Print Vendor FAQs

Seradex offers a powerful and complete ERP software for the Printing Industry. The following links will hopefully address common questions you may have. If we are missing anything please let us know.

1. Estimating and Job Costing

Does data entered into the estimating system flow into the actual job costing system?
Can the system provide cost, margin and sales data in a format consistent with an ABC system and display a job's estimated margin on both a "direct/variable" margin basis (out of pocket) and a fully costed basis (all inclusive cost)?
Can the estimating system include both a BHR (for direct labor press dept. costs only), and indirect/overhead labor costs on a direct job allocation basis, which is not based on actual hours and a labor rate?
Does the system allow "mark-ups" at several different levels of cost, such as on paper, "out of pocket" and "all inclusive costs"?
Can the format and cost elements shown on estimating system be identical to the format and cost elements displayed on actual job costing so an "apples-to-apples comparison between estimated and actual job costs can be made?
Can key data on job estimates be fed into a data base which will provide a "capture rate" analysis showing, for example, what percentage of long or short run quotes become "live jobs"? (See "Capture Rate Requirements")
Is the estimating system flexible enough so that key estimating assumptions can be revised over time based on actual job costing experience? Can we easily understand and revise the estimating system's supporting logic and equations in order to make these revisions to estimated cost assumptions?
Can the estimating system (and actual job costing system) provide different cost assumptions based on how much time/effort different customers require to service properly? (This could be used to allocate sales force and/or customer service expenses to different customers' jobs.) Also, can the system have different customers' jobs default to different mark-ups?
Does the estimating sheet format effectively include outsourced items? (See "Capture Rate Requirements")
Will invoicing an inventoried item automatically reduce the inventory and adjust the balance on hand?
Can we retrieve an old purchase order, duplicate it and give it a new number to avoid re entering similar data in the new order
Can reports must mimic paperwork that we are currently giving our customers?
When an estimate is created with various outsourced items, can it be revised when the order comes in to adjust for deletions or additions to that order
Eventually we want our Customers and Vendors to be able to look at the inventory. In the case of vendors, we would like them to be able to update the inventory but not have the update “post” until it’s approved by us
We may wish to adopt estimating and actual job costing systems that don't have individual BHR for each press. This would eliminate the problem of estimating a job on one press, then actually running the job on a more expensive press. Press department expenses would be "pooled" instead, with a common rate used for all 6-color jobs, for example, on both an estimated actual basis. Can the new estimating system handle this kind of "pooled" BHR costing?
We may wish to have customers enter job specs to our internet site and get quotes back from our sales people after they have "marked up" the job. Can the new estimating system handle this?
What's the relative ease and speed of data entry, versus other systems?

2. Actual Job Costing System

Can the actual job costing system accommodate an ABC system using both labor cost rates (BHR) and an estimated cost per order for departments such as customer service and estimating?
Can the actual job costing system provide actual margin on both an "out of pocket" and "all inclusive" basis, before and after mark-up?
Can the format for displaying an actual job's cost be made identical to the estimated job cost format?
Does the system have direct machine interface, allowing it to automatically measure and monitor machine speed, waste, etc.?
Does the system capture and display "actual" versus "estimated" costs, sales and profits for each job?
Does the system real time data on job completion status, especially completion status on press?
Does it accurately report actual outsourcing costs.
Can the system use certain estimated costs as "actual" cost and have these estimated costs automatically transferred to actual costing from the job cost estimate?
Can the system calculate sales commissions, based on actual job sales and margin by sales person?
Does the system interface easily with many inventory control/material usage systems, and shop floor collection systems?

3. Vendor Capabilities

Size, recent growth, years in business, number employees and financial stability/strength?
How will the software suppliers corporate culture mix with yours? Will the two companies work smoothly together based on a common culture?
What degree of printing industry knowledge do they have?
What have their references said about them, especially printing companies?
What human resources will they make available for training and system implementation and for how long?
Can they extract data out of our existing system and put it into their new system for us?
How qualified are the people who will work directly with us? Should we meet and evaluate them?
Does the vendor have a clear, well defined implementation timetable? What is it?
How often and how well can we expect the vendor to update his system after implementation?
How many of system modules ( such as CRM, inventory control , material usage, etc.) does this ERP system have?

4. Reporting Capabilities

How many of their "standard report" formats can we use? How many report formats do we have to make (customized).
Do they use crystal report writing, where we have some expertise, or a different report writing system we'd have to learn from scratch?
How flexible is the design of their estimating and actual job costing formats? Can they be revised easily to meet our desired formats?
Can reports be exported into other formats, such as Excel?

5. Accounting

General
Must have security at multiple levels
Elaborate Reporting capabilities.

6. Accounts Payable

Able to enter invoices "On Hold" while awaiting authorization.
Multiple people able to release Hold and then track person approving invoice.
E-mail list of invoices to appropriate person so they can approve.
Commission invoice automatically entered upon AR invoice payment.
Can choose multiple payment methods: Full amount due to Vendor, full invoice amount, partial invoice amount.
Can choose multiple Vendors for payment in same check run.
Apply cost to JCD (Job Cost Detail) from AP invoice
PO can be entered, received, turned into a Vendor invoice without double entry.
Can costs from a Vendor invoice go back onto a JCD for a job that is already invoiced and closed.

7. Accounts Receivable

Real Time Customer info changes. But changes made only in AR not on the fly in Order Entry or Job Production.
Credit Check at time of Order Entry, Quotes (above a certain $), Job Duping, Shipping (?) with ability to stop job at any point in process. (I.E. One customer may be allowed to go to Proof Stage, another may be allowed to be printed just not shipped, another may not be allowed to Enter a job)
Would like notifications of jobs accepted with certain customers, customers over credit limit, etc with authorization to accept only in certain instances. Customer status codes could be used to differentiate when authorization is needed.
Can handle deposits to account, partial payments, multiple payments, and multiple accounts from single check.
Real Time posting into AR from Billing Module.
Able to choose how long able to view or print a copy of an invoice.

8. Job Costing

Must be able to monitor real time processes as well as make adjustments where needed. (If a pressman forgets to clock out, etc.)
Must be able to track adjustments made and who made them. (& reason?)
Must tie into all other systems including Inventory, Data Collection, Receiving,
Commission automatically entered onto JCD at time of Invoicing not at time of AP invoice entry.

9. General Ledger

Subsidiary Ledgers must tie into G.L. with ease and accuracy. Is it batch process or is it real time?
Able to track budgets and compare on multiple levels.
Extensive reporting and comparison availability.
Able to report on partial months and partial years
Is the system Period specific or Date specific? Can it be user choice? (One entry may need to be filled by Date, another may need filled according to period even though the date is not in that period.)

FAQ's