[5650] in APO Printshop
Re: ordering stock for the press
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Nicole D Teague)
Sun Mar 8 18:58:00 2009
Date: Sun, 08 Mar 2009 18:57:42 -0400
From: Nicole D Teague <nteague@MIT.EDU>
To: Cat Thu Nguyen Huu <catthu@mit.edu>
Cc: "Leonard H Tower Jr." <tower@alum.MIT.EDU>,
Matthew S Goldstein
<austein@mit.edu>,
apo-printshop-journeyman@mit.edu
In-Reply-To: <77D81E09-EAA8-4E08-88F0-BAC88A474D1D@MIT.EDU>
Hi everyone,
Based on old operations ledgers, control ledgers, current accounts,
ect. I have
concluded that the opening budget of the press shop fund in F02 was $1130.68
and the current balance is $1250.54. If anyone thinks this sounds
deeply flawed
in some manner, please let me know.
Nicole
Quoting Cat Thu Nguyen Huu <catthu@MIT.EDU>:
> Hi Len,
>
> To answer two questions at once, I didn't pre-order the 5 1/2 bar
> cream paneled/non-paneled announcement cards/ envelopes because I did
> check our current inventory before going to Paperworks, and it
> turned out that we still have plenty of them. We also have some of
> the other sized cream cards, but not in substantial amount, and we
> basically run out of white stock. Since all the non-announcement
> stock has been moved to under the stone desk, all the announcement
> stock is now on the shelves and is easy to quickly check, should you
> feel inclined to do so.
>
> I wasn't aware of the Lee size, and would also be grateful to be
> given a reminder on what it is. I'm sorry if you have mentioned this
> when we talked at the beginning of the semester, I must have
> forgotten about it when trying to remember everything from the top
> of my head. I was also aware that you want the folders, however I
> believe I forgot to ask you how many/ what sizes/ what colors you
> want them in, so I didn't put them in my original list to Paperworks.
>
> The doubling of some colors/sizes was due to my interpretation of
> what you said, which was that I should think about what and how many
> to order. As you pointed out to Matt, few press shop managers had
> the time to really get around restocking the print shop, so when
> someone does it's probably a good idea to order in large amount. I
> understood that you'd like the press shop to be restocked once a
> semester, and while I'm not sure whether it's a better approach,
> apparently we haven't been doing that so there's no reason to assume
> that we will do that in the future. Cost-wise, it's probably also a
> good idea since the price is likely to go up in the future just like
> everything else, and it's not like the cards will disappear if we
> don't use them before a certain time. It also optimizes other fixed
> costs such as delivery cost, which I wasn't sure whether we would
> need. Let me know if I miss something.
>
> Let me remind you that I made it very clear to Paperworks and
> everyone else that the pre-order list is subject to changes. Also, I
> have sent several inquiries to the treasurer about the structure and
> balance of the press fund before actually contacting Paperworks, but
> unfortunately she didn't reply to any of my emails. The only
> information that I have gotten from the treasurer about the press
> fund is when I talked to her in person and learned that we had no
> record of the balance in the recent years, and I accordingly raised
> the problem to apo-printshop. I'm grateful that you took the
> initiative and responsibility yourself in working with Nicole to
> figure this out; but if that's somehow inconvenient for you and
> you'd rather I do it, then you should first let me know and I'll be
> happy to work on it or direct someone else to work on it.
>
> I think you somehow have the impression that initiatives on things
> involving the printshop have to come from the press shop manager. To
> make it unambiguous: this is not true. While all decisions regarding
> the printshop should be made under the approval and responsibility of
> the manager, everyone is welcomed to contribute ideas and give
> opinions, and in fact that's what people have been doing. Relating
> this point back to things that we're currently dealing with: if you
> somehow think that it would save you much effort and time if you
> ordered and restocked the press shop, and would rather do it
> yourself, then please by all means let me know. It would indeed also
> save me a lot of time and effort.
>
> I hope that answered all your questions, in enough details and transparency.
