There are countless instances throughout the


production process where you can reduce touchpoints. Many of these occur in pre-production, and by making changes here you can unlock your potential throughout the whole print shop. Estimating is more than setting a price; it is defining the production workflow and can dramatically reduce touchpoints. Mess up the production steps in your estimating process and gone is your profitability and ability to fully utilize your assets. Complementing estimating is scheduling, an area oſten overlooked in reducing touchpoints. Effective scheduling will minimize the impact of job transition on the production and finishing equipment; you will then realize additional capacity to drive profitability. The approach to minimize touchpoints can be applied all the way through to delivery and invoicing, and the whole production process can be reduced to just four major touchpoints! Companies will oſten have processes in place


driving productivity and uptime. This needs to take into consideration the whole manufacturing process. In many cases it is possible to double the effectiveness of presses by procedures, scheduling, and business strategies. An offset press is not a data terminal and should not be used as one. It is there to produce sellable sheets and that should be its only focus. The transition between jobs needs to be minimized; the push-to-stop approach has redefined this process with full automation and operator intervention only when there is an issue. The consumables and substrates used will dramatically impact the performance of equipment, where “buying cheap” actually drives up the cost per 1,000 sheets and negatively impacts productivity and profitability. By reducing waste and inventory you will have a


major impact on your productivity, cost structure, and profitability. This can be done in many ways, such as your purchasing arrangements, quality considerations, and scheduling. Purchasing can impact how you pay for the products (cash flow!), delivery, handling, and— crucially—how they perform during production. The quality of these materials as well as your internal quality process will mean that you are able to get the


right product out with minimal waste in the most cost- effective manner. Finally, we include scheduling again, a cornerstone of the process. Scheduling an offset press needs focus to ensure the transition time between jobs is minimized. A typical hierarchy would be, in order: sheet size, paper weight, ink coverage, folding scheme, and—as the least important—delivery date. In all facets it is critical to optimize consistency and


repeatability, from the pre-production steps through to production and invoicing. The same process needs to be applied using the same tools and metrics to make sure that we hit the target right the first time, every time. We oſten think of how we apply this to color management, but it is pervasive across the whole business. We don’t have every estimator using different layouts or operators doing changeovers in their own way or accounting invoicing customers differently! Without the process consistency, it is impossible to optimize and repeatedly drive improvements. To gain a fresh and relevant perspective on your


business, the use of a business intelligence system that combines both production and business data is now an essential management tool. This allows you to understand process, see correlations and relationships that are affecting your profitability, and drill down to identify the root cause. Business Intelligence allows for fact-based decisions to be made in a timely manner—too oſten these are made too late and the decision can be flawed as it does not have the most relevant data. The Smart Print Shop is here today, leveraging


the connectivity and automation to drive efficiency and reduce manufacturing costs while increasing profitability. The paradigm shiſt is here with push-to- stop and letting jobs run through the whole production, from initial customer interaction through to delivery and invoicing and only stopping the processes for business reasons, rather than starting each new step of the process with a manual interaction. Companies that embrace the Smart Print Shop will see a significant competitive advantage in the marketplace today and in the coming years.


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