Job Master Window

Purpose & Function

The Job Master window is the central place to manage information for a "Print Job" in the P3 system. The Job Master contains 3 tab-panes containing General Info, Notes/History and Cost Data. Above the tab-panes there are a series of convenient work flow buttons that perform common tasks in the life-cycle of the print job. There are also extensive menus containing functions that affect the job and reports on the job.

A "Job" within P3 system can be defined as both a quote request and purchase of printed materials from a supplier.

NOTE: The quote request may have several suppliers associated with it, but the purchase is a single transaction with a single supplier. For repeat jobs, additional job records should be created (using the Copy Job function). If several printed items are being purchased from several suppliers for a common purpose, they should be associated together using a Project.

Job Master Menus & Work Flow Buttons

The Job Master window menus and Work Flow buttons are described in more details in these links.

• Managing Work Flow Buttons - Provide convenient access to the most used functions as the job moves through the Job Life-Cycle.
• Job Master Menus
• Print Job Reports

Just under the work flow buttons the "Job Owner" and "Job Savings" are listed for quick reference.

General Info Tab

The General Info tab-pane is displayed when the user opens up the Job Master, because it contains the most important pieces of job information the user will need. It is the heart and soul of the job. The General Info tab contains the job specifications and general management information.

Key Job Information

The left side of the **General Info **tab-pane contains 4 panels of information. Each panel has a separate page detailing its use and function. The links and short descriptions are listed below:

• Top Level Job Information - Key information for identifying and categorizing the job.

• Job Schedule Information - Controls for the creation and tracking of the production schedule. Can indicate Anticipated/Actual and Original Production Plan dates for Bids, Art, Proofs, and Delivery.

• Job Quantities Information - Controls for setting Quote Request quantities and viewing order information.

• Supplier Information - Keeps a list of the selected suppliers and contacts who were selected to bid on the job. Indicates which supplier was selected to produce the job.

Job Specs

The right-hand side of the General Info tab-pane contains the job specifications and controls for editing the Job Specifications. A "Specification Type" selector is positioned at the top of the specifications area. This selector drives the type and appearance of the specification controls below it. Further details on writing job specifications are handled on a separate page:

• Writing Job Specs

Notes/History Tab

This tab-pane is comprised of six separate panels each of which displays information about the history of the job. This panel was added to the Job Master in September 2009. Prior to that the Job Notes were located in a pop-up window launched from the Job Master window. The tab-pane location makes it more convenient to access the Job Notes and other information included on the panel.

Job Notes

This panel is an editable field where you can record any extra information about the job. This information is intended to be private and is not included on Job Orders or Quote Requests.

Job Rating

This panel includes a control for selecting a quality rating and a comments area for the rating. After a job is completed, you can rate the supplier on their performance for the job and note your reasons for the rating. These ratings are very useful when evaluating suppliers' performance. The job rating choices are Major Problem, Minor Problem, Met All Expectations, Exceeded Expectations, or Exellent. The reporting system will calculate an average performance for any jobs that have ratings (unrated jobs are not counted).

Job Savings

This panel calculates and displays savings information related to the job. This area allows users flexibility in making the savings calculation and to add notes and a classification to the savings. The classifications option list may be customized using the Enterprise List Manager.

The "Savings Calculation" is based on two numbers:

• "Benchmark Amount" - This allows the user to set what ammount will be compared. The options are Planned/Historical Cost, Average Bid, Highest Bid, or Other.
• "Actual Amount" - The Actual Ammont can be the Order Ammount, Job Costing Amount, or Other.

The Starting and Final amounts can be based on a variety of calculations depending on the situation.

The first step in the process is identifying the quantity ordered for the job. This will determine which bids to use to determine the "Starting Base Amount". If no order has been placed the savings calculation is based on the bids at the first quantity listed. If the order quantity is different than any of the bid quantities, the system attempts to use the Implied Price Calculator to determine bid amounts at the order quantity.

