Production Control

Not just a wall board on a computer but a truly active weapon against ‘just in time’ ordering.

Imprint Production Control is a fully integrated, windows multi-user Production Control System, with ‘Master Controller’ screens and ‘Viewing’ screens. It is capable of holding finite and infinite load centres and of controlling resources for groups of finite centres. When linked to Imprint’s Shop Floor Data Capture or Imprint’s Sentinel Live on-Line Machine Monitoring the system comes to life with the planning board showing, live, the activity on all the machines. This program, along with Data Capture and Sentinel, may also be integrated to a third party system.

Integration

Works Instructions and Invoicing

A skeleton schedule with delivery date etc. is automatically raised when a Works Instruction is raised and the schedule is automatically closed when finally invoiced.
The Controller will be aware of fast moving jobs without having to do anything to them.

Estimating & Costing

There are 150 definable Event Centres. Some will be defined as advisory and some as controlled.
Relevant ‘controlled’ Event Centres are integrated both to the Estimating and the Costing Cost Centres. Estimated values default to screen when a job is scheduled and the production times and quantities are automatically booked to the schedule as they occur.

Despatch

Delivered quantities automatically book to the schedule as delivery notes are raised.

Shop Floor Data Capture & Sentinel Machine Monitoring

Information from these two sources may be viewed live on screen. As you look at the planning board all the machines may be active at once, ‘before your very eyes’; showing current speed, copy count and current projected completion time and they will change colour for unexpected stoppages.

Functions

Scheduling

Main Job Schedules are opened automatically by Works Instructions and part completed by Estimating. Target dates are loaded and capacity required is compared to capacity available. The complete schedule is displayed on the planning board showing how it fits around all other work.
Split schedules: for jobs with many sections or jobs so large that they have to be lifted on the run.
Provisional schedules for the year ahead (e.g. Contract work, periodicals, etc.).
‘Downtime’ Schedules: to specify and highlight loss of production capacity, (e.g. time out for maintenance, staff gone sick, crew on holiday, etc.).

Running the System

Keep monitoring the list of Events Due Today, Events Due Tomorrow and Events Running Late.
Drag and Drop jobs about on the Planning Board to organise the priorities.
Print out the action lists: Prepare production capacity reports: Keep your Customers informed.

Other Features

Multi-user viewing screens update themselves every 10 seconds.
Schedules may be very easily amended. Overtime for morning or evening is easily adjusted and Saturday and Sunday working are optional.
Daily, Weekly, Monthly loading in variable increments from 10 minutes upwards; set machine by machine. An increment of two hours is common for large Web Presses and 24 hour working.
Simple Drag and Drop techniques for moving and re-scheduling work.
Logical paths warn of impossible actions (e.g. cannot print before plates are ready, etc.).
Machine stoppages, slow or problem running can be seen within 10 seconds of them happening.
Schedules start to display in red when they are missing their dates.
The system allows sections or parts of a job to be scheduled independently, but viewed together.
Full access to the Imprint Report Generator and Document Generator to produce personalised reports and presentations.

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Imprint Business Systems Ltd
Poplars, High Easter, Chelmsford, Essex, CM1 4RB
Tel: 01245 231670 Fax: 01245 231789