Thursday 27 January 2011

Create a design on ColorPoint Manager

Open the designs list. The ‘Add New’ button is below the list on the left. This will open a new blank detail view for the design. If you are creating a design that is similar to or a variation of an existing design it may be quicker to open the existing design and clone it using the ‘Clone Design’ button.

Fill in the details for the design as follows:

  1. Code: a unique code to identify this design, up to 25 characters long. If you try to enter a code that has already been used or that is too long, you will see an error outline in red around the text box.
  2. Name: a description of your design, up to 50 characters long. clip_image002
  3. Attributes may be used if estimations are enabled.
    1. Run Length: The total length of the print run in m (on metric systems). This attribute is not required, but may be added to provide a default value to any job using this design as a template.
    2. Web Width: The width of the print web in mm (on metric systems). This attribute is used as a default for any job using this design as a template and is required for estimations to work. clip_image004
  4. Items: The most important part of the design.
    1. Select formulas to add to the design from the drop down list. Typing into the list will filter the list if you have a large number of formulas.
    2. Click ‘Add Formula’ to add the selected formula to the design. It is quickest to add all the formulas required and then enter the usage factors and coverage values once they are all in the list together.
    3. Select a formula and click ‘Remove Formula’ to remove the formula from the design.
    4. Usage factor is prefilled by the selected cylinder (if a cylinder has been configured with a default usage factor). This value may be overridden if required.
    5. Coverage is the percentage of the surface area of this design that the formula will cover.
    6. Cylinder is the option cylinder to be used on press.
  5. Categories: assign any categories you need.
  6. Files: add any files for supporting information e.g. a .pdf document showing the design.
  7. Notes: it may be a good idea to make a note of why the design was added to the system or changed for future reference.
  8. Substrate: The default substrate for this design. This may be overridden in a job if required.

Save the design.

Friday 21 January 2011

Receive and track stock on ColorPoint Manager

Once you have the raw materials defined on the system, the next step is to receive stock of these materials. The cost of a batch is set from the cost of the raw material at the time of the stock receipt. It is essential to do this before any dispensing takes place to ensure that all dispenses are automatically allocated to the correct batches. If this is not done, reconciling dispenses with material batches can become complicated.

Open the Stock receipt view:

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1. Select the material to receive from the drop down list. Typing the first letter of the material will move the selection down the list to save scrolling on long lists.

2. Enter the number of packs or barrels to receive.

3. Enter the size of the packs or barrels. If you are receiving the same material in a number of different sized packs, enter the size of the most common pack here. You will be able to change it later.

4. Enter the supplier’s batch number for the materials. If more than one batch number is present in the delivery, enter the most commonly used on here. You will be able to change it later.

5. The date of the receipt will default to the current date and time. Change this if required. If you need to split a receipt across different dates, create a new receipt for each date required.

6. One batch per pack should be left ticked. If you really require all packs to be treated as a single pack please contact the support team to discuss this. This feature will be removed in a future version of CPM.

7. Consignment Stock assigns the consignment stock category to all of these packs if ticked. This is used in the stock valuation report to separate stock that is owned by the supplier from stock that is owned by the end user.

8. Create new batches is the default setting. Under this option you have the ability to adjust the batch numbers and weights of individual packs if required.

9. Add to existing batch will be removed in a future version of CPM. Use stock adjustments to increase the amount of stock received in and existing batch.

Save the batch. The form will be reset to receive the next batch.

As soon as stock batches are received they are available for selection on CPC. When refilling a tank, the batch can be selected from the material batches list.

All dispensed formulas take their traceability data from the stock batch that they were allocated to. This includes costing for use in the Job Costing Report. It is therefore essential that proper stock management is implemented if traceability or costing of product is important.

Create a new formula on ColorPoint Manager

Open the formulas list. The ‘Add New’ button is below the list on the left. This will open a new blank detail view for the formula. If you are creating a formula that is similar to or a variation of an existing formula it may be quicker to open the existing formula and clone it using the ‘Clone Formula’ button.

