Abstract:
A print shop consolidation system for consolidating processing of a first group of print jobs and a second group of prints jobs at one of a first print shop and a second print shop is provided. The print shop consolidation system includes a print shop consolidation print shop consolidation management system, including an application. The application is used to (1) evaluate, with a set of information, an operational capacity of the first print shop to process both the first and second groups of print jobs, (2) evaluate, with the set of information, an operational capacity of the second print shop to process both the first and second groups of print jobs, and (3) consolidate processing of the first and second groups of print jobs at one of first and second print shops, with the evaluations of (1) and (2), so that either (a) processing of the first and second print jobs occurs solely at the first print shop, or (b) processing of the first and second print job occurs solely at the second print shop.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/185,202, filed by Rai et al. on Jul. 19, 2005 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,125,179. 

   TECHNICAL FIELD 
   Embodiments relate to production printing and, more particularly, to systems and methods of evaluating print shop consolidation options. 
   BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY 
   An enterprise of geographically distributed print shops is a frequent occurrence in the production printing industry. Typically, resources in print shops are organized so that when a print job arrives from a customer at a particular print shop, the print job can be processed by performing one or more production functions. Maintaining print shops at multiple locations often necessitates providing the same labor and facilities at each individual site which, in turn, can lead to inefficient distribution of equipment and labor among the print shops. 
   Consolidating multiple print shop sites into fewer sites can save labor and facility costs. However, known methods of print shop consolidation are based on random or improvised approaches which cannot reliably and accurately provide the most appropriate print shop consolidation options and which, therefore, result in inefficient consolidation of prints shops. 
   There is a need to provide a methodology of evaluating options for consolidating multiple print shop sites into fewer consolidated sites 
   The embodiments disclosed herein therefore address the shortcomings of known techniques of evaluating print shop consolidation options by providing a system and method enabling consolidating processing of print job groups at one or more print shops. 
   In accordance with one aspect of the disclosed embodiments, there is provided a print shop consolidation system for consolidating processing of a first group of print jobs and a second group of prints jobs at one of a first print shop and a second print shop. As contemplated, the first group of print jobs would, without consolidation, be printed at the first print shop, and the second group of print jobs would, without consolidation, be printed at the second print shop. The print shop consolidation system includes: (A) memory for storing a set of information relating to both a print job processing capability of the first print shop and a print job processing capability of the second print shop; (B) a print shop consolidation management system, the print shop consolidation management system including an application for (1) evaluating, with the set of information, an operational capacity of the first print shop to process both the first and second groups of print jobs, (2) evaluating, with the set of information, an operational capacity of the second print shop to process both the first and second groups of print jobs, and (3) consolidating processing of the first and second groups of print jobs at one of first and second print shops, with said evaluations of (B)(1) and (B)(2) so that either (a) processing of the first and second print jobs occurs solely at the first print shop, or (b) processing of the first and second print job occurs solely at the second print shop. 
   In accordance with another aspect of the disclosed embodiments, there is provided a print shop consolidation system for consolidating processing of a first group of print jobs, a second group of prints jobs and a third group of print jobs at one or two of a first print shop, a second print shop and a third print shop. The print shop consolidation system includes: (A) a memory for storing a set of information relating to respective print job processing capabilities of the first print shop, the second print shop and the third print shop; and; and (B) a print shop consolidation management system, said print shop consolidation management system including an application for, (1) evaluating, with the set of information, an operational capacity of the first print shop to process first, second, and third groups of print jobs, (2) evaluating, with the set of information, an operational capacity of the second print shop to process the first, second, and third groups of print jobs, (3) evaluating, with the set of information, an operational capacity of the third print shop to process the first, second, and third groups of print jobs, and (4) with said evaluations of (B)(1), (B)(2), and (B)(3), (a) consolidating processing of two of the first, second, and third print jobs at a first one of the first, second and third print shops, and (b) processing a third of the first, second, and third print jobs at a second one of the first, second, and third print shops. 
   In accordance with yet another aspect of the disclosed embodiments there is provided a method for consolidating processing of a first group of print jobs and a second group of prints jobs at one of a first print shop and a second print shop. As contemplated, the first group of print jobs would, without consolidation, be printed at the first print shop, and the second group of print jobs would, without consolidation, be printed at the second print shop. The method includes: (A) storing, in memory, a set of information relating to both a print job processing capability of the first print shop and a print job processing capability of the second print shop; (B) evaluating, with the set of information, an operational capacity of the first print shop to process both the first and second groups of print jobs; (C) evaluating, with the set of information, an operational capacity of the second print shop to process both the first and second groups of print jobs; and (D) consolidating processing of the first and second groups of print jobs at one of first and second print shops, with said evaluations of (B) and (C) so that either (1) processing of the first and second print jobs occurs solely at the first print shop, or (2) processing of the first and second print job occurs solely at the second print shop. 
