Comments on: Are you a printing procrastinator?

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 19:01:26 +0000

Rush charges, by whatever name, are part of life. If we have to pay someone overtime to get an extra order out in a hurry, the cost needs to be shared. FedEx charges more for NDA than for 3-day.

It’s important that they not be abusive, though.

By: Alicia Watts

Alicia Watts — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:29:31 +0000

Thanks! I think this will help us a great deal.

I have one more question…what is your stance on rush charges? We’ve been throwing the idea around for a week or so but I thought it might be a good idea to get some insight from an outside source.

Thanks for all your help!

By: Andrew

Andrew — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 18:26:20 +0000

Hi Alicia,
Here at PFL we get dozens of rush orders daily mixed into our hundreds of total orders. We handle them (with virtually no late deliveries) by having good information systems that lets us keep track of everything, and make sure that we don’t lose track of an order for a month.

A simple place to start would be an Excel spreadsheet where you list each job you have to do design work on, along with your estimated time to be spent, and a target completion date. Then, make sure you carve out the time (maybe early in the day?) to knock off the smaller jobs during breaks on the big ones.

Hope this helps!

By: Alicia Watts

Alicia Watts — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:48:24 +0000

I just read this post and saw my whole work week flash before my eyes. I am a graphic designer (1 of 2 designers) and we deal with rush jobs all the time. Well, 95% of our jobs are “rush” jobs…mainly because customers will wait until the very last minute to bring their order in (i.e. giving us a week to set-up & design a 20-page book, distribute a proof, and print within a week). We are very big on customer service and I deal with clients on a daily basis. I’m pretty much one of the first faces they see when they walk in to place an order.

Now, I agree with you that smaller, less-time consuming jobs can be pushed back a few days but what happens when you get put on rush job after rush job after rush job and, before you know it, that small job that came in a month ago hasn’t received their order? I feel horrible for the clients when this happens. We’re a local print shop in NC and a good deal of our advertising is word-of-mouth.

We have been brainstorming ideas for trying to organize the sequence that design & print jobs get done. I’m pretty much drawing a blank for that one. Do you have any organization tips to help us get these jobs out faster without sacrificing the quality of the designs?

Thank you!