Configuration
Important: This section was written for contexts where the iQuote system has already been preconfigured and it’s necessary only to add the functions specific for versioning. If the system is not set or there are doubts about its records or functions refer to the iQuote User Guide.
Prior to using the versioning resources some configurations must be done. Also, to enable specification for products with regular formats using components association, the user needs to create an engineering component and to add the specific functionality to a production group.
See below the step-by-step description of each of these settings.
Engineering setup
The user is required to have enabled the following access options, for setting the Engineering:
EPS > SALES > RECORDS > IQUOTE > ENGINEERING > ENGINEERING GENERAL SETTINGS
In the system’s main menu, click Sales > Records > iQuote > Engineering > Engineering General Setup or enter "Engineering general setup" in the Quick Search field
Check the Enable product versioning option. The Run calculation method field will be displayed.
In the Run calculation method field, the user must choose among the following methods how the system will calculate the runs by default:
One single version by run – Only one product’s version is produced in each run.
One or more versions by run – More than one of the product’s version can be produced in each run.
Runs defined manually – The content of the run are defined manually for each estimate.
If you select the Calculate plate considering plate maximum impressions check box, the system calculates the required number of Plates for versioned components taking into consideration the Maximum Impressions field from the Plate record and the Maximum Production field from the Relief Plate record. With that information, iQuote is able to add more Plates to the Estimate and/or Job simulation if necessary.
Note: You can find the Maximum Production field in the Relief Plate record. And, the Maximum Impressions field, in the Plate record.
Note: No matter how the versions are organized in the run the system always organize different product versions as just one Job.
Note: In this screen it is defined the system default behavior, but it can be adjusted for each job in Edit versioning.
Create engineering component
It is necessary to have recorded in the system the Versioning Component engineering component.
The user is required to have enabled the following access options, for adding Engineering Component Types:
EPS > SALES > RECORDS > IQUOTE > ENGINEERING > ENGINEERING COMPONENT TYPES > ADD ENGINEERING COMPONENT TYPES
In the system’s main menu, click Sales > Records > iQuote > Engineering > Engineering Component Types or enter "Engineering Component Types" in the Quick Search field
Click New. The following screen will open:
Complete the fields as described below:
|
Field |
Description |
|
Description |
Name of the Engineering component type. Enter “Versioning”. |
|
Class |
Engineering Component Types class. Select “1034 – Versioning Component”. |
|
Cost Unit |
Unit of measurement that determines the component’s cost unit in the estimate’s and in the Job’s Product Engineering, when linked to the Engineering component type. Select “UN”. |
|
Demand Type |
Determines the Engineering component type demand. Select “Normal”. |
|
Precision |
Allows the user to determine the accuracy for the component’s decimal places in the calculation. Keep the standard value (1). |
|
Active |
Indicates if the Engineering component will be available for use in the Estimate and in the Job. Keep it active. |
On the Engineering Process Grouping tab, under Ignore the selected characteristics do not select any item.
Click Save.
Add the functionality to the production group
It will be necessary to link the Versioning functionality to the packaging production groups (such as box, pallet, shrink etc) so that the system can apply it to the Engineering.
Note: All packaging production groups in the system must have the Versioning functionality in order to the versioning to work properly.
The user is required to have enabled the following access options to be able to add input components in the Production Group’s functionalities:
EPS > SALES > RECORDS > IQUOTE > ENGINEERING > PRODUCTION GROUP > PRODUCTION GROUP ADVANCED SETTINGS
In the system’s main menu, click Sales > Records > iQuote > Engineering > Production Group or enter "Production Group" in the Quick Search field.
Click the appropriate Production Group or create a new one.
Click Advanced Settings.
Go to the Functionalities tab:
On the Functionalities tab click New.
Complete the fields on this screen as described below:
|
Field |
Description |
|
Functionality |
Functionality that, when linked to the printing group, will determine the group’s functions and its respective restrictions. Enter functionality 1088 – Versioning adapter. |
|
Description |
Functionality’s name within the production group. Fill in with the functionality’s name to facilitate identification. |
|
Input |
Engineering components to be considered as functionality input. Select any items that maybe used by your company. At least one of the items must be selected. |
|
Output |
Engineering components that will be considered as functionality output. Select any items that maybe used in your company. At least one of the items must be selected. |
Click Confirm and then click Confirm again.
Important: For companies with only one plant, it’s extremely important that either all production groups are set to this plant or none of them are.
If some groups are set to the plant, but others are not, the engineering will not be able to calculate some versioned scenarios.
Creating filters in the production group
In order to improve this feature, iQuote offers two specific filters that can be added to printing machine production groups: Versioning – Color change and Versioning – Plate change. Although the filters are not mandatory, they can bring great additional resources to versioning processes.
The user is required to have enabled the following access options to be able to apply filters in the production group’s functionalities:
EPS > SALES > RECORDS > IQUOTE > ENGINEERING > PRODUCTION GROUP > PRODUCTION GROUP ADVANCED SETTINGS
In the system’s main menu, click Sales > Records > iQuote > Engineering > Production Group or enter "Production Group" in the Quick Search field.