   In accordance with another aspect of the disclosed embodiments, there is provided a method for consolidating processing of a first group of print jobs, a second group of prints jobs and a third group of print jobs at one or two of a first print shop, a second print shop and a third print shop. The method includes: (A) storing a set of information relating to respective print job processing capabilities of the first print shop, the second print shop and the third print shop; (B) evaluating, with the set of information, an operational capacity of the first print shop to process first, second, and third groups of print jobs; (C) evaluating, with the set of information, an operational capacity of the second print shop to process first, second, and third groups of print jobs; (D) evaluating, with the set of information, an operational capacity of the third print shop to process first, second, and third groups of print jobs; and (E) with said evaluations of (B), (C), and (D), performing one of the following: (1) consolidating processing of the first, second, and third groups of print jobs at just one of the first, second, and third print shops, or (2) consolidating processing of two of the first, second, and third print jobs at a first one of the first, second and third print shops, and a third of the first, second, and third print jobs at a second one of the first, second, and third print shops. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The accompanying figures, in which like reference numerals refer to identical or functionally similar elements throughout the separate views and which are incorporated in and form a part of the specification, further illustrate the embodiment, together with the background, brief summary, and detailed description, serve to explain the principles of the illustrative embodiment. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a management system implemented on a computer for evaluating print shop consolidation options in an enterprise together with three print shops prior to consolidation in accordance with an embodiment; 
       FIG. 2  illustrates a flow-diagram outlining steps which are performed in evaluating print shop consolidation options in an enterprise in accordance with an embodiment; 
       FIG. 3  illustrates a table including job data associated with a print shop for use in evaluating print shop consolidation options in accordance with an embodiment; 
       FIG. 4  illustrates a table including maximum daily initial takt-rate for black and white printing calculated based on the job data of  FIG. 3 ; 
       FIG. 5  illustrates a graph of takt-rate as a function of work days for the black and white printing for job data of  FIG. 3 ; 
       FIG. 6  illustrates a table of job data of  FIG. 2  but with the due dates offset to take into account transportation delay in accordance with the embodiment; 
       FIG. 7  illustrates a table of modified takt-rate for black and white printing calculated using the job data of  FIG. 6 ; 
       FIG. 8  illustrates a table of black and white printing takt-rate for processing jobs at various print shop locations shown in  FIG. 1  that require transportation from the shop of origination to the shop of production; 
       FIG. 9  illustrates a table of required takt-rate results for consolidating into shops S 1  and S 2  of  FIG. 1  based on takt-rates taken from  FIG. 8 ; 
       FIG. 10  illustrates a table of required takt-rate results for consolidating into shops S 2  and S 3  of  FIG. 1  based on takt-rates taken from  FIG. 8 ; 
       FIG. 11  illustrates a table of required takt-rate results for consolidating into shops S 1  and S 3  of  FIG. 1  based on takt-rates taken from  FIG. 8 ; 
       FIG. 12  illustrates a matrix of required takt-rate capacities for various possible options of consolidating the three print shops of  FIG. 1 ; and 
       FIG. 13  illustrates a block diagram outlining general consolidation process modules of determining the required minimal takt-rates for each production function for all possible consolidation options irrespective of the number of consolidated shops. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
   The illustrative embodiment provides an approach to evaluating options of consolidating print shops in an enterprise so that the most appropriate print shop consolidation options can be selected to provide equivalent or improved performance. 
   For the purposes of discussion hereinafter, a “print shop” refers to a grouping of printing resources. The print shop may be a freestanding entity such as a commercial printer or may be part of a corporation or other entity. A “print job” refers to a logical unit of work that is to be completed for a customer. For example, a request to make 10 copies of a book is a print job. Similarly, a request to make 100 copies of a single document is a print job. A production function can be any operation or processing step involved in the processing of the print job. For example, a production function can be black &amp; white printing, color printing, scanning, or packaging. 
   Referring to  FIG. 1  of the accompanying drawings, which illustrates a management system  110  for evaluating options of consolidating distributed print shops  101 ,  102 ,  103  in an enterprise, a suitable environment  100  for practicing the illustrative embodiment can be a management system  110  implemented on an electronic automated system. For example, the management system can be implemented on a stand-alone computer system, such as a workstation, or on a networked computer. 
