I've spent the last hour searching for what I'm looking for. I still haven't found it, although I learned a few things ( and remembered a few) from all of the old posts I searched, so that was cool.
Anyways, my shop does a lot of engraving, as well as signs. When my sales people take orders for plaques, the wording gets to be rather long. I'm looking for ways that others have incorporated or designed a program for entering a lot of text onto an order form. We've always hand written everything which works, just not the most efficient method.
Any suggestions or examples of what you're using?
Thanks!
Posted by Tony Baggett (Member # 6607) on :
Not sure what software you use, I like to enter text in a rough template shape with my drawing program and print a proof for the customer and have them sign it before we produce it. It is also handy for them to see what the font looks like and proof what they want it to say. You can make note of any other details too. We developed this method after a couple reprints had to be done. We give one copy to the customer and the other to the production folks. Our proof when finished is filed with the customer's invoice.
Hope this helps
Tony
Posted by Glenn Taylor (Member # 162) on :
Denny,
Estimate Software. You should really give it a try.
.
Posted by Denny Smith (Member # 6806) on :
I already have Estimate and I do use it. I even purchased the Quickbooks link, but I don't use it! I started to set up the quickbooks link and got frustrated with the amount of steps and the work involved that I quit and never looked at it again. I do like Estimate, but I was reading other posts on here and believe someone mentioned converting an estimate to a job in order to create a work order and a materials list. I haven't found where to do this in Estimate - any help???
Back to my original post though. I'm looking more for something like a template (similar to Estimate) that would have certain areas that had to be filled in by thesales person (such as material, size, colors etc) All of my orders are handwritten, and like I said before, we do a lot of engraving as well. I'm looking for something that will work with both engraving and sign making as well....
Posted by Doug Allan (Member # 2247) on :
I have resisted actually using it yet, but I believe M$ excel is a simple program that you can establish fields of different sizes, which can either be left blank for filling in, or in some cases designed to have pull down menus available with pre-programmed choices for thos fields.
Posted by Glenn Taylor (Member # 162) on :
Denny,
The template may be something you need to create for yourself. I've set one up in Corel Draw that was derived from the form pack available at SignCraft.
As to Estimate, if you will open an existing quote and look toward the middle bottom of the window, you will see the "Help" command with a big blue question mark above it. Just to the left of it is the "Convert to Job" command.
To get the Job Manifest, click on the "print" icon. You will see a "Job Manifest" at the bottom of the popup window.
Keep in mind though that the Job Manifest is only as good as the information you've input into your database and in your quote.
.
[ March 03, 2008, 08:02 AM: Message edited by: Glenn Taylor ]
Posted by Amy Brown (Member # 1963) on :
Glenn,
Is there a way to make a template in Corel and have it with fields that you can tab back and forth to enter information. I have a template in Corel for proofs but I have to select and click each information area.
Sorry to hijack the post!
Posted by William DeBekker (Member # 3848) on :
Glen for Estimate you will need the Job Management Plug-in to generate a work order.
I am with you on the Quickbooks link what a pain.
Posted by Ricky Jackson (Member # 5082) on :
We use Cyrious POS. It's expensive but it is much more than just a point of sale item; it's a total management tool. I know at a glance how we're doing for the day, the week, the month, and the year to date. I can find who hasn't ordered from me in the last 6 months (or 2 months), who buys magnetics, digital stuff, who my top 10 customers are, etc. It also gives me a flawless way to keep track of jobs. It sequentially numbers the orders and we save the jobs with the invoice number. I can pull up every job the customer has ever ordered and go thru the list to find something if necessary. I can keep notes on each customer or just for that particular job. I would never be without it.
Posted by Glenn Taylor (Member # 162) on :
Amy,
Sort of. I put paragraph text boxes on a separate layer to allow me to do that.
......
Bill,
Thanks. I've had the full blown version for so long I had forgotten just how many modules are available.
