I can do that, too. What we were thinking of is creating a small HTML form to put in an email template for internal use rather than have a PDF attachment. I'd give it one week until a preflighting PDF accidentally got sent to a customer instead of the PDF proof. This is almost getting too complicated and I'm wondering about the usefulness of a preflight checklist. I mean, if a file has major issues I'm going to know right away and it will get kicked back to the CSR until I'm either asked to fix it or have the customer fix it.

I think it would be easier/faster to just staple a mini preflight checklist to the back of each job ticket. A 4.25x5.5 piece of paper would be big enough. Our CSRs are not technologically advanced so I'm leery about this whole email system they want to set up.

I once proposed this "ticket" idea to my old boss, but I never really sold him on the idea.

Tried to remove the old one (low res - can' really read it) and upload a new one, but my browser just spun and spun... here's the pdf for better review

We used to have a separate preflight person but we found that in a lot of cases it was redundant to preflight the job, then pass it on to someone else. So now our workflow works like this:
Docket goes into the prepress lineup and is preflighted AND ripped if it passes. At this stage we also generate a proof pdf from Prinergy for the client. If the job passes preflight it goes to planning, then when it is planned it comes back to prepress to be proofed. Digital work is pretty much planned in Prepress unless it is some kind of custom stock.
So we actually have 2 lineups, one for preflight/prepping files and another for proofing.
If the job fails preflight we fill in the pdf form and email to the CSR who then passes it onto the client. We have a limit of edits that we do and that is 2 units (12 minutes). Anything more than that and the job gets bounced back to the CSR and they contact the client to decide whether we will do the fixes for extra $$ or if they want to do the fixes and send us new files.
We used to have the jobs go into planning but if they are busy and we are two we sometimes ended up failing a preflighted job 3 or 4 days after the customer sent the job in.

The problems I see having one workstation is:
1) What if you have more than one person who need access to that workstation NOW?
2) If you have clients like we do, then you have ones that insist on sending the files to the boss himself (or the salesman) and no one else. In other words, there are people who want to do it their way. Period.

Thanks, Rabid, for the info. I will look at your PDF on Monday.

Quote from: Syphon on June 04, 2010, 06:30:00 PMThe problems I see having one workstation is:
1) What if you have more than one person who need access to that workstation NOW?
2) If you have clients like we do, then you have ones that insist on sending the files to the boss himself (or the salesman) and no one else. In other words, there are people who want to do it their way. Period.

Syphon,

We have a small shop and there are only two CSRs, and only one of them does the bulk of orders/proofs. And it's not like one person can be hogging the one workstation for long. It's mainly for email exchange, downloading files, or sending off a proof to a customer.

Yes, we have clients exactly like your #2. My Bossman is not an email person and only checks his email if someone calls to tell him they sent him something. Otherwise it could sit for days unread. He has asked them to send mail directly to prepress, but you know how that goes.