Overview

Paper Waste in Printer's Plan refers to the additional amount of paper needed during production to ensure the finished quantity meets customer expectations. Waste typically occurs during printing and finishing processes due to setup and running inefficiencies.

Info: Waste ensures jobs are deliverable without undercutting actual usage from press and finishing processes.

This guide explains the types of waste, how they are calculated, where they are applied, and how Printer's Plan uses Waste Tables and Difficulty Tables to assign and adjust waste dynamically by service type, paper type, or job condition.

How It Works

Waste in Printer's Plan is categorized into two components:

Setup Waste (Make-Ready): The number of sheets required to get the equipment ready before producing usable output.
Run Waste: A percentage of impressions or sheets added to account for production errors or jams.

Info: Waste is added by service types like presses or bindery tools. Use "No Waste" setting for services that do not affect paper usage.

Waste Options by Service Type

Printing Services (Offset & Digital)

--- No Paper Waste ---: No waste is added from this service.
Use Waste Table Row #1-19: Reads setup/run waste from the corresponding row in the Waste Table. Ideal for offset presses.
Use Paper’s Waste Properties: Calculates waste based on values assigned to the selected paper. Common for smaller presses or diverse paper types.
Use Following Waste Properties: Directly enter setup sheet count and run waste %. Recommended for digital printers.

Tip: Digital printers often perform best when configured with direct setup/run values instead of relying on shared tables.

Example:

Run Size Sheets = 1000 / 2 = 500
Run Waste = 500 * 1% = 5 sheets
Total Waste = 5 (setup) + 5 (run) = 10 Run Size Sheets

Paper Services

--- No Paper Waste ---: Used when printers handle waste independently.
Use Waste Table Row #1-19: Reads setup/run waste from a predefined Waste Table row.
Use Built-in Waste Formula: Legacy option for customers upgrading from older versions of Printer’s Plan.

Other Services (Bindery, Folding, etc.)

--- No Paper Waste ---: Does not add any waste.
Additional Paper Waste: Allows definition of setup waste (sheets) and run waste (%) for finishing steps like folding or scoring.

Warning: Other Services only affect waste if the primary digital printer's waste method allows it. Otherwise, their waste is ignored.

The Waste Table

The Waste Table allows dynamic waste percentages based on impression volume, helping scale waste more accurately and competitively across quantities.

Fields:

Row #: Identifies the row referenced by services or papers.
Setup (sheets): Setup waste value—offset = per plate; digital = per paper.
% (columns): Impression thresholds with interpolated percentages between breakpoints.
Waste Limit: Limits the max waste contribution from "Other" category services (not printers).

Example: If 7,500 impressions are run, the waste % might interpolate between 5.1% and 3.9% using linear scaling.

Adjustments for Paper & Job Difficulty

Paper Difficulty Table

Each press may have a Paper Difficulty Table that adjusts waste based on the Waste Table Row assigned to the paper used.

Example: Paper Z (Row #2) triggers a +4 sheet and +1% adjustment when run on Press A. These are added to the Waste Table baseline values.

Job Difficulty Table

Further waste adjustments can be made based on job conditions:

Run Size
Coverage
Registration
Bleed
Second Side Printing

Tip: Difficulty settings stack with Waste Table logic and help refine accuracy for large or complex jobs.

These are configured in the Job Difficulty Table of the press. The added sheets are per plate and stack with any Paper Difficulty waste.

Key Points

Waste is a combination of setup sheets and run waste %.
Only certain services contribute to paper waste depending on configuration.
The Waste Table allows scaled waste by impression volume.
Difficulty Tables let you fine-tune waste by paper type or job condition.
Always review the Quantity Detail window to verify how waste impacts final sheet counts.

Demonstration

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