Specialized management of the Printing Business Each economy sector has its particular features. Each company has a personality that differentiate it from the competitor and made it less or more competitive. Metrics PrintWare is a management platform with tools and processes that were designed specially for companies that are dedicated to the printing business, created from Metrics experience in development and implementation of systems in the main companies of the sector in Latin America. The following descriptions refer to the main requirements to support the printing industry operation and the way that METRICS Printware attends these requirements.   1. Ordered Product 2. Production process definition 3. Cost and Price Formation 4. Work Orders Generation 5. Manufacture Planning 6. Production Control 7. Pós calculation - Comparison beetwen foreseen and Real 1. Ordered Product Making to order means that each product has particular features which are described in the sales order which must be strictly followed on the production process. Metrics Printware Resource: Printing product technical specification. Metrics system offers advanced modules for printing products specification that allow describing all details of each order. These information are captured and validated in order to be used for costs and prices calculation, besides generating commercial proposals and production. Benefits: • Reduce errors in the information capture • Automatic integration with next processes, eliminating repeated works. • More agility in answering customers 2.  Production process definition There are many ways of producing a product. It depends on the shape, printing type, finishing, materials that will be used and available equipment on the company. Once the customer specification is received, it is necessary to define the best way of producing the specific work. This industrial area requires special attention because depends on qualified professionals, with higher technical knowledge, in order to create an optimized plan production to reduce costs and get a product with the best quality. Metrics Printware Resource: Automatic Generation of the Product Engineering according to the customer specification. Metrics system has capacity to define automatically the best production plan for a work. From the customer specification and through the knowledge of the machines characteristics and available material, the system simulates and define: the best way of producing, the needed operations, the machines, manual and suppliers process that will transform the raw-material as well as the raw-material that will be consumed. Benefits: • Standard: The rules that are used to define the production process will be always the same and based on the best practices for the company. • Automation: It provides greater productivity and less quantity of specialized employees • Knowledge preservation: the important rules to perform the company processes are in the system and are not just in the people head. 3. Cost and Price Formation For being unique products, each order must be individually estimated, considering  quantities, resources that will be needed, financial costs, etc. The sales price must be determined, according to a coherent commercial strategic that considers the goals and the company moment. The accuracy and details on these calculation is basic for the preparation of good commercial offers and maintenance of the company profitability. Metrics Printware Resource: Specialized systems for the elaboration of estimating and commercial proposals. The Metrics estimating modules has capacity to generate accurate costs estimate based on technical criteria and according to the company characteristics. Several criteria can be applied and the calculation is detailed until the lower level. The price formation follows defined rules for the customer, according to its strategy. It is possible to make simulations for help the customer negotiation and thus to understand the impact of each concession that was done. The system generates commercial proposal, as well as documents for internal analysis. The information are presented in an objective way and allow to take decisions based on numbers. Benefits: • More agility: Faster to attending the estimated requests • Great security: Great security to define the prices that will be used 4.  Work Orders Generation The generation and control of the Work Order is between the most important company processes. The Work Order must have products, processes and material specification, as well as technical orientation for its production. The generated documents must allow the operators to understand everything that must be done. Metrics Printware Resource: Completed Work Orders for printing products. In Metrics system, the Work Orders are automatically generated from the customers specifications and based on the product engineering.  Technical information about each process are available and are used to generate documents, plan and control the manufacture production. Benefits: • Eliminate work and documents repeated • Reliable information in the production. Errors reduction. 5. Manufacture Planning In order to be profitable, a manufacture must operates in a maximum work capable level with a great work volume.  However, a series of features make complex the task of managing the manufacture in the maximum work, attending delivery schedule and quality: • The delivery schedules are generally short. • The ability to foresee the demand is little. The customers confirm the orders next to the production date. • The works are complex with several operations and plans that need to be synchronized. • It is necessary to coordinate the material purchase and contract service supplier. In general, printing companies do not have appropriated systems and processes that allow to plan properly the production and accompany the daily changes in work because this programming depends on activities from commercial area and the communication between commercial and production are not systematized.  Metrics Printware Resource: Collaborative Planning. The Metrics Planner system allow to plan in an appropriated way the execution of all Work Orders, considering schedules, priorities, productive capacity and restrictions. When released, the Work Orders are included in the planning immediately and any change of specification, dates or quantity adjusts the work plan automatically. By using an advanced and specialized system, Metrics Planner has capacity to distribute all activities among several machines with just a click on mouse that will generate the production programming. Through a simple printing interface and many resources, the user can modify the sequences, obtain information of foreseen occupation, generates reports and much more. The finish foreseen is adjusted in real-time when the produced quantity information are captured from machines. By using the simulation functions, it is possible to evaluate the impact of each planning change, as well as the entrance of a great order, the equipment break and the overtime usage. The information of foreseen delivery, future machines occupation and next occupation are available all over the company for searches. Thus, it is too simple to take decisions about accepting a order, working overtime, negotiate changes of schedules or adopting commercial politics to guarantee the manufacture occupation. Benefits: • Optimization of the machines usage and the increase of its occupation • Major foreseen and security to attend the schedule • Best information to take sales and production decisions • More agility in answering customers and the commercial area • More capacity about the reaction for changes that are generated by new sales 6. Production Control The Production control is responsible for accompany the execution of all manufacture works, recording the used time, produced quantities and other information. Metrics Printware Resource: JobTrack – system for production control Metrics JobTrack allow the systematized attendance of all production activities. When this system is integrated to the modules of product engineering and Planning, it allows an integrated and total control of the cycle of products elaboration. This system offers resources to register productive and not productive time, produced quantities, even with data electronic capture directly from machines. The generated information are used for: • Programming automatic adjust in real-time • Products cost • Productivity indicators through reports and graphs Benefits: • 100% reliable production data • Information availability in real-time • Faster speed to solve identified problems • Best information support to take decision 7. Post-Calculation – Comparison between Foreseen and Real The printing do the prices formation from a cost estimate that considers a resource efficiency, raw-material consumption and a foresee costs structure Taking into consideration the several changes during the production, it is basic that the printing knows the incidence of real costs. Just like this it will be possible to improve the estimates and provide more suitable prices that allow keeping the business profitability. Metrics Printware Resource: ACR – Costs and Results Analysis Metrics ACR register all foreseen costs information in estimating, including materials, labour, suppliers, commissions, etc. The real data are captures by the operational systems of production, stock and financial. Through the consultancy and manager analysis, it is possible to identify where the changes happen, the causes and impacts in the profitability of each product and customer. Benefits: • Production changes identification for program improvement • Improvement in the pricing process • Improvement in the customers negotiation