-
How do you set up a job?
Our procedure is that I have a file for each customer e.g. Joe Bloggs the Builder and then subfolders within that for each job e.g sign, van April 06 etc. I then have a new file for each panel of the van eg side feature, side tel nos etc. Once I have a file for every panel, I make another subfolder called CUT. Within that I then have Cut1, Cut2 etc. We work in this way but I always do the design and get the job ready to cut, then most of the time John cuts the job while I’m out at work and he does all the fitting. It is vital for us that whatever I have done can be easily followed by him as obviously he can’t be phoning me every two minutes to find out what to do.
Just wondering what everyone else does.
Dawn
-
22 Replies
-
we have a proceedure for jobs start to finish, including billing etc but general computer proceedure. we have A-Z of folders and a "Regular customers" folder. within regular folder the customers have their own folder. these folders will be named after the vehicles they have or if its signs, normally by date. .e.g.
folder name: Joes Hallage
file name: Transit Swb
file name: Transit MWB
file name: Atego Cab Unit
file name: Actros Cab Unit
file name: 44′ Trailler
file name: 33′ Trailerhope that makes sense? 😕
this is because allot of our jobs are just phoned in by regulars. normally goes something like, "its Joes Haulage here, we have two transit mwb coming in next wednesday, can i have the graphics put onto them?" order sheet is made up and and put in for production.
-
Dawn – I too am looking to improve my sytem a little, currently I have one file for all customers, subdivided into individual customers and they inturn subdivided by that customers jobs.
Within these job files I list ilustrations as illus#1 illus#2 etc until the agreed design with the customer which is then labelled cut file.
Theres room for improvement so would love to know what others do?
John
-
Every year I start a new folder and every month I start a new folder called (e.g April). Within that folder. Every customer we do work for has his own sub folder that month. As a new job comes in a new folder is created – so everything is filed under date order.
All our accounts are done usign Sage instant accounting so each customer has a history on our accountancy package. This history shows the dates when each job was invoiced so by reffering to the date when work was first done we can easily trace the original file used and put out a repeat order.
This system allows me to back up only the current work in progress. Every Friday I make a backup of this months work and add this to my existing back up which contains 10 years of customer files.
Works for me 😀
-
I have directories for each major client. Everything is stored in vehicle type ie 48 seat bus, 63 seat bus etc.
Or if they are for signs, they are labelled by location, and every sign at that one location is on the one file.
I use a dedicated sign program, so when I produce artwork, it is ready to cut. When the client approves it, it is entered into my diary, and I know when the day comes, it is ready to cut.
Accounting is done as the job is finished. If it is not invoiced, I know it is not finished. An invoice goes with every job, and a copy of the invoice, with the clients order and/or my own notes, goes to my accounts dept (my dad) and it is entered into our computer. All my accounts are 7 days for casual accounts, or 30 days for regular accounts. A statement is issued at the end of each month.
I only have a problem with iregular clients, if they come in and tell me to do the last job again, so any really casual clients jobs, I save the file as their name.
It is not totally fool proof, but it does work for me too.
-
I have several subdirectories for different types of work ie hanging signs, facia signs, vans etc. When a customer calls to look at samples, I call up relevant directory and show them a slide show of the particular type of work they wanted to see. When saving a file, I give it a full description like Joe Bloggs Transit van March 2001. That way when I do a search, all Joe Bloggs jobs will come up together with a description and original manufacture date. has worked well for me since 1994 when I began using Flexi
-
I have a two customer folders currently. One divided into subfolders for each customer with the corel work file, any pictures etc in.
Then on the plotters pc I have another customer folder, divided again by each customer, then with subfolders for each ‘job'(ie, astra van, transit, courtesy car, building) and this is my ‘cut’ folder.
When I tidy up the network I may have one set of files but at the moment I have used the main pc for design and the other for accounts and cutting though I may design more on the ‘cutting’ pc (when I get more memory only downside is can’t see the TV from the office) as that is the one with X3 installed now.
Lee
-
We organise by docket number plus a few more details. So for example, a job comes in and the next number is 12475 we create a folder which starts with that number. For easy visual reference we might tag on the client name too and a brief comment about the job. So the folder may end up being called 12475 ABC Design Banner.
Inside that folder the main working files will also start with the 12475 docket number with whatever other information required following.
With this approach things get pretty easy with a digital asset management system. Once the job is archived it’s becomes very easy to search for a particular docket number to see which CD or DVD it is located on (for recalls), see previews of all of the files, etc. I could also not know the docket and simply ask to see all dockets in a date range which belong to ABC Design.
By having a standard unique number in front of each file it becomes very easy to track down any piece of work. YMMV.
Rob
-
Our RAID hard drives has an Artwork main folder, inside that is each company name as a folder, also is two folders called "AA [our company name]" and "AA Small Jobs" then 2006,2005 etc.
Each corel file is stored in date order and doesn’t take long to find a job.
externally we have invoice number, job number and a 3-4 part printed sheet that goes to each area of the building and then paper filed.