The system automatically calculates a starting price equal to the "Average Bid" received on the job. This is the best approximation of what a buyer would have paid had one of the suppliers been selected at random. Some organizations prefer to use the high bid for the "Highest Bid", so that option is available. The "Starting Base Amount" may also be manually entered as a "Planned/Historical Cost". This "Planned/Historical Cost" number may be based on an historical cost, budget amount or reflect an expected cost prior to making "an engineering" change to the job (e.g. changing trim size, paper weight or printing configuration). This allows the user to capture engineered savings in addition to the competitive bidding savings.

The "Actual Amount" also has some flexibility in the way it is determined. The system will automatically use the lowest bid amount if no order amount is recorded. If an "Order Amount" is recorded, then that amount will be used for the "Actual Amount". And if the user wishes to, they may select the "Job Costing Amount" amount, so that the savings calculation reflects exactly the amount paid. The "Actual Cost" amount comes from the Job Cost tracking for the job.

However the user elects to calculate the individual job savings, the Reporting System will total up and report the amount saved.

Job History

This panel shows a log of all the emails and other events in the history of the job. The history information was previously inserted in the Job Notes, but now it is recorded and stored separately.

NOTE:

• Older jobs will still have the history information in the Job Notes, but going forward the history will be logged separately.
• Ownership changes, job closing and job deactivation are now tracked in the Job History log.

Job Schedule

A new Job Schedule display has also been added. This lists all the jobs various dates from creation to completion. The dates are not editable through this interface, it is purely for reference.

Bid Performance

This panel displays the response time information for the Job's quote requests. The display shows the time that the RFQ was sent, the time a response was received on the P3Software server (or the time a price was entered manually) and the elapsed time between the events. The times are displayed relative to the user's local time zone. The underlying response time is stored in Eastern USA time, but is converted to local time for display and calculation of elapsed time.

Cost Data Tab

The Cost Data tab-pane is a tool for collecting information on the actual cost of a job after its production is complete. The tab-pane is divided into 3 sections that show information about the job cost:

• Purchase Order - This section displays a summary of the purchase order amount, quantity and other information. It is a convenient reference point when checking bills/invoices from the supplier.
• Invoices from Suppliers - The middle section captures and records invoice information from the supplier. The New Invoice, Insert Line and Delete Line functions make entering invoice information quick and easy.
• Payments - The bottom section captures data on payments to suppliers against the invoices recorded in the middle section.

The data captured on this tab-pane can be printed out on the individual job cost report or in aggregate through the P3 Reporting System.

Top Level Job Information

Purpose & Function

The panel in the upper left-hand corner of the General Information tab-pane in the Job Master window, contains the "Top Level" job information. That is, the key pieces of information used to identify and classify the job (e.g. job nane, job number, customer, status, etc.).

The September 2009, update included the addition of two additional "Job Type" fields for classifying your jobs. These fields are initially labeled "Print Type" and "Inventory Type", but are customizable. Both the field label and the option list can be customized to the needs of each Enterprise Group.

Top Level Information Fields

Job Number - Up to sixteen (16), alpha-numeric characters that are used to identify the job. This number may be automatically generated or input manually depending on the User's settings. See Job Numbering for more info. The Job Number appears in the subject line of all emails and reports related to the job. Duplicate job numbers are allowed, but not encouraged (a warning will pop-up if a duplicate is detected). Users should use a suffix if several jobs are meant to have the same job number.

Job Name - Up to thirty (30) alpha-numeric characters that you designate. The Job Name appears with the Job Number in the subject line of all emails and reports related to the job.

Customer - The Customer field identifies the customer (internal or external) associated with the job. The customer value may be typed in, selected from the drop list, or selected through the Search/Select button next to the option list field. The Search/Select button will open the Customer Manager in customer selection mode.

Item - The labeling of this field is customizable and may be different in your Enterprise Group. This field is intended to contain a code that identifies the item being produced under this job number. The Item List help page has a full discussion of the purpose of this field. The user may select an existing Item code off the drop list, type in a new Item code or click the Search/select button to pop-up the Item List Manager to search for and select an existing item code. The Item code is not required, but if selected, it will appear on the RFQ and Order documents.