>
> Cat
>
> On Mar 4, 2009, at 12:02 AM, Leonard H Tower Jr. wrote:
>
>> hi all,
>>
>> i'll cover:
>> why is Press Fund being budgeted?
>> what to order from Paperworks + why
>> yes, we can afford this
>>
>> * why is Press Fund being budgeted?
>>
>> it's been mentioned that the Press Fund had a budget of $50.00 this
>> term
>>
>> is this from the Chapter Fund or Press Fund?
>>
>> what is this money meant to be used for?
>>
>> why is the Press Fund budgeted at all?
>> (it's unusual for this kind of fund to be budgeted, in the way AX
>> does budgeting - it's a manufacturing operation from an accounting
>> prespective, and is usually handled quite differently)
>>
>> * what to order + why
>>
>> lorit told me that paperworks no longer have 500 envelopes in a box,
>> and so their websight confirms - http://www.paperworks.com/
>>
>> so all the counts should be 250/box
>>
>> the following is my understanding of what cat suggested ordering
>> (i added counts at the front,
>> fixed the typo -> "6 bar cream plain (non-paneled)")
>>
>> 250 - 4 bar white paneled cards
>> 250 - 4 bar white envelopes
>> 500 - 4 bar cream paneled cards x2
>> 500 - 4 bar cream envelopes x2
>> 500 - 5 1/2 bar white paneled cards x2
>> 500 - 5 1/2 bar white plain (non-paneled) cards x2
>> 1,000 - 5 1/2 bar white envelopes x4
>> 500 - 6 bar white paneled cards x2
>> 500 - 6 bar white plain (non-paneled) cards x2
>> 500 - 6 bar cream paneled cards x2
>> 500 - 6 bar cream plain (non-paneled) cards x2
>> 1,000 - 6 bar cream envelopes x4
>>
>> i should have asked cat for the present inventory, but i suggested
>> she do that before putting an order together, so i assume she has
>> taken the present inventory into account
>>
>> the Press Shop has for most of it's the four decades, brought the
>> inventory up @ least once each term to:
>> - 250 or each size and color of announcement card, and
>> - 500 of each size and color of announcement envelope
>>
>> cat's proposal is more generous than that, which allocates more
>> funds to the inventory
>>
>> imho, it be more useful to use those funds to also the stock the
>> "Lee" size in each color, as well as the foldovers, so reducing the
>> amounts cat suggested is a better use of the funds
>>
>> note, that jobs using this stock, seldom use more than 150-200
>> sets. so why do we need more than 250 of each kind?
>>
>> so change the amounts cat suggest to:
>>
>> 250 - 4 bar white paneled cards
>> 250 - 4 bar white envelopes
>> 250 - 4 bar cream paneled cards
>> 250 - 4 bar cream envelopes
>> 250 - 5 1/2 bar white paneled cards
>> 250 - 5 1/2 bar white plain (non-paneled) cards
>> 500 - 5 1/2 bar white envelopes x2
>> 250 - 6 bar white paneled cards
>> 250 - 6 bar white plain (non-paneled) cards
>> 250 - 6 bar cream paneled cards
>> 250 - 6 bar cream plain (non-paneled) cards
>> 500 - 6 bar cream envelopes x2
>>
>> add these missing envelopes
>>
>> 500 - 6 bar white envelopes x2
>>
>> add 5 1/2 Cream
>>
>> 250 - 5 1/2 bar cream paneled cards
>> 250 - 5 1/2 bar cream plain (non-paneled) cards
>> 500 - 5 1/2 bar cream envelopes x2
>>
>> add the Lee size
>>
>> 250 - Lee white paneled cards
>> 250 - Lee white plain (non-paneled) cards
>> 500 - Lee white envelopes x2
>> 250 - Lee cream paneled cards
>> 250 - Lee cream plain (non-paneled) cards
>> 500 - Lee cream envelopes x2
>>
>> add the Foldovers in (no more envelopes - it be rare that all three
>> style in one size and color will be used in a term)
>>
>> 250 - 4 bar white foldover paneled cards
>> 250 - 4 bar cream foldover paneled cards
>> 250 - 5 1/2 foldover bar white paneled cards
>> 250 - 5 1/2 foldover bar white plain (non-paneled) cards
>> 250 - 5 1/2 foldover bar cream paneled cards
