Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for printing presses.
A checklist built from how printing presses work, to print or save as a PDF and bring to any supplier meeting.
What the software should cover
Tick each one that matters to your business.
- Estimates and job costing
- Proof and OK sheet record
- Job card and press schedule
- Paper and consumables stock
- Outside job work
- Repeat jobs and job history
- Delivery notes, billing and dues
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For owners
- For estimators and the counter
- For press and finishing operators
- For stores and dispatch
- For accounts
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Jobs in hand by stage, press and due date
- Estimates sent against estimates accepted, by customer
- Paper stock by size and GSM, with reams to reorder
- Machine booking and idle hours by press
- Lamination and binding pending return, by vendor
- Outstanding dues by school, publisher or trade customer
- Estimated sheets against sheets run for each job
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- SMS and email
- Payment link and gateway
- Accounting export
- Barcode or label printer
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Is this for offset presses or digital printers?
- Can it build an estimate for a brochure or a invoice book?
- Can customers approve proofs through the system?
- Does it track paper and plates?
- How is outside work handled?
- Is the press software linked to accounting software?
- Can open jobs and customer dues be moved across?
- Who owns the customer and job data?
- What does it cost?
- Is it too much for a small press with one machine?
- When will the counter be taking jobs in it?
- What should the press prepare before work starts?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- Estimates live in one head
- The machine runs the wrong proof
- Paper stock is a surprise
- Outside job work disappears
- Repeat jobs are re-estimated from scratch
Prefer to talk it through? See the printing presses page.