Tracking jobs

[Inkedman!]

Hi everyone!! My name is Gio, Im brand spanking new here! I look forward to posting on here more often looks like a very informative site! Is anyone on here in an industry where you get projects from different customers and you have to prioritize them, would anyone mind sharing how they organize your jobs(such as a board with job name, priority, info,etc) Im in the printing industry, I do banners, stickers, embroidery, custom shirts and being a one person operation and having different jobs at the same time is coming to the point where I have no clue where to start and what to do first. I was thinking of a simple sheet printed out and I can just fill in with jobs as they come in or maybe software? How do you guys manage your jobs?

[MyITGuy]

Personally I use a program called ConnectWise which is built with the IT industry in mind.

As far as something that fits your needs...this will need to be your personal decision. You can keep it simple by using an Excel Spreadsheet and working the jobs based on order, due date, revenue or etc. Or you can get an elaborate piece of software that will allow clients to submit orders on line and follow their progress, make payments, receive invoices and manage your workflow.

[Fulcrum]

I'm in manufacturing and service areas and when it comes to scheduling work, I look at when a job is due and whichever has the shortest lead time is what gets done first. A white board listing either job number or customer and the due date is all you really need (not to mention costing less than $40). It might not be fancy and pretty, but it works.

[Harold Mansfield]

I don't really have a "system". I look at when each is due and pretty much work on everything at the same time, giving priority to what I promised to be done first. I guess the calendar is my system.
I track communications with folders in Outlook, and that's pretty much it.

Sounds like to me that you may need a client management software where you input jobs and track payments. There are web based solutions or self installed solutions that you run yourself on your own server.

The first place to start is How do you clients submit orders? Online or is it by phone?
Do you have some kind of POS ( Point of Sale) system? Quickbooks? Anything like that?

[vangogh]

I don't have a system either. For me it's basically first come first serve and when the next client approaches I know how far out it is before I can start their project. I have worked in places where something more was needed. I would figure out how much work you can get done daily or weekly or whatever works best. Start taking orders on a first come first serve basis and fill in the schedule. At first maybe leave yourself a little wiggle room in the schedule. If you think you can handle 10 jobs in a day schedule 8 or 9 just in case you need to schedule a rush job. I realize your jobs aren't all equal so you might have to schedule it more on an hourly basis. Job one takes 3 hours, job two takes an hour, etc.

I think either software or a printed calendar can work fine. I don't think it has to be anything fancy. Just something that works for you. I think you'll find this is something that gets easier the more experience you have so in the beginning just leave yourself a little just in case room. And if you're at that point of the day where you don't have a job scheduled you can start on the jobs for tomorrow. In time you'll have a better idea how long every job takes and how much you can realistically get done and also how likely it is there will be rush jobs that throw off the schedule.