We are a large sign company in Nashville, doin primarily electric signs, neon, and assorted channel letter projects. Most on a large scale. We do not do wooden type signs....all metal. Any and all help will be greatly appreciated.

It takes a brave man to say, "Help, I'm getting lost in my own world!" hehehe. Leaving a trail of bread crumbs usually helps us get back on track.

I can suggest that you have everyone who spends time on the job initial a record of their time spent on it. It will help with the administrator, the customer, and for keeping your employees accountable for their time.

All parts listed that were ordered and used, as well as any after-deposit requests made by the customer.

At some point you will be able to decide exactly what you need to put on your documents and why.

It was just a bit depressing to see so many people post comments on the many non-sign and somewhat "irrelevant" topics while many posts asking sincere help (such as my own) receive little response at all. Go figure.

Sorry I don't have the quick fix. I too struggle with this one, I am the exact opposite of you, I do no electric sign work but mostly wood and paint. Although our needs are similar, our methods might not be.

I am just about convinced that there is no cookie cutter form that can help. I am going to design one to fit our specific needs. Then I feel I need to impliment a system that takes the order from placement to billing.

[ September 29, 2001: Message edited by: J & N Signs ]

You did not indicate if you have a computer shop management system. When you say your shop is large, that sounds like ten or more people. It's hard to imagine a modern shop that size without a good computer system and someone to keep it up. There are always vendors at the big trade shows with shop management systems made for people like you.

Microsource says they are modifying their software for this market, but the version we have would not be good for a large shop.

EstiMate is a wonderful program, but it is not a shop management system either.

We looked at Job Boss, and it looked like a good program, but it was overkill for our small shop. There are others, I just don't know their names.

My impression is that most people don't like to write things down and/or read written instructions. In a big shop, verbal instructions are worth the paper they are written on. The practice has to be "Read the Work Order". If you write things down and get people to read them, half the problem is solved. The other half is proof checking - at every step of the job, the person doing the work should have another person check the work against the work order.