Paper Work Orders

[ccleveland]

I recently had to make the move to a small town, and started working the local newspaper which is the only source for signs and large format out here.. They do not use any kind of digital job tracking software and seem very put back by the idea.. The way they are tracking and writing work orders is terrible I am wondering if anyone can share some examples of the paper work orders they use so I can start getting my own put together..

 

[Zac]

I've always made an 'updated' version of what everyone is already used to. I find it's easier to add small changes that help you individually versus trying to change the 'old' way all together at some shops. My biggest complaint was getting work orders with an actual due date or priority instead of labeling everything ASAP.

There's a ton of examples online but the best one is going to be catered to your specific needs in production. If you aren't getting enough detail, make a bigger section for them to elaborate. If you just need a yes or no answer for certain things, put a checkbox/list area. If you need an area for sketching, grid box.

Since they are reluctant to add any software, you could setup something free like Evernote to digitally manage your own workflow, at least on a basic level to show the concept, or maybe just more effective email communication or a Slack/FB messenger system could help.

 

[James Burke]

Whatever layout you use, it's helpful to color code your documents. I use green for work orders, pink for purchase orders to our vendors, and goldenrod for quotes.

In the event I need to track down a particular document from a stack of papers, I instantly know what to look for.

JB

 

[Pauly]

ask for feedback on the current system from the workers who use them.
ask whats 1 thing they'd like to see improved or added on.

See what feedback you get. make small changes.

A great digital system with out breaking bank would be something like monday.com or airtable. You just need to configure it yourself.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

Being a new employee at a small shop in a small town, I'd recommend sitting back, working, cashing your paycheck and not trying to change things. With a little more time you may come to find that they do things a certain way for a reason.

 

[gnubler]

Being a new employee at a small shop in a small town, I'd recommend sitting back, working, cashing your paycheck and not trying to change things. With a little more time you may come to find that they do things a certain way for a reason.

Agreed. I worked for a shop like this once. Probably the worst job I've ever had. The owner was old and would not change, everything I tried to implement she f'd up or ignored. I ended up just doing my own thing using Wunderlist or Trello on the computer, and a whiteboard on the wall that everyone could see.

 

[Stacey K]

You are in a tough spot. I think like Pauly says, small changes are a good idea. Best case scenario is if you make a couple small changes, other employees will make suggestions for additional changes.

Personally, in every job I've ever had I jumped in and made suggestions and changes and after a bit people see they are for the good and end up being supportive. Except the time I took a job over from a lady who was retiring. That didn't go so well. I had to continue using an adding machine with paper vs. just using Excel and auto sum LOL

Is there any way you could share what you are using with us if you cross out the business name? I'm sure we can all suggest some small changes and then we have an idea of your starting point.

 

[myront]

We use a fillable pdf form which is uploaded to trello.

 

[gnubler]

Brilliant. I might switch my work orders into form field PDF files. Handwriting is getting more insane by the day and I pity anyone who ever might have to deal with all my handwritten work orders.

 

[White Haus]

Can you not attach PDF's to posts? Tried uploading our editable PDF but won't work...so here are a couple different ones we've used over the years (JPGs attached)

 

[White Haus]

Brilliant. I might switch my work orders into form field PDF files. Handwriting is getting more insane by the day and I pity anyone who ever might have to deal with all my handwritten work orders.

It's super easy to do. We'll just create the layout in Corel/Composer/whatever then "Create Form" in Acrobat. You can probably have a functioning form in under an hour. (Takes a bit of time to set up fields/drop downs etc)

One thing I'm not sure if you can set it up to assign sequential order numbers etc....but I'm sure it's probably possible.

 

[Billct2]

Any system is only as good as the people who use it

 

[myront]

Brilliant. I might switch my work orders into form field PDF files. Handwriting is getting more insane by the day and I pity anyone who ever might have to deal with all my handwritten work orders.

I suggested that our sales staff use an iPad or tablet with stylus to fill the workorders on the fly but it got shot down. They just jot down all the info on the paper copy then transfer it all using the form as time permits. They can just give it to anybody else to drop in trello if/when they get backlogged.

 

[Pauly]

I suggested that our sales staff use an iPad or tablet with stylus to fill the workorders on the fly but it got shot down. They just jot down all the info on the paper copy then transfer it all using the form as time permits. They can just give it to anybody else to drop in trello if/when they get backlogged.

id also go against that.

Since you use trello, id probably wouldn't use that PDF. I'd have it all put into trello. pretty sure you can have custom input fields so you can fill everything out in the right spot (if i remember correctly)
If not, there's better software than Trello that can do exactly that. like airtable, or monday.com.

 

[myront]

...there's better software than Trello that can do exactly that. like airtable, or monday.com.

Yeah, the owner purchased Cyrious over 2 years ago but have not implemented it yet. My wife uses Airtable for her remote job, it does sound a lot like trello. I'll have to look into using a workorder from within trello somehow.

 

[JBurton]

Yeah, the owner purchased Cyrious over 2 years ago but have not implemented it yet

Why'd they choose that one over the others. We are currently gearing up (stoopid f*cking slowly) to move to squarecoil. I forget what the other other piece of software we considered was, but I think squarecoil would do payroll, which was a 'big deal' for our accountant.

 

[RabidOne]

Why'd they choose that one over the others. We are currently gearing up (stoopid f*cking slowly) to move to squarecoil. I forget what the other other piece of software we considered was, but I think squarecoil would do payroll, which was a 'big deal' for our accountant.

We use Squarecoil, switched over about a year ago. So far its pretty good.

 

[White Haus]

We use Squarecoil, switched over about a year ago. So far its pretty good.

Do you find it's more geared towards fabricating/channel letters etc or can it be customized for more of a large format print shop?

I checked it out and watched the demo. Looks pretty cool but it definitely came across as something more geared towards fab/install shops.

Cost is also kinda steep but I guess it pays for itself if it streamlines everything.

We've been using/evaluating Printlogic and from what I saw in the SquareCoil demo I prefer how Printlogic handles estimating - has a lot more automation and less guesswork.

 

[ccleveland]

Thank you for the responses and examples.. I was able to come up with something I think will work better for now.. We are quite limited on what can be done at the time..

Sign Vox was what I used previously and loved the simplicity of it but trying to convince a bunch of old stubborn printers is quite a feat..

 

[RabidOne]

Do you find it's more geared towards fabricating/channel letters etc or can it be customized for more of a large format print shop?

I checked it out and watched the demo. Looks pretty cool but it definitely came across as something more geared towards fab/install shops.

Cost is also kinda steep but I guess it pays for itself if it streamlines everything.

We've been using/evaluating Printlogic and from what I saw in the SquareCoil demo I prefer how Printlogic handles estimating - has a lot more automation and less guesswork.

In this shop we have a fab shop and do sign installation, maintenance and all that. But we also do a lot of wide format stuff: We have 6 designers that also are responsible for everything from quoting to billing their own work. We have 2 car bays and do a lot of wraps as well as every kind of non-electrical signage you can think of. When I got here the system was a mess, and while its not perfect now, it is way better than it was. So you should be able to customize it for what you need.