Click once to select the appropriate Production Group. Observe that for these filters the production group should be a printer.
Click Advanced Settings.
Under the Functionalities tab click once to select the printer functionality.
The filters can be added in different tabs, serving different purposes as follows:
|
Where |
Purpose |
|
Printer’s output |
Filters added here create rules for using this machine. For example, it’s possible to define one machine that shall never have color changes. Check EXAMPLE 1 below. |
|
Activity |
Under Filters, add lines (filter and filter option) to the Conditions grid for defining that activities will happen only when that criteria is met. E.g.: Only if the estimate has more than one color changes. Note: The filters must be created in the Filter tab first. |
|
Costs |
The filter can be used as a dynamic multiplier in the Cost items grid. Also, under Filters, add lines (filter and filter option) to the Conditions grid for defining cost rules according to the number of plate changes or color changes. Note: The filters must be created in the Filter tab first. |
|
Setup |
The filter can be used as a multiplier for Setup time and setup waste, under Product information. Also, under Filters, add lines (filter and filter option) to the Conditions grid for defining cost rules according to the number of plate changes or color changes. Note: The filters must be created in the Filter tab first. |
|
Speed |
Under Filters, add lines (filter and filter option) to the Conditions grid for defining speed rules according to the number of plate changes or color changes. Note: The filters must be created in the Filter tab first. |
|
Production waste |
Under Filters, add lines (filter and filter option) to the Conditions grid for defining production waste rules according to the number of plate changes or color changes. Note: The filters must be created in the Filter tab first. |
|
Filters |
Filters added here do not affect the engineering. Instead they work together with other tabs (such as activity, speed etc) and for checking for specific information in the estimate. For example, it’s possible to verify, in the estimate engineering, how many times the plates were changed. Check EXAMPLE 2 below. |
|
Custom raw materials |
The filter can be used as a multiplier for the consumption formula, both for the “quantity by cycle” and “fixed quantity” calculations. Also, under Filter, we can create restriction for using specific raw materials in a similar manner to the printing machine restrictions described in the EXAMPLE 1 below. |
Add filters as necessary and click Save and Close.
|
EXAMPLE 1 |
|
Let’s create a restriction for the “Sheetfed Press 8c”.
Let’s star clicking Output. As this functionality was previously configured, we already have an output set here. Now double click Filter to create a restriction.
Under Field open the dropdown menu and go to Print. For this example we selected the Versioning – Color changes filter.
Under Condition we can define the criteria for our restriction. For this example we checked the negative parameter and selected “is greater than:
That means our production group will not be used in engineering routes with a number of color changes greater than one. In other words, this machine will not be used for jobs that require stopping the production, taking all of the ink out of the inkstand, washing it and putting another ink in it in order to continue printing. |
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EXAMPLE 2 |
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Now we’ll create filters for the “Sheetfed Press 8c” and check the result in the engineering path. First we’ll create a new input on the Filter tab and name it “Plate changes”. Under Filter options we’ll also create new inputs, one for each condition we want to track. For this example we’ll create three options. For creating the first one we’ll click New and fill in the description as “1” (as in 1 plate change):
Now let’s create a new item under Conditions for filter selection and check the appropriate functionality under Filter conditions – Functionalities:
Then we click the filter icon to set up the filter conditions. For this example we set the condition for this filter as: the Versioning – Plate has to be equal to 1.
Repeating the procedure for 2 and 3 plate changes we have this filter structure:
Now, after saving the modifications, we can check how this information is displayed in an estimate that uses this production group, such as this saddle stich magazine:
Notice that both the cover and the text components have two different version each. If we click any of those components then go to Product versioning > Color definition we’ll see that the images are different from one version to another one:
That means each version will use a different set of plates. So when we go to the engineering and click the sheet fed press process and Details…
...Click to select the sheet fed printer and go to Options…
…We can see the number of plate changes, thanks to the filter created in the production group.
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Add the versioning component in packaging functionalities
It’s necessary to link the Versioning component to the packaging functionalities so that the system can apply it to the Engineering. This configuration needs to be applied to the following functionalities:
1020 – Shrink
1021 – Package
1022 – Pallet
1023 – Strap
1025 – Boxing Machine
1040 – Bag Machine
1086 – Roll Core (Package)
The user is required to have enabled the following access options to be able to add input components in the Production Group’s functionalities:
EPS > SALES > RECORDS > IQUOTE > ENGINEERING > PRODUCTION GROUP > PRODUCTION GROUP ADVANCED SETTINGS
In the system’s main menu, click Sales > Records > iQuote > Engineering > Production Group or enter "Production Group" in the Quick Search field.
Click the appropriate Production Group.
Click Advanced Settings.
Go to the Functionalities tab:
On the Functionalities tab select the packaging functionality.
Click Input
Click New.
Select the engineering component 1034 - Version:
Click Ok and then click Confirm.