[5652] in APO Printshop
Re: ordering stock for the press
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Leonard H Tower Jr.)
Sun Mar 8 20:27:57 2009
Date: Sun, 8 Mar 2009 20:27:53 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Leonard H Tower Jr." <tower@alum.MIT.EDU>
To: Cat Thu Nguyen Huu <catthu@MIT.EDU>
cc: Nicole D Teague <nteague@MIT.EDU>, Matthew S Goldstein <austein@MIT.EDU>,
apo-printshop-journeyman@MIT.EDU
In-Reply-To: <77D81E09-EAA8-4E08-88F0-BAC88A474D1D@MIT.EDU>
hi cat
thanks for your explaining your thinking on this
it is good leadership to communicate adequately with all concerned
* once you have the order finalized, i suggest you run it by
apo-printshop-operators@mit.edu
with adequate explanation.
since we got the press, we have tried to run the shop via consensus
of all the press ops, and try to keep them all informed
* Lee*(A7) size is the next size up from 6 bar. for all the dimensions
see the chart @ the top of
http://www.paperworks.com/page/paperworks/CTGY/Announcements
* you're welcome to change what i suggested, but i want to make sure
you have thought it all through:
what we have done for decades is one box of 250 of each
size/color/style(panelled, plain, folders), and one box of 500
envelopes (now two boxes of 250 envelopes)
if we had run full inventories for a while, it be interesting to
order extra of the most used size/color/style(s).
but even then:
what was popular the last few years, might not be popular the next
few years
but since we ran a full inventory down for the last five years or
so, i don't see how we can tell what is "most used" as the choice
of what was used recently was severely restricted by the dwindling
inventory
so, in my opinion, we should get the inventory back to full, and if
future press shop managers want to get in extra boxes,
that would be based on much better data.
do you understand this "statistical" sampling issue?
if you do, and still want to order extra boxes, you're the active
brother
* i plan to change my approach about keeping the inventory full.
that is, ask the press shop manager each term, if he would like to
do it, or should i. so it happens.
the dwindling inventory has been limiting the shop for far too long.
ideally, the press shop manager would do it. decent leadership
development
* looks like i will have the use of a car from sat 14 mar to tue 24
mar
i'll let you know when it's definite.
if you still like me to make the pickup:
perhaps make the pickup from Allston on fri 20 mar?
yiLFS -len http://www.art.net/~tower/
Date: Fri, 6 Mar 2009 14:56:54 -0500
From: Cat Thu Nguyen Huu <catthu@MIT.EDU>
To: Leonard H Tower Jr. <tower@alum.MIT.EDU>
Cc: Nicole D Teague <nteague@MIT.EDU>,
Matthew S Goldstein <austein@MIT.EDU>,
apo-printshop-journeyman@MIT.EDU
Subject: Re: ordering stock for the press
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
