Job Batching Software

[PatrickLatendresse]

Hey all,

I have a software related question and was wondering if anyone has any insight into this topic. We are looking for a way to take all of our sign orders and divide them by material type to make nesting our jobs more efficient.

For example, 2 orders come in. Order 1 has signs on High Intensity and Diamond Grade reflective. Order 2 has signs on High Intensity and White Vinyl. I am looking for a program that has the capability of taking those 2 orders and giving me a list of all the High Intensity signs we need to print, line by line, even though they are coming from multiple orders. Is anyone using a software that has this capability? Any help if greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Brian Tickenoff]

Sounds like you're looking for workflow automation... You can go with something robust like Switch or Esko's Automation Engine. tFlow may be another option (I hate it TBH) but I'm not sure if it will separate/gang like you're talking about.
There is probably something similar and more budget oriented but I'm not sure what that is currently.

 

[Pauly]

Do you have a budget?
Because what your asking could add up quite a bit.

We would do this in enfocus switch and Griffin. But you'll need to build the workflow from scratch.

You could also do this in Caldera as it has as it'll auto nest for each stock. You won't get your list though.

 

[In Print]

I am looking into this as well. We are looking for auto nesting, double sided automation and material type batching and probably more. Looking so far at print factory which is more plug and play and is your rip as well. Not sure it will give list but you can build a hot queue per material and it send to printt once full… also just started to look at Switch but as mentioned above you need to build it out. I think in the long run it actually comes out cheaper than Print factory and might give more functionality however print factory allows you to not be reliant on onyx which has some kinks I wish it didn’t.

 

[tollerdad]

I am looking into this as well. We are looking for auto nesting, double sided automation and material type batching and probably more. Looking so far at print factory which is more plug and play and is your rip as well. Not sure it will give list but you can build a hot queue per material and it send to printt once full… also just started to look at Switch but as mentioned above you need to build it out. I think in the long run it actually comes out cheaper than Print factory and might give more functionality however print factory allows you to not be reliant on onyx which has some kinks I wish it didn’t.

What did you end up doing? We use PrintFactory RIP now and are starting to automate the front end with Switch.

 

[Pauly]

What did you end up doing? We use PrintFactory RIP now and are starting to automate the front end with Switch.

Running automation to prepress, batch, nest before the RIP is far more efficient.
We do all that in enfocus switch and use Caldera headless as a pure RIP. Caldera does minimal file prep. you could use quicksets to do last touches like add reg marks for digital cutters (We do this for summa) but flatbed cutter marks are added in with Griffin.
RIP can do so much, but to do it with rules, you'll need full automation like Switch.

 

[tollerdad]

Running automation to prepress, batch, nest before the RIP is far more efficient.
We do all that in enfocus switch and use Caldera headless as a pure RIP. Caldera does minimal file prep. you could use quicksets to do last touches like add reg marks for digital cutters (We do this for summa) but flatbed cutter marks are added in with Griffin.
RIP can do so much, but to do it with rules, you'll need full automation like Switch.

So an operator has to go back through Switch if they need to re-nest? Customer changes mind, partial reprint etc.

 

[Pauly]

So an operator has to go back through Switch if they need to re-nest? Customer changes mind, partial reprint etc.

When set up properly you dont actually touch switch.
but yes the job would go though switch to get re-nested.

There's heaps if ways to interact with switch but you don't use the flows directly once set up.

The easiest way is you set up boards in the admin and you can upload files to the flows or have a job board (Kanban board) so you could re upload the customers job with new parameters.

We interact with it many ways. For your example we use PrintIQ an Switch Web UI board.
We use the Jobs board in Switch as a last touch point as we can delegate which printer jobs go to so we can load balance or prioritise etc. So wed find the job on the board and delete it, then go to PrintIQ and update the job specs and push it back to switch. With in a few minutes it'll be prepressed, nested and ready for print.

 

[In Print]

What did you end up doing? We use PrintFactory RIP now and are starting to automate the front end with Switch.

So far nothing. Still trying to find a way more to automate the pre press and the cost of print factory over the manual labor we use I can’t justify yet. I would love for now to find some good plugins to help with nesting or just automations for filling sheets….

 

[Pauly]

So far nothing. Still trying to find a way more to automate the pre press and the cost of print factory over the manual labor we use I can’t justify yet. I would love for now to find some good plugins to help with nesting or just automations for filling sheets….

i mentioned this in another thread.
a good powerful budget solution is Onyx TruFit, you can perpetual licence.

It is a watered down Enfocus Griffin, less settings, no cutter marks but pure nesting its good.
Griffin is a subscription and its a lot more.

 

[tollerdad]

When set up properly you dont actually touch switch.
but yes the job would go though switch to get re-nested.

There's heaps if ways to interact with switch but you don't use the flows directly once set up.

The easiest way is you set up boards in the admin and you can upload files to the flows or have a job board (Kanban board) so you could re upload the customers job with new parameters.

We interact with it many ways. For your example we use PrintIQ an Switch Web UI board.
We use the Jobs board in Switch as a last touch point as we can delegate which printer jobs go to so we can load balance or prioritise etc. So wed find the job on the board and delete it, then go to PrintIQ and update the job specs and push it back to switch. With in a few minutes it'll be prepressed, nested and ready for print.

Thanks, we are a few weeks from going live with PrintIQ. It will be very interesting getting everything in motion. PrintIQ, Switch and Printfactory.

 

[Pauly]

Thanks, we are a few weeks from going live with PrintIQ. It will be very interesting getting everything in motion. PrintIQ, Switch and Printfactory.

We use the PrintIQ and Switch integration, but we've built so much more into their flows and more.

Since you're using PrintIQ. your questions before about reprocess and renesting. if its configured with PrintIQ, you can go into printiq and modify the job and resubmit it into prepress.
To that point you build out switch how you want it to work.
The PIQ Flows are a good starting point though. I've left them standard and let them continue processing to other flows so makes it easier to maintain.

 

[tollerdad]

We use the PrintIQ and Switch integration, but we've built so much more into their flows and more.

Since you're using PrintIQ. your questions before about reprocess and renesting. if its configured with PrintIQ, you can go into printiq and modify the job and resubmit it into prepress.
To that point you build out switch how you want it to work.
The PIQ Flows are a good starting point though. I've left them standard and let them continue processing to other flows so makes it easier to maintain.

Thanks good info. What vendor did you work with on switch?

 

[Pauly]

Thanks good info. What vendor did you work with on switch?

Built all the flows myself.

Printiq does partner with someone in Australia though.