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Traffic Updates

Can anyone recommend a practical method by which jobs are updated weekly after a traffic meeting? i.e., which status reports are most helpful, scheduling tasks, etc. Do your traffic managers spend a lot of time updating schedules? There are so many capabilities, it's sometimes confusing.

Thanks,

Carolyn Lorence
Core Creative

I use the Daily Status report, it's under View>Daily Job Status, I request all jobs with active status numbers (in my case 100 to 455), sort them by job number, and then you can edit all the active jobs at once by status including notes. You hit save when you're done and it updates everything at once. Hope this helps!

Lauren Cohen
Traffic & Production Manager
Words & Images

I have been using C&P for about 2 years now. I have used it with 2 separate companies and both companies seem to work well with the method I use. The daily job status report is a wonderful tool. Your traffic manager can update each individual job and print out a report rather quickly. It takes on an average 10 to 15 minutes to update the jobs, print the report and pass them out. I update our report every morning with key words like "layout due Mon. (8/13)" or "Awaiting estimate sign off." This keeps everyone up to date. You can print this report by production status code. Go to View, choose "daily job status, pick your status codes... and there you go. Hope this helps.

Adrianne Fenimore
Banowetz + Company, inc

Like Adrianne and Lauren (Hi Adrianne!) we use the Daily Job Status with the notes and update the status daily, passing around the report every morning at 8:30. We then have a job status board with which we can make updates if any changes occur during the day. The Daily Hit Sheet (as we call it) has only active jobs (those with signed estimates), once a week we print out a complete report with all jobs for our weekly Staff Meeting. My traffic manager spends no more than an hour a day (not continuous) on these reports, and often less than that.

The problem with using C & P's scheduling function for traffic is the schedules aren't flexible enough for us to print out both internal and Client schedules, plus each task has to be marked complete as it's done. Therefore we use an external scheduling program we created (based on File Maker Pro) to do the actual job schedules.

Jan Scogin
RSW Creative

We found the Daily Job Status is a good start. We ended up writing a custom report which includes AE, Artist/Team , and delivery date. This is sorted by Production Status.

Jerry Bray
Harvey & Daughters

Well, it is a big list but here goes. Six months ago I didn't know C&P and had just finished my MBA. Have worked for Echostar over the last 12 years as a vendor and the position of scheduler and C&P guru was created for me. Attended the class in Oceanside with Mindy teaching, which got me off to a good start. I have created operations and procedures for the creative services department, which consists of 64 people. It has 4 divisions: creative, video, Internet and live broadcast. I schedule anywhere from 30-40 jobs per day with the average of 200 jobs in shop at any one time, with the same amount being closed daily. We process all orders from design logos in on day to fulfillment of millions of printed pieces for both logistics, mail, Internet post or direct delivery. Now for C&P: I monitor all day long a variety of time sheets, clocks, status reports, productions reports and productivity reports. We have a master production meeting in the morning at 8am with 4 production specialists who manage the creative teams. Then again at about 5pm. I send and receive reports out all day long via the e-mail service in C&P or on pdf file. All status codes are auto mailed to me and I track all job progress by status, not traffic. Specialists also update their own jobs whenever the changes occur. Way too much for one person. They also enter their own job tickets. Status codes and traffic are identical, and have used traffic milestones on occasion when management needs to sign off on critical dates. Almost all scheduling is done electronically, other than the first initial paper job ticket. I enter and track from my master custom report I wrote that consists of 13 status codes. I can tell you where any job is at any time and where that artist is with it, one of the 22 on staff, time in production at any stage of routing or approval. We also have 2 maganatag boards we schedule for the big important jobs that require expediting where scheduling and trafficking rules do not apply. They get done on the spot and no software or board really helps. If DISH does end up acquiring Direct TV, we'll be off like a herd of turtles. Then I'll really be busy. Let you know then. Don't know if any of this was really a practical solution, just have to create your own like I did. They had no system before I installed C&P. Good Luck.

Roger Reynolds
Creative Services

The traffic areas of Clients & Profits are designed so that you can use them at different levels.

Production and Billing Status Codes
Traffic Assignments
Milestones
Scheduling

You can use one or more of these to help you track your jobs and who's responsible for them. As your agency gets larger you can add on new features at anytime.

Checkout the "Better Job Trafficking" newsletter on our web site:

http://www.cnp-x.com/support/newsletters.html

Thanks,

Rhonda Brazelton
Clients & Profits R&D

Note: There are lots of ways of how to motivate artists and management to complete status and time reports, like free lunches and time off, but here with 1500 unemployed graphic designers in Denver, their choice is either 5 minutes a day entering numbers or all day looking at the classifieds. Much resistance, stepping on toes and flared tempers but when the reports show something like 70 hours with 3 artists on a comp that never went anywhere, they realize where the time goes and the overall benefit of creative services as a stand alone profit center. Just make it work, and just say "no" to one word solutions:-) RR

Roger Reynolds
Creative Services