production, and so on. Ironically, printers, are in the business of helping their customers create effective communications, yet find that many of their own problems result from communications deficiencies— misinterpreting customer requirements, missing or mistyped information on the job tickets, or second-guessing missing information.

Pre-production workflow begins when a customer passes the job specifications to your salesperson or customer service representative (CSR). This is the best time to clarify any uncertainties about the job because the further misinformation moves through the printing process, the more costly the consequences can be. For this reason, it is important for salespeople and CSRs to have good communications skills. It’s also important to have a well designed job request form that helps sales representatives gather all the necessary information accurately.

Before production touches a job, each job should have a “blueprint” or plan indicating just how production will produce it. A plan should identify the resources necessary to produce the job including detail production instructions, the equipment to be used, and the estimated amount of time, materials, and costs. It’s best to identify and resolved all questions or issues involving the job before the production process. Carefully planning each job prior to production and determining how the job will flow through the plant to meet technical requirements and delivery dates allows a company to optimize plant capacity and reduce equipment downtime and spoilage.

The job ticket is one of the most critical documents a printing company uses. It communicates the job plan to the entire organization, from prepress through printing and finishing. The most effective job tickets have simple, easy-to understand instructions identifying the flow of the job through each department. Because individual writing styles and skill levels vary, job tickets manually prepared by multiple planners are usually inconsistent from job to job and planner to planner. Computer-generated job tickets are an option that can greatly improve consistency and accuracy. If your shop is implementing a JDF strategy, you may want to consider utilizing JDF/JMF job tickets.

Some companies make the mistake of involving too many people in the front end. For example, a job may pass through a salesperson, CSR, estimator, order entry person, and a planner before even entering prepress production. With each person, more time and profits are lost—workflow slows, production is delayed, costs inflate, and the probability of errors being made or compounded increases. Another problem with this arrangement is that no single person is familiar with all the job components. This tactic can force a customer to repeat the same information to multiple employees each time a question arises. The key is to pass the job through as few hands as possible.

In order to meet the growing demand for faster turnaround, higher quality, shorter runs, and reduced prices, printers need to develop more effective workflows, from the time the job is received through production and product distribution. Starting the job right and remembering that “it’s what’s up front that counts” is one of the most critical aspects of running a printing business, but never forget that a well-trained, even cross-trained, workforce is essential.

To learn more about Profectus' “Lean Printing Office” consulting solution visit our website at http://www.profectus.com/services/lean-printing-office.htm

Craig L. Press is president of Profectus, Inc, a national consultancy that helps printing organizations implement best business practices and maximize the value of their information technology investments. www.profectus.com