This guide will explain what information is needed to set up an offset press in Printer's Plan. 

By default Printer's Plan has a 'Printing' department with 3 categories:

• Plates
• Small Press
• Large Press

Plates

Offset presses in Printer's Plan require plates to be set up. Each press is assigned a default plate. For this example, we will use the default 'Metal' plate. Plate services are set up similar to material services such as paper. Highlighted below are the fields in the service window that the plates should use. 

1. Service name - Enter the name of the plate.
2. Sales Department -  This is assigned to Plate by default.
3. Quantity - This is set to Plate by default as well. This applies special properties to this service for calculations.
4. Cost - This is set to Material Cost Only. Similar to paper services this is also considered a material.  
5. Price - The default setting is Cost + Markup for plates. This takes your costs and applies a percentage of markup.
   • Markup - Apply a Markup Table entry (1 - 19) or a percentage (20 and up). 
   • Adjust... - This is where price levels for your bid, Rush and Special pricing are set and the drop-down beside it establishes the method (Multiply Markup or Price).
6. Run Table - This is where you establish your quantity breaks and the cost for that quantity. 
   • QtyBreak - Set this to 1
   • Mat. Cost - This will be the cost PER PLATE. 
   • Mat. Costs And Run Prices Are - This is set to 'Per Each' and is how the QtyBreak is established. 

Offset Presses

The plates should be set up before the presses because the plates will be assigned to the presses in the setup process.

Setup Types

There are multiple ways to set up offset presses in Printer's Plan. It will be important to decide how to track waste for each offset press. There are several options available. The options available are:

The two main types of configurations are based around the time cost calculations. The 'Time' field can be set to either use paper properties or ignore paper properties. 

Uses Paper Properties + Setup Table - This option allows for the press to have its setup time per plate and run speed adjusted based on the paper being used. This is a more accurate setup but requires each paper service to contain the correct information.

Use Setup And Run Table (Ignores Paper Properties) - This option will require a generalized configuration for the offset press that can later be adjusted using the Difficulty Table. See the Difficulty Table documentation for more information.

Press Size

These categories are configured by default for convenience and separate the press sizes.

• Small Press - 1 or 2 colors per pass. 
• Large Press - 4 or 5 colors per pass.

Setting Up A Press

Below is an example of an offset press. Based on your specific selections, some options may not be available. The example below shows example information and not necessarily recommendations.

1. General Properties
2. Waste & Time Properties
3. Cost & Price Properties
4. Setup & Run Table

1. General Properties

   • Service Name: Enter a name for your offset printer service
   • Invoice Name: An alternative name can be displayed on invoices for this service.
   • Popup Reminder: Information entered here will be displayed in an alert when adding this service to an order or quote. 
   • Default Note: This text will display on the work order when this service is added. 
   • Colors/Side - This is where you choose how many colors are printed per pass and how many sides can be printed at once. A press that can run 4 colors per pass on a single side will be set to 4/0 and a press that can print both sides at once will be set to 4/4. 
   • Default Plate - This is where you apply default plate pricing for this printer based on the plates set up earlier in this process. 

2. Waste & Time Properties

   1. Waste... - Here you will typically have this set to 'Use Paper's Waste Properties' and the waste established for each paper will be used. 
   2. Time... - This option determines whether or not the Setup & Run table will be used or if the paper properties (with setup table) will be used.

3. Cost & Price Properties

   1. Cost - The cost field is how you establish this machine's costs. In this example, it is set to 'Time Cost Only'. For a 'Time Cost Only' setup the basic inks are built into the time cost for the machine. Alternatively, you can capture the material costs by setting Costs to 'Time + Material' and entering the ink cost per impression.
   2. Price - The price is how the customer gets charged based on the service setup. The options available are to use cost + markup, a price table or use price column of setup and run-table. 

4. Setup & Run Table

   • Setup Table - This allows additional time to be added to the job based on specific needs such as Plate changes, washes, and mixes.

     • Per - This is the field where you select the type of setup for adding additional time. There are several options that encompass various setup types.
     • Minutes - Enter the amount of time per each row to add that setup time to the run time of the service.
     • Cost - Here (if the configuration allows) enter the cost associated with the setup. 
     • Price - The setup value-added can add the price entered here to the overall service.

   • Run Table - If your setup configuration is using this information certain fields will either be available or unavailable to enter data. The Run table can have multiple quantity breaks if the printer changes the speed at different impression counts. The example above shows an increase in speed for larger jobs. 

     • QtyBreak - Here select your quantity. This is used in association with the 'Mat. Costs And Run Prices Are' field to establish a per each, per thousand or total value. 
     • Units/Hour - This is the speed that the machine can run. Units are always based on the quantity value (Which here are impressions).
     • Mat. Cost - This field is only available if the 'Cost' field is set to 'Time + Material or Material Cost Only'. This field allows for tracking material costs associated with the service. 
     • Run Price - If this field is available you have your 'Price' field set to 'Use Price Column Of Setup & Run Table.' Here you enter your price for the service. This field should not be available in a traditional offset press setup. 

References

Plates

Paper Waste 

Difficulty Table

Offset Press