| Dear Friends and PrintSmith Users.
I had quite a few emails on asking me to further explain COSTING in PrintSmith. This issue is dedicated to COSTING and also TRACKER.
I hope this answers everyone's questions.
As always, please contact me via email or phone if you have any other questions and if you want to set up a training session or an upgrade visit so that you too can use COSTING and TRACKER and SCHEDULER.
Thanks again for all of your support.
Enjoy my newsletter! |
| Costing |
 COSTING in PrintSmith is used to see what your actual costs are in any given job. You can see that the letterheads costs $176.94, which includes paper and all the press time associated with the job (set up/run time/wash up/etc.). These numbers all come from the press definitions set up.
Setting up COSTING is critical in running your business profitably. As you can see, the cutting charge cost ($8.33) is greater than one is charging ($5.50). The cost is calculated by an hourly rate and by how many "cuts" can be done in an hour. In this example, the user is actually losing money in this department. I actually find this to be common when I set up COSTING for users.
Once COSTING is set up correctly, you can see your gross profit. Here is where you can make an educated decision if you have to match a price or if you have to discount to get the order.
Without COSTING in place, how can you effectively manager your business?
Some users actually pay their sales reps a percentage on the PROFIT of the job, not on the total sales price. With COSTING correctly in place, this can be easily calculated. Why pay a commission on your costs? It is much easier to pay on the profit of each job!
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Tracker |
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Once COSTING is set up correctly, TRACKER can easily be set up. TRACKER will "track" the actual costs vs. the estimated costs.
The estimated costs are what PrintSmith calculates the job will cost based upon how long each operation will take to complete. The actual cost is calculated on exactly how long it takes to complete. This is accomplished with bar code readers or using TRACKER manually. You will hit START/PAUSE/STOP to track the actual time. You will also have the ability to over ride these numbers in case you needed extra plates or it took longer for some other reason (paper curl, etc).
Once you have the ACTUAL vs the ESTIMATED costs, then you can make decisions on if you have to raise prices or work more effectively. Also these numbers help to schedule the jobs better. You can manually schedule or you can use the new modular, SCHEDULER. |
| My Visit |
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My visit to see you and update your PrintSmith can include setting up COSTING and TRACKER and SCHEDULER.
It also will be tailored to your ACTUAL needs. If you are a new user, then setting up PrintSmith is critical to it's operation. If you are an experienced user, then modifying PrintSmith is critical as well.
Please call or email me and I can explain how my visit will be best used so that you can maximize your PrintSmith use!
With all of my visits, I include UNLIMITED support after I leave. There is no time frame for my UNLIMITED support and I will happily support ANY version of PrintSmith.
REMEMBER -- I do sell the bar code readers and a discount (less expensive than others sell them for). Also, my bar code readers are guaranteed to work with PrintSmith!! |
