Patent ID: 8564813

Claim:
A printing system comprising an order management server and a plurality of printing location apparatuses, the order management server configured to receive printing orders placed from a plurality of order placement location apparatuses via a network and to distribute the received printing orders to the plurality of printing location apparatuses via the network, wherein each printing location apparatus comprises a notification unit configured to notify a printing order estimated time, which is a time taken for completing processing of a printing order of each printing article that has been received from the order management server and is in a processing waiting state, to the order management server at a predetermined time interval, and wherein the order management server comprises: a storage unit configured to store a plurality of printing orders placed from the order placement location apparatuses; an updating unit configured to update printing order estimated time information according to each printing order estimated time notified from each printing location apparatus; a determination unit configured to determine a printing location apparatus or apparatuses to which to distribute the plurality of printing orders stored in the storage unit according to a content of each printing order placed from any of the order placement location apparatuses and the printing order estimated time information notified from the notification unit; and a transfer unit configured to transfer the printing orders stored in the storage unit to the printing location apparatus or apparatuses determined by the determination unit; and wherein the determination unit comprises: a combination calculation unit configured to calculate all combinations of methods for distributing the plurality of printing orders stored in the storage unit to the plurality of printing location apparatuses, which are managed by the order management server, based on the printing order estimated time information notified from each printing location apparatus; an estimated time calculation unit configured to calculate, with respect to each combination calculated by the combination calculation unit, an estimated time to be taken for completing processing of printing orders distributed to each printing location apparatus; and an idle time calculation unit configured to calculate an idle time based on a difference between a maximum value of the estimated time calculated by the estimated time calculation unit and the estimated time to be taken for completing the processing of each printing order distributed to each printing location apparatus, and wherein the determination unit is configured to select a combination with which a total of idle times of all of the printing location apparatuses becomes smallest.