Project/Proposal - This field identifies the Project that the job is associated with. The project record can associate several jobs together that are part of a "Project" for a particular customer. In addition to grouping jobs, the project record enables the creation of Proposal and Invoice documents for the customer. The Project value may be typed into the field or selected off the option list. After an initial selection is made, P3Source will prompt the user about creating a new Project record or adding it to a Project if an existing project with the same name is found. If the job is already part of a project and the value is changed, P3Source will synchronize that change with the Project record and any other jobs associated with the Project (changes to the Customer field will also be synchronized if the job is associated with a Project). The Open Project button to the right of the Project field will open the Project Manager window for the Project associated with the Job.

Print Type - The labeling of this field is customizable and may be different in your Enterprise Group. You may leave this field blank, type in a value, or select an item off the option list. Enterprise Administrators may modify the option list for this field using the List Manager on the Enterprise Settings window. Enterprise Administrators may also modify the labeling of this field from the Enterprise Settings window Configure menu / "Set Print Type Label" menu item.

Inventory Type - The labeling of this field is customizable and may be different in your Enterprise Group. You may leave this field blank, type in a value, or select an item off the option list. Enterprise Administrators may modify the option list for this field using the List Manager tab-pane on the Enterprise Settings window. Enterprise Administrators may also modify the labeling of this field from the Enterprise Settings window Configure menu / "Set Inventory Type Label" menu item.

Account Manager - The user is able to indicate who the Account Manager is for the Job.

Status - This indicates where a job is in the job cycle work flow. This field is one of the few non-editable option lists in the P3Source system. The user must select one of the options from the list. At various points in the production process the user will be prompted about automatically changing the Status. Enterprise Administrators may modify the job Status option list using the List Manager tab-pane / "Enterprise Job Status List" menu item on the Enterprise Settings window.

Active - The Active check box, when checked, indicates the job is in Active bidding production. This property of the job determines if it appears on the user's active Job List when they open the Job List or the Job Calendar. So, the user should deactivate jobs that they no longer wish to be on their active Job List. Typically, this should be done when a job is canceled or completed. When a job is deactivated, it may only be opened on a read only basis. Once de-activated and saved, the job may not be re-activated from the Job Master window. Instead, users must re-activate jobs from the Job List: Job Summary Panel.

Job Numbering

Overview

A primary way to identify a job (or quote) is by its Job Number. The Job Number can be up to 16 alpha-numeric characters. The Job Number field can be blank, and more than one job can have the same Job Number. Most users use the Job Number to uniquely identify jobs and because of this, P3 provides a mechanism to automatically create the Job Number for newly created jobs. For Enterprise users, there is a Shared Job Numbering mechanism available to automatically number new jobs using a shared number index.

Automatic Job Numbering

Automatic Job Numbering is a convenient way to automatically generate job numbers for new jobs. By default, Automatic Job Numbering is disabled. To enable it, click on the Global menu / "Enterprise Settings" menu item / Jobs & Projects tab / Adjust Automatic Numbering.

• To enable Automatic Job Numbering, click on the Use Automatic Job Numbering check box to make it checked.

• Index is the number of the next new job. This can be any number from zero to 10000000.

• Maximum Job Number Size drop list specifies the maximum number of characters a new Job Number can have. When the Fill to Max Size with Leading Zeros option is selected, the Job Number index will be padded on the left with zeros (0) to make the number of characters in the job number the max size.

The only two places a Job Number can be modified is when a copy of a job is being made or in the **Job Master **window of an open job. When Automatic Job Numbering is turned on, the Job Number field in the **Job Master **window is disabled so you cannot edit the Job Number. This is to prevent you from accidentally modifying the Job Number. In the event you do need to modify the automatically created number, and you have the appropriate user rights, you can click on the Edit button next to the field and edit the Job Number.

Shared Job Numbering

Shared Job Numbering is a convenient way to automatically generate job numbers for new jobs for all or selected users in an enterprise network. By default, Shared Job Numbering is disabled and you must enable it on a per-user basis.

To enable it, click on the Global menu / "Enterprise Settings" menu item / Jobs and Projects tab. You must be an Administrator user to enable users to Adjust Automatic Numbering.

