One thing to consider when automating direct-to-press or plate workflows is to include a maintenance program to keep things running smoothly. At first, while the system is being monitored to work out any issues, everything is kept clean and tidy. When the workflow begins to stand on its own, it is not being monitored as closely and that is when a good maintenance plan pays off.
It’s a good idea to browse through the temporary folders used by your software to ensure that they are being cleaned up. When you are creating, testing and implementing a workflow that will eventually run by itself, you need to do something that makes sure the temporary files, errors and invisible files are cleaned up – you often restart the software or even the entire server. Once the flows are running successfully, you may have no reason to restart your software and it can run for days, weeks or even months without requiring any attention. Scheduled maintenance is required at this stage and you will be glad you planned for it when building your system. Your maintenance plan can be developed in parallel with the design of your workflow automation.
Some examples may include an automatic FTP download system that copies files easily to a server or raid. The FTP software can be set to remove files from the FTP site to save manual cleaning of the server. It can create folders on the raid and email the receipt of files. Failed FTP attempts may not get noticed as the software will keep trying until it gets it right. If FTP software is installed on a system drive, it could be saving failed FTP tries into a temporary folder. Over time, they can build up and eventually fill the smaller system drive, halting a previously successful workflow.
Automatic workflow software like LightSWITCH and FullSWITCH provide tools like recycle bins to toss unwanted files when the software is finished using it. These tools give you the option to use a system recycle bin instead of a straight delete. This sounds good at first, but if the trash does not get emptied and your excellent workflow is running unattended for days, weeks or months without anyone manually emptying the trash, the result is a full system hard drive again.
Another area where files can pile up is in “automanaged” folders. Often, these are on the system drive so you don’t want this choice for creating a backup of what is running or a holding area for live jobs. Failed files end up in these types of automanaged folders as well, so cleaning up the failed files manually should be part of the maintenance plan.
It may not seem necessary at the start when you are working out errors, but a scheduled restart of the software is an excellent beginning to a maintenance plan. Couple it with a full system backup. Pick a time frame, like every month or every two weeks, depending on the load you are running.
Create an applescript to check on your temporary folders or use a system utility to patrol for space wasters. The easiest way is to create a bunch of shortcuts or aliases of the temporary folders as you find them and place them in a maintenance folder. Just launch them during scheduled clean up and inspect – no scripting required.
When we start to implement automatic workflows, we are excited when the system runs by itself for days at a time and are ecstatic that we haven’t had a failed job in a month. Whether your automation system runs on a Mac or a PC, a maintenance plan will be required to keep everything running beyond this. Restart, backup and clean up – three steps to ensure your automated systems keep running.