Fill in the details for the formula as follows:

1. Code: a unique code to identify this formula, up to 25 characters long. If you try to enter a code that has already been used or that is too long, you will see an error outline in red around the text box.

2. Name: a description of your formula, up to 50 characters long.

3. Colour: choose a colour closest to the colour of your formula. This provides a visual clue when working with lists of formula and does not need to be an exact match.

4. Items: are the most important part of a formula

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a. Select materials to add to the formula from the drop down list. Typing into the list will filter the selection if you have a large number of materials.

b. Click ‘Add Material’ to add the selected material to the formula. It is quickest to add all of the materials you need and then enter the parts required once they are all in the list together.

c. If you need to remove a material from the formula, select it in the list and click ‘Remove Material’.

d. Double click on the values in the ‘Parts’ column to edit them. Once you are editing parts, you can move up and down the list using the up and down arrow keys on the keyboard.

e. Manual add materials are indicated by a ☼ symbol. These materials are not attached to a dispense valve and are instead added manually by the operator when required.

f. Clicking on a material and dragging it up or down the list will change the dispense order. It is recommended that you place manual add materials either at the start of the list or the end. This causes the least disruption for the operator. A benefit of placing the manual additions at the beginning of the list is that any accidental over dispensing of manual can be corrected easily by the dispenser.

g. It is recommended that you save the formula at this point to validate the items. If the sum of the parts does not add up to 100, you will be given the option to reapportion the formula. In most cases this is the correct thing to do, but in some cases you may have a formula that makes more sense as 1 part of A, 1 part of B and 1 part of C. Choosing no will allow you to keep the formula in this format.

5. Categories: assign any categories you need.

6. Attributes: add any attributes required.

7. Files: add any files for supporting information e.g. a colour specification document.

8. Notes: it may be a good idea to make a note of why the formula was added to the system or changed for future reference.

Track costs on ColorPoint Manager

Most users will want to track the cost of used ink on their systems. When costing is enabled it adds ‘cost’ attributes to materials, material batches and substrates. This enables the cost of materials used to be tracked historically. Your installation engineer can enable costing if it has not already been enabled during system set-up.

The cost attribute is no longer optional and is built into the entities that need it. There is no need to have custom attributes added to track costs on ColorPoint systems built running version 1.6 or higher of the ColorPoint software.

Create a new material on ColorPoint Manager

Open the materials list. The ‘Add New’ button is below the list on the left. This will open a new blank detail view for the material.
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Fill in the details for the material as follows:
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1. Code: a unique code to identify this material, up to 25 characters long. If you try to enter a code that has already been used or that is too long, you will see an error outline in red around the text box.
2. Name: a description of your material, up to 50 characters long.
3. Specific Gravity: on a metric system this defaults to 1kg/l (water). Change this if required.
4. Colour: choose a colour closest to the colour of your material. This provides a visual clue when working with lists of materials and does not need to be an exact match.
5. Is Non Dispense Material: this is an advanced feature, leave un-ticked. See Non-dispense materials for more details.
6. Categories: assign any categories you need.
7. Attributes: add any attributes required, cost is the most commonly used attribute. See Track costs for further details.
8. Files: add any files for supporting information e.g. an MSDS document.
9. Notes: it may be a good idea to make a note of why the material was added to the system for future reference.
10. Suppliers: add a supplier for the material. If no suppliers exist, you will be able to create a new one.
Save the material, and repeat for any other new materials. Once the materials have been added to the system you may need to assign them to valves on CPC. See the ColorPoint Console manual for further details.

ColorPoint Glossary of Terms

CPC – ColorPoint Console, the dispenser console.
CPM – ColorPoint Manager, the management PC software.
CPX – ColorPoint Connector, the synchronisation service that keeps CPC and CPM up to date with one another.
Detail View – a generic display of the details of a single entity, e.g. a single formula.
Entity – The building blocks of a ColorPoint System. These are Material, Formula, Design, Job, Return, Substrate, Cylinder, Machine etc.
List View – a generic display of a list of items, whether they are materials or formulas, the list view displaying them behaves in a consistent manner across all entities.
MSDS – Material Safety Data Sheet.