   Those skilled in the art would understand that the illustration of  FIG. 1  is merely depicting one example of the embodiments and that the embodiments are not limited thereto. As will be discussed in more detail below, the enterprise can have more than or less than three print shops. The management system  110  of  FIG. 1  is operatively coupled, for example via a data network  114 , to equipment, such as computers, located at the print shops,  101 ,  102 ,  103 . However, a skilled person in the art would know that the management system need not be so operatively coupled for the purpose of obtaining data from the print shops. The management system may include a module  111  which is responsible for evaluating the consolidation options. The module  111  may be in the form of software or hardware. The module can be run locally on the management system or run from a remote location via a network coupled to the management system. A person skilled in the art would know that there are multiple modes of implementing such a module. 
     FIG. 2  provides an overview of the steps which are performed in evaluating print shop consolidation options of the enterprise in the illustrative embodiment. Initially, the distributed print shops are identified and job data for each production function for each shop is determined (step  201  of  FIG. 2 ). The job data represents a list of jobs and their characteristics, that is, the job arrival and due dates for each job, the production functions for processing each job and the number of impressions required to be produced by each production function for processing each job. Examples of job data for print shop  101  are shown in the form of a table in  FIG. 3 . The job data is determined by receiving the data at the management system  110 . Alternatively, the job data can be estimated by the management system itself. Thereafter, the operating capacity of each production function in a given work period at each shop is estimated by the management system based on the scenario that all jobs that originate at each shop are processed at the same shop (step  202  in  FIG. 2 ). 
   In this embodiment, the operating capacity is represented by the takt-rate TRi for each working day for each production function. In order to appreciate how the takt-rate is calculated, is useful to consider the following parameters. If there are n jobs J i  and each job has an arrival time of t_arr i  and a due date of t_due i . Each job also has a production quantity q i  associated with each processing step or production function where the processing step belongs to a set of workstations W with element w/with a processing rate of r i . (A value of 0 for q i  for some i implies that there is no processing associated with the workstation). The takt-rate TR i (t) (units required to be produced per unit time) on each workstation at any time t is therefore: 
                     TR   i     ⁡     (   t   )       =       ∑     i   =   1     n     ⁢         q   i     ⁡     (   t   )           t_due   i     -     t_arr   i                   (   1   )               where  q   i ( t )= q   i  if t_arr i &lt;t≦t_due i    and  q   i ( t )=0 otherwise 
   As an example, the total takt-rate for each working day for a particular production function, in this case, black and white printing, estimated by the management system  110  using the job data of  FIG. 3 , is shown in  FIG. 4 . Similar calculations of takt-rates can be preformed for the other production functions, nbooks, color printing, scanning and packaging referred to in the job data of  FIG. 3 . 
   If consolidation of print shops from multiple locations to fewer locations is to take place, it is necessary to take into account the scenario in which jobs may originate at one particular print shop  101 ,  102 ,  103  and then may be sent to a different print shop  101 , 102 , 103  for processing. Sending the jobs to another shop delays production. Consequently, the operating capacity associated with each production function at each shop increases. The initial calculated operating capacity therefore has to be modified to take into account the scenarios in which the print jobs originate at each print shop and can be transported to each other print shop for subsequent processing of the print job at each other shop. 
   To this end, the mailing or transportation times for sending jobs originating from each shop to each other shop for processing are received or estimated by the management system  110  (Step  203  of  FIG. 2 ). The system subtracts these delay times from the corresponding original due times to take into account the sending delays. The modified operating capacity for each production function at each shop is estimated by the system using the new due times (step  204  of  FIG. 2 ). For example, if jobs listed in  FIG. 3  originating at first shop  101  are to be processed at a second shop  102  and the transportation time is 1 hr, then the total modified takt-rates for each production function at shop  102  for jobs originating from shop  101  for each working day estimated by the system will be as shown in the table of  FIG. 6 . 
   The maximum initial and modified takt-rates for each production function during a predetermined time interval are then calculated by the system (step  205  of  FIG. 2 ). For example, from  FIG. 4 , the maximum black and white printing initial takt-rate requirement during a working week is 8625 impressions/hr and from  FIG. 7 , the maximum black and white printing modified takt-rate requirement during a working week is 10862 impressions/hr. If necessary, some other predetermined time interval can be selected or, alternatively, the takt-rates can be chosen based on criteria other than a maximum over a given period. 