-
i have one main file with everything sign / vector related, this includes a copy of all fonts downloaded, customer designs, my designs for general sale, experimental stuff etc,
i guess the main file would be
customer designs,so it would be
joe bloggs, in the folder will be any photo’s taken for refeence, also two other folders, one named vectors, one named captures, obviously vectors will include all the artwork, and the captures are usually captured images that i show the customer,
so,
folder.. joe bloggs, sub folders vectors, captures.if the customer has more than one job on the go, or provides repeat work, then in the main folder, wll be a sub folder for each job, and then that job folder has a vector and capture sub folder,
so,
folder… joe bloggs, sub folder.. van….sub folders vect and capt
sub folder…shop…sub folders vect and capt.simple !
i also have, within ‘customer designs’, one folder called jobs jobbed (for a record of previous work), jobs in limbo (for quotes given but when no work has been carried out) and jobs unlikely to be jobbed (for those you’re pretty sure are timewasters, but i keep the artwork just incase!)
re my artwork vector files,
if i’m doing a van, for eg. i’ll usually have all three sides on one open page, once the design is finished and approved, i copy paste it, and lay it all out into it’s seperate colours, as economically or practically as possible, onto an oblong representing a length of vinyl sheet, that way all the ‘same’ colours are cut together with the minimum of waste,
sounds long winded, but real quick !
-
my way is really easy 😀
job comes in place it on an order pad…do the job type out invoice and file order form away catogorised in months, then save job to floppy or cd-rom under company name, file it away all done 😀 i actually remember every job i have done 😀nik
-
I’m similar to you Nik….. I remember every job … usually what vinyl I’ve used etc too. Sad eh. I keep all my info on my invoices and also on my file where i’ve designed it.
-
quote Marcella:usually what vinyl I’ve used etc too. Sad eh.
yeh i know me too…ed cant get his head round that one, must be a female signmakers gift 😉
nik
-
quote :i actually remember every job i have done
Yes Nic/Marcella easy to remember the first few, wait till you get 10 jobs or more under your belt then you might start losing track 😀 😀 😀
John
-
lol ! i always remember the job’s / customers, guess i’ve done less than a hundred jobs since going self employed, but i can easily recall them when i speak to the customer, or need to pinch a bit of artwork for another design !
re the vinyl used etc, i rearely write down the type of vinyl used (unless different to usual), but always write the colours used, and often the price quoted, i’m runnish at paperwork, so i find it easier to keep all details in one place !
-
We have a main sales file in there are sub folders of each client and within those are each job ….. more or less similar to what John does.
In each design/job file we keep a note of the font used, vinyl range and colour … for future reference.
Like Marcella and Nik I too remember most jobs, colours, etc … its definitely a woman thing 😉 😛
-
quote John Harding:quote :i actually remember every job i have done
Yes Nic/Marcella easy to remember the first few, wait till you get 10 jobs or more under your belt then you might start losing track 😀 😀 😀
John
never still remember my first one 22 years ago john 😉
nik
-
quote John Harding:quote :i actually remember every job i have done
Yes Nic/Marcella easy to remember the first few, wait till you get 10 jobs or more under your belt then you might start losing track 😀 😀 😀
John
13 years worth and i remember most of them John! Can’t remember what i did yesterday tho … 😕 but ask me about a job 4 years ago and I remember 😀
-
Me too Marcella. I remember all my clients, and nearly every job, just have a hard time remembering fonts for some reason.
-
we have 4 computers on network. jobs are entered on an excel file where we track progress (like "quoted 2nd April") and rough job details. When its ready to fit we highlight it in yellow, so at a glance we can see all current jobs and which need next action, with a column for date required etc.
Thing is though, emails with artwork come in on 1 machine, then have to send it to another for printing or the second one for cutting etc.
BACKUPS are so important – I copy all info on to laptop which I take home each day, then every week or 2 copy all that on to a portable hard disk.
We keep 1 folder for all images, 1 for all logos, one for all cutting jobs alpha by year 2005, 2006……..and one for all printing jobs.
It can be tricky, but after I lost some data on a clapped out laptop 2 years ago I’m really careful now! -
well there is another heart to our system, is Small Business Server… we use it to deploy a company calendar for our Workshop dept, Graphics dept and meetings with people. It’s Outlook connected together with cleverness… we actually email the chap sat next to me, sounds sad but has become the way of the workflow…
Our next move is to upgrade to the latest Small Business server 2003 and use Mobile services, so we can see our schedules while we are on the move.
The problem with Excel is if User1 has the same spread sheet open it will be readonly and they cannot update it if u leave the file open. Excel is good but not perfect. We use Excel for our Pricing side.
Backups of Raid networks are important… just look back at some of my posts and u see what I have been through… if you loose your graphics data you could get sued from companies that you have ‘branded’ their logo/style, so you have to consider your data seriously, do not leave it on a harddrive WITHOUT backup, if you loose your clients data then it will be your darkest hour!
-
I agree Dave.
I have one machine on our network that is soley a backup unit.
Each other machine backs up to it each week, or sooner if we have important files.
I have an automated system that will backup new files from the last backup, with one keystroke on the desktop.
Lost a heap of work a few years back, and with 6 gig of artwork now, I come out in a cold sweat at the thought of it.
Every year, December usually, I backup old work that has not been accessed for 24 months, on to dvd then I remove it to make space on my hard drives.
-
I do all of my quotes, designs and emails on one pc and when a job is confirmed and ready to cut it then gets transferred to my main pc and then saved in a jobs folder and then in a sub folder under the month that is done in. I suppose having individual client folders depends on how many regular customers you have. I do keep my regular customers jobs in their own folders as well as in the month folders so that I can cross refernce them. Quite often one of my regular customers will ring and say " do you remember that job you did for us last year in May?" this way I can just go straight to the month folder and retrieve the job. Not foolproof but I havent lost a job yet!
It’s def a woman thing as I can remember every job Ive done and the vinyl I used :lol1:
Log in to reply.