To enable a user, double click on the user in the "Enterprise Users List" within the User Rights Tab of the Enterprise Settings Window. This will open up the Enterprise User Rights Editor window. At the bottom you will see a Job Numbering drop list. You can set the user to "Use Local File", "Shared Admin" or "Shared User". If a user is running P3Source when their settings are changed, they will need to exit and restart P3Source for the new settings to take effect.

• If a user is set to "Use Local File" (the default), his/her job numbering is completly under their control and makes no use of the shared mechanism.
• If a user is set to "Shared Admin", he/she controls the Shared Job Numbering settings while a "Shared User" can only set the Prefix for their job numbering.

Both the "Shared Admin" and the "Shared User" have Automatic Job Numbering enabled and it cannot be disabled. Once enabled, the user should visit their Settings, Papers and Utilities tab in My Settings to verify their settings. The user should see the following in the middle right part of the tab:

The Shared User can only change their Prefix and all the rest of the Auto Job Numbering settings are disabled.

The Shared Admin can change all the Auto Job Numbering settings. Once the settings are changed the Set button must be clicked to update the settings on the network.

If a Shared User needs to change the Job Number of a job, the Edit button on the Job Master screen will not be available. In order to change a Job Number, the job must be opened by an Admin who is also a Shared Job Numbering, Shared Admin.

Job Schedule Information

Job Schedule Panel

Job specifications include four date fields representing the four major milestones in the planning and production process: "Bids Due", "Art Ready", "Proofs Due", and "Delivery Due". These are important dates which can be tracked in the Job Calendar. Use the Calendar button to choose a date.

Once a job is ordered, the date scheme changes by removing the "Bids Due" date and displaying 2 sets of dates - "Anticipated/Actual" and "Production Plan". Changing either date will automatically be updated in the Job List and Calendar.

NOTE: The toggle button above the date field indicates whether the date is Anticipated or Actual. When the button is Actual, then the calendar button disappears.

Job Quantities Information

Quantities Panel

RFQ Info Tab

The system allows you to request pricing from one to 20 quantities on the RFQ Info tab on the Job Master window. It also allows you to Select Suppliers for the job.

RFQ Options Tab

The RFQ Options tab includes checkboxes for: Seal Bids Until Due Date/Time, Request "Supplier's Estimate Number", Request "Production Time Needed", or Request "Estimate Valid Until Date". It also includes an option to enter allowable Overs % and Unders %. If the count must be exact, indicate "0". Default Overs / Unders can be set in the Global menu / My Settings / User Settings tab and edited in the Job Master.

Selecting Job Bidders

Selecting bidders is the step taken after Entering Job Specifications in the Job Work Flow. The next step is Send RFQs.

Select Suppliers for a Job

When you click the Select Suppliers button on the Job Master window, a special version of the Supplier List window will pop-up. This screen has two functions. It allows you to:

1. Manage your permanent Suppliers. Adding, editing, and deleting suppliers on your permanent list. This function is described in the main Supplier List help page.
2. Select and manage the Suppliers for the job you are currently working on (listed under Bidders for Job).

The top half of the Suppliers List window appears and works much the same as the Suppliers List window that can be accessed from the Main P3Source Application Window. The bottom half of the Suppliers List window is titled Bidders for Job. It allows you to manage the suppliers selected for the job you are working on.

Adding a Supplier to a Job

To add a supplier from your permanent Suppliers List to the Bidders for Job list, simply click on (select) the supplier on the permanent list at the top of the page, then click the button in the lower lefthand corner of the screen labeled Add supplier above to job. This will add the supplier selected from the permanent Suppliers List to the Bidders for Job list. The supplier's information should then appear on the Bidders for Job list. The suppliers will also appear on the Suppliers Selected For This Job list on the Job Master window when you close the Select Suppliers window.

Deleting a Supplier from a Job

To delete a supplier from the Bidders for Job list, simply uncheck the supplier you want to delete from the Bidders for Job list in the Suppliers List window. The suppliers name will then be removed from the job record (but not the permanent list).