Patent ID: 8798785

Claim:
A method for tracking documents within a document production pathway, the method comprising: defining, using a processor, a production sequence of discrete tasks to be performed on each of a plurality of documents to be produced by a document production facility, wherein each of the plurality of documents is assigned a sequence number operable to individually identify each of the plurality of documents; defining, using the processor, a production pathway in the document production facility to produce each of the plurality of documents; defining, using the processor, a document sequence for the plurality of documents to be produced; performing the production sequence of discrete tasks on each of the plurality of documents in the production pathway; placing each of the plurality of documents in one or more trays in the document sequence after each of the discrete tasks is performed; tagging each of the one or more trays with a tray identifier operable to individually identify each of the one or more trays; determining, using the processor, the sequence number for each of the first document of the plurality of documents placed in each tray and the last document of the plurality of documents placed in each tray; recording, using the processor and a database, associations between the sequence numbers for each of the first document of the plurality of documents placed in each tray and the last document of the plurality of documents placed in each tray and tray identifiers for each of the one or more trays after each discrete task in the production sequence is performed; and tracking, using the processor, each tray within the production pathway in the database.