Online estimating and workflow

Mayday Fine Print realized that its manual estimating system wasn’t doing them much good. “We were doing a lot of jobs, but we weren’t making much profit,” says Rick Day of Mayday Fine Print of Fredericton, New Brunswick.

“We kept hearing ‘you guys are so much cheaper than anybody else.’ Eventually, we put two and two together.”

Putting “two and two together” meant taking a long, hard look at their manual estimating system and at the market rates in Fredericton for the kinds of services they provided. Two years ago, they purchased the Power Quotes estimating system from Mac Estimating, and determined their real costs. Their prices went up a little, but they mostly got more efficient at producing better quotes and tracking the progress of jobs through the shop.

Estimating software is not new; what is new is that today’s systems are driven more by print customers. Power Quotes allows print customers to send their job specifications via an Internet form or e-mail. The software captures the specifications, calculates costs according to the printer’s information, marks them up according to the printer’s wishes, and sends back a price estimate, all with minimum, if any, human intervention from the printer. The better systems use the same specifications to create an electronic job jacket or job ticket when the customer approves the quote or requests that the printer move the job from “quoting” status to production.

Estimating software such as Print Quotes, Power Quotes, Smart Quotes and The Printing Estimator also allow the printer to set up a web page with a form where potential customers can enter their job specifications; the estimating software captures the data, calculates the estimate and can either display the quotation right within the web page, or send an e-mail to the potential customer. The advantage of the latter method is that the printer then has a record of the quote requester’s e-mail address, and, if they’re smart, other contact information as well.

The main benefit to the printer of any estimating system is, of course, a reduced workload for skilled estimators, and faster quotes. Instant, online quotes allow the printer to give the potential customer accurate prices for every imaginable variation in the printing specifications — number of colours, signatures, even pages, as well as different quantities, even page sizes or formats and stocks. Customers can vary the format of their print job to their hearts’ content, without affecting the workload on the printer, until they settle on the best configuration for their needs. Instant quotes are not available from all estimating programs, but they are available with Print Quotes.

Automated estimating also frees printers from spurious, time-wasting quotes from buyers who are only looking for a comparative quote, buyers who actually have no intention of going to a new printer.

Better estimating systems tie into the overall production and management system by capturing the printing specifications and turning them into data for the workflow system. Software like Print Quotes, Smart Quotes and Power Quote feed information directly into the workflow system. When a customer accepts a quote and requests the printer to start production, the software can move the specifications from the quote into an electronic job ticket; some systems can even create job jackets. Print Quotes has extensive workflow management capabilities: it will create a job ticket, notify production people about new jobs, and track jobs through production. In addition to displaying real prices online for the customer, the web portal also allows the customer to upload files, approve proofs and track job progress. It even allows billing (using QuickBooks for the accounting procedures) and online payment.

Interestingly, there has been a direct line drawn between estimating software and profitability. “PrintImage’s [the National Association of Quick Printers] pricing book found that companies that use estimating software to create quotes average more than $475,000 more in sales than companies that generate quotes using manual systems or price-book systems,” says Bruce Moore, President of Mac Estimating, the developers of the Power Quote software. “A lot of that is because they’re able to do more business, because they can send out quotes more quickly.

“One of the biggest reasons to purchase our software is its marketing potential,” says Chris Lasso, president of Print-Quotes Software Inc. “Advertising instant on-line estimates, anytime from anywhere, creates an instant advantage over the competition and quickly helps to establish any company as a leader in today’s market. “ Lasso says that many of Print-Quotes’ customers have seen sales increase dramatically after offering automated on-line estimating.

The cost is greater than the price
Instant, automated print estimating software isn’t cheap: The purchase costs are in the thousands, depending on the number of people who will use it (called “licences” or “seats” in the business), and then there’s the cost to install it, customize it to work in the particular printing operation, and then train the estimators to use the software efficiently.

Because every print shop is different, every print estimating program has to be customized to some extent. First, there’s the exact range of services that the company provides, based largely on its investment in capital equipment: number, size and type of presses, folders, stitchers, cutters, bindery equipment, prepress equipment and more.

To make it work, the printing manager has to know the real costs of the shop and of running each piece of equipment. While this would seem to be a given for any printer with any manual or book-based estimating system, it’s true that many shops rely on “gut feel” and the “going rate” in the industry.

