step 4
Let the Data Flow From Productions
Production printing is quickly transforming into an industry based on data-driven manufacturing. Data for print production presents several challenges for PSPs.
analyzed often using comparables to a prior period, the last time the job was produced or industry benchmarks. The data must be collected to support your objectives. Many
PSPs must determine what metrics are useful for their opera-
PSPs use electronic shop floor data collection as part of their print
tions. Do you want to track SLA performance, overall equipment
MIS solution. Increasingly, the equipment can augment or replace
efficiency (OEE), waste metrics, operator productivity or other key
some of the production data. The machine can report back pro-
performance indicators (KPIs)? Without a clear KPI, the correct
duction times, ink and material usage, quality indicators, status
data may not be collected and almost certainly will not be used
markers and other data that feeds an analytics dashboard or is
effectively.
accessible to other software through a set of APIs.
The data must be collected. The data collected needs to be
step 5
Maximize Profits For Digital Printing
How do you calculate your profit today? Does it wait until the
vendors and build a plan toward automation.
end of the quarter or the end of the year for a review with the ac-
For each system, ask the vendor about how to connect their
countants? What do they look at? Their accuracy is based on the
systems to build a single system of record for every job that in-
data they see, and they can’t make recommendations if they don’t
cludes actual costs and pricing options. They may have APIs, Soft-
know what wasn’t invoiced.
ware Development Kits (SDKs), or professional services to recom-
Part of your technology stack should be devoted to the pro-
mend. Listen to their ideas.
cesses behind accurate estimating and quoting, timely change re-
A common recommendation we hear is to consider tools that
quest management and job reconciliation at the point of invoicing.
can link together in a framework, share data, provide access to
That means you need mechanisms to capture all elements that
Business Intelligence tools for analysis, and feed real-time dash-
are part of the costs of goods sold, all change requests and the
boards. Tools that cannot share data should be reviewed for re-
resulting additional labor hours and material costs, and late-bind-
placement.
ing discounts requested prior to invoicing. Begin with an honest look at the processes in place today. Ask these questions:
Anything that can be automated should be, and it should all be done based on an implementation plan that includes team engagement, executive buy-in, milestones and milestone postmor-
Does the inventory management system automatically update the estimation system as inventory arrives and prices fluctuate?
tems to build the best workflow. The goal is to drive more money to the bottom line, eliminate
How are change requests captured, costed and invoiced?
bottlenecks and avoid leaving money on the production room
How are discounts managed?
floor due to failures in managing change requests and discount
If you find that you have unconnected systems that require
policies.
manual updating and are missing the ability to automate the estimating and production systems, this is a great time to talk to your
42
WhatTheyThink
Issue One 2023