   Using these analyses, configurations of consolidating a number of print shops into a few numbers of shops can be determined and the estimated maximum takt-rate for each production function for each configuration can be mapped out for each consolidation configuration (step  206  of  FIG. 2 ). Accordingly, a takt-rate matrix T ij  can be computed by the system where the ij th  element denotes the maximum takt-rate for the scenario where all the jobs that have originated at shop i are processed at shop j. To illustrate this step, reference will now be made to the example of  FIG. 8  which illustrates a matrix of maximum black and white printing takt-rates for jobs originating and processed at the three shops  101  (S 1 ),  102  (S 2 ),  103  (S 3 ) of  FIG. 1  and for jobs requiring transportation from each print shop  101  (S 1 ),  102  (S  2 ),  103  (S 3 ) for processing at each other print shop  101  (S 1 ),  102  (S 2 ),  103  (S 3 ). The row of indications S 1 , S 2  &amp; S 3  at the top of the matrix represent shops of job production whereas the column of indications S 1 , S 2  &amp; S 3  at the side of the matrix represents shops of job origination. 
   Thereafter, the system  110  determines the minimum operating capacity requirement for each consolidation configuration to evaluate the options of consolidating a number of print shops  101 ,  102 ,  103  into fewer consolidated shops (step  207  of  FIG. 2 ). To illustrate this step, reference is once again made to the example of the matrix of  FIG. 8 . Suppose it is necessary to determine the consolidation options for the case in which the 3 shops  101  (S 1 ),  102  (S 2 ),  103  (S 3 ) are to be consolidated into 1 location. The maximum production takt-rate for the situation will be evaluated when the shops are collocated at each of one of the three locations. Therefore, if all shops are consolidated into 1 location which happens to be shop  101  (S 1 ); then the total takt-rate for black and white printing is (8625+10386+6633)=25644 impressions/h. If the shops are consolidated at  102  (S 2 ) the total takt-rate is (10862+9078+3379)=23319 impressions/h. Similarly, the result of consolidation at  102  (S 2 ) is 27400 impressions/h. Therefore the best option is to consolidate at location  102  (S 2 ) since it gives the minimum takt-rate for the enterprise. 
   In order to evaluate the consolidation options when the shop consolidation occurs at 2 shops, options of consolidation at  101  (S 1 ),  102  (S 2 ) or  102  (S 2 ),  103  (S 3 ) or  101  (S 1 ),  103  (S 3 ) are evaluated by the system. For the situation of consolidating into two shops  101  (S 1 ) and  102  (S 2 ), it is assumed that all jobs should be performed at the shop with lowest takt-rate. Therefore according to  FIG. 8 , all jobs at  101  (S 1 ) will be performed at  101  (S 1 ) because the lowest takt-rate is 8625 and occurs at  101  (S 1 ). Similarly, since jobs that originate from  102  (S 2 ) can be processed at  102  (S 2 ) at a lower required takt-rate than if they are processed at  101  (S 1 ), the jobs originating from  102  (S 2 ) are assigned to  102  (S 2 ) for processing. Similarly, the jobs originating at  103  (S 3 ) are better allocated to  102  (S 2 ) because takt-rate required to process the jobs is lower if they are process at  102  (S 2 ) than if they are processed at  101  (S 1 ). The result of this allocation of job capacity to shops  101  (S 1 ) and  102  (S 2 ) leads to a total capacity allocation of 21082 impressions/h for the Black and White printing production function as shown in  FIG. 9 . 
   Matrices and total capacity allocations for the other two possible consolidation options of consolidating the three shops into consolidated shops  102  (S 2 ) and  103  (S 3 ) and into consolidated shops  101  (S 1 ) and  103  (S 3 ) are shown in  FIG. 10  and  FIG. 11 , respectively. 
   Referring to  FIG. 12 , which illustrates a chart summarizing the takt-rate requirement for the various consolidation options, clearly, in this example, the takt-rate (and hence required capacity) for black and white printing is minimized by choosing the option of consolidation at print shop  101  (S 1 ) and  102  (S 2 ). 
   A similar analysis can be performed for other production functions such as Color Printing. The capacity requirement can be mapped to a cost number and then various cost numbers for each function including costs of facility, labor and other related items can be aggregated into a single cost number for each option (Step  209  of  FIG. 2 ). This can be sorted to provide an overall consolidation recommendation (Step  210  of  FIG. 2 ). 
   It is possible to extend the example given above to a more general case where there are a total of n number of print shops to be consolidated and k (&lt;n) number of desired shops after consolidation. In order to appreciate how the system  110  determines all possible consolidation configurations in such a general case, it is useful to express the total number of possible configurations P k  to consolidate n shops to k shops as follows: 
   
     
       
         
           
             
               
                 
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     FIG. 13  illustrates a block-diagram of operational modules of the consolidation process for the more general case. In order to determine the best consolidation options, it is necessary to search for configurations that have the minimal Takt rate through all P possible configurations. 
   It will be appreciated that variations of the above-disclosed and other features, aspects and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be desirably combined into many other different systems or applications. 
   Also, it will be appreciated that various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations or improvements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in the art which are also intended to be encompassed by the following claims.