Even with a solid understanding of the market prices for various services and the operating costs of all the equipment, getting started with estimating software can be daunting.  “We looked into estimating software for our system, and most of them are so expensive that you really have think twice before you buy it. Will it really work well in our organization, or will we have to switch the way we work to fit the software?” wonders Neeraj Gupta, Marketing Manager with Millennium Printing of Markham, outside Toronto. “And frankly, with some systems, the estimator has to enter so many numbers to generate the ‘automatic’ quote, it’s just as fast or faster to do the estimate manually.”

Not all printers like to put out great numbers of instant quotes; many like to maintain a personal touch. And a request for a quote is a terrific opportunity to speak with a potential new customer, to impress him or her with your customer service, attention to detail and depth of technical knowledge. Instant quoting systems are far more anonymous, and can represent a certain loss of control over the procedure of quoting on potential print jobs.

In fact, there is a trade-off: instant quoting software reduces the time that printers spend producing quotes for printing jobs that probably will  never materialize, but free up the staff for more profitable work. And Rick Day points out that Mayday Fine Print has been able to secure more printing work, partly as a result of being able to produce quotes more efficiently.

Mid-size printers buy in
So, who is using off-the-shelf print estimating software and online print estimating systems? Not surprisingly, it’s the mid-size printers. The largest companies have the resources
to build their own estimating software that meets their own specific needs, and, given the price, the smallest printers seem reluctant to change from manual estimating methods.

“A lot of our new customers and enquiries are people who are still using manual systems,” says Bruce Moore of Power Quote.
Canada’s biggest printers don’t offer an online estimating system. Quebecor World’s website asks visitors to fill out an online form and describe their print job, without asking for any particular specifications, even quantity or paper stock. The potential customer will receive a phone-call or e-mail in response.

Transcontinental Printing’s website doesn’t even offer an apparent method to ask for quotes on particular printing jobs; it encourages potential customers to call the appropriate Transcontinental division to enquire about services and prices.

St. Joseph’s Printing, another of Canada’s largest printers, likewise doesn’t offer instant or online quotes. The website encourages potential customers to call key managers, identified by name and full contact information, for more information.

(Of course, the biggest printers don’t sell on price: they sell a working relationship, within which the printer provides value in terms of not the cheapest printing, but the most effective.)

Companies that offer online or instant estimating features tend to be the mid-size printers. Some examples are Point One Graphics of Toronto, and trade printer The Print Machine of Burlington, Ontario. Both of these companies use PrintQuotes software, and both ask the visitor to log in with a user name and password; after that’s approved, they’re able to enter printing specifications and receive an instant quote, generated by PrintQuotes software.

“Print Quotes reduces the number of hours we spend in writing quotes,” says Dennis Low, President of Point One Graphics. “The tracking functions really make us more efficient, for a very reasonable cost.”

Power Quotes software works in a very similar way: through a printing company’s Web site, customers and potential customers enter printing specifications and see a total price at the end.

Extending quotes to ERP/ERM
“We were looking for a way to cut the length of time it took us to work on job quotes when we discovered PRINT QUOTES 3 years ago.” says Rais Khan, President of Print Machine, “We were one of the early adopters of the software. The company (Print Quote) customized it to suit our needs.”

“Our customers are able to go on-line and receive an instant quote. The customer service and sales departments can also see the information sent by the customers”.

Print Machine uses PRINT QUOTES’ ERM/ERP features to the company’s full advantage. From an estimated customer quote to a virtual order, generating a job ticket as part of the process. Moving the job from the Front Office to the Production queue, along the way updating inventory lists as paper and other supplies get used for the job. It also updates the accounting system (QuickBook) in real-time.

“Not only can our customers get their quotes on line, but they can log-in to track the progress of their job, whether it is on press or in-bindery. They now feel that they are part of the process. We are quite happy with our investment in Print Quote software.” “It has streamlined our operation more efficiently and allowed us to grow in the market-place. We are also pleased with the support we have received from the software manufacturer and would have no difficulty recommending it to other printers.”

A starting point for automated workflow
Even without all the custom programming, a good estimating system does more than just generate quotes: it can give a smaller printer a marketing edge, effectively multiplying the ability of its staff to deliver the key marketing tool of an estimate to a much wider audience. And by capturing production data in a consistent electronic format, it forms the beginning of a workflow automation system whether based on JDF or not. For many printers, the automated estimating system is the start of a journey to the leading edge of print production management.

“Our (Power Quotes) estimating system has made the estimating process six to eight times more efficient for us,” says Rick Day of Mayday Fine Print. “When I open the quote sheet, the software shows the paper stock, which press is most efficient, how many up to run it. The system really helps with organization and keeps the job history accurate, as well.”