>> 250 - 5 1/2 foldover bar cream plain (non-paneled) cards
>> 250 - 6 bar white foldover paneled cards
>> 250 - 6 bar white foldover plain (non-paneled) cards
>> 250 - 6 bar cream foldover paneled cards
>> 250 - 6 bar cream foldover plain (non-paneled) cards
>> 250 - Lee white paneled foldover cards
>> 250 - Lee white plain foldover (non-paneled) cards
>> 250 - Lee cream paneled foldover cards
>> 250 - Lee cream plain foldover (non-paneled) cards
>>
>> i couldn't find the 4 and 5 foldovers on the websight, but cat could
>> double check that Paperworks really does not carry them
>>
>> add enough of each color of Ideal Jersey round corner card stock
>> so the inventory of each color is between 3 boxes (1500) and 4 boxes
>> (2000) - Ideal Jersey Cards only come in one size
>>
>> my recommendation here is based on what's happened in the past,
>> while allowing for reasonable growth in what's printed in the Press
>> Shop as the number of jobs it does grows.
>>
>> other comments?
>>
>> * yes, AX can afford this
>>
>> ** first, keeping samples in the shop, and ordering as needed doesn't
>> work well in practice
>>
>> for training and qualifying runs, it would add too much time to
>> the run to have the trainee/qualee do it (8 to 10 hours is already
>> VERY long to learn a chapter skill), limit the design choices
>> (design is a key part of printing, and the most fun part of
>> the process for many), etc.
>>
>> it also lengthens how long it takes to get a job done between the
>> time a press op accepts an order, and the time it's delivered to
>> the client. though in theory, one can call Paperworks, and go out
>> that day, or in a few days (depending on whether they have the
>> stock in Allston, or have to order it themselves), most busy mit
>> press ops don't have the time to do this
>>
>> and if either someone doesn't go out to Allston to pick up the
>> stock, then someone has to spend a morning or afternoon waiting in
>> the APOffice for the call from the loading dock to come down and
>> get it from Paperwork's driver (and they charge added shipping in
>> this case, which the press shop has to charge the client, some
>> way). also the press shop manager and treasurer has more
>> paperwork and transactions to deal with
>>
>> which is why the Press Shop has kept a broad inventory, that
>> allows jobs to get done more quickly
>>
>> ** i spoke with Nicole last week about the Press Fund balance
>>
>> - she verified that when the switch to the gnu cash on-line system
>> was made, the press fund balance started @ $0.00 (zero ) in Fall 2002
>>
>> - she said it currently showed a little over a $100.00
>> (i forgot to write that down)
>>
>> - we quickly looked through the safe and found the journal that
>> showed the Press Fund had a balance of $1000.96 on 30 june 2001.
>> (this is what i remembered it having about that time)
>>
>> i need to do a number of things before nicole can reset the
>> balance, but it appears we have around $1,100.00 in the Press
>> Fund
>>
>> these include: looking for the treasury records between 30 june
>> 2001 and Fall 2002. checking against the records the Press
>> Shop have. looking over all transactions for the Press Fund in
>> the gnucash system since it started
>>
>> this currently has priority behind train/qual runs, the small
>> press cart, and answering cat's and press ops questions
>>
>> ** even if the Press Fund doesn't have the money, the Chapter Fund
>> can in effect lend the Press Fund the money
>>
>> the Press Shop inventory has value, and is sold, and the cash
>> comes back
>>
>> it's not like, e.g., food for a meeting, that is brought and gone
>> forever
>>
>> cat: so i suggest you go ahead and order what the Press Shop needs
>>
>> yiLFS -len
>
>
