Up to 80% of complex print buys end up requiring changes during the production process, which can add 10-20% to the final price. Multiply the latter by the number of print buys in a year and you’re talking real money. And that’s not counting lost time and efficiency.
Change orders are not only common for customized printing, but they’re also awkward to handle. Accounting systems, ERPs, and procurement software do a poor job of change order tracking, approval and invoicing.
For instance, a print buyer’s finance department might deal with change orders by setting up accounts payable to automatically pay bills that exceed the original quote as long as the increase falls within a certain range like 10-20%. Buyers just budget extra for probable increases.
Alternatively, if printers expect a 10-20% greater cost because of change orders, they’ll price projects higher to cover it without billing the buyer for any specific changes. If there are fewer changes than printers anticipate and price for, they pocket the difference.
Buyers who don’t cover change orders by over budgeting can run into system problems. ERP or general procurement systems used by a number of large organizations aren’t built for handling print buys. When a change order comes in, the accounting system stops and won’t move the payment forward. Because the system can’t process a billing change, it has to be handled manually as a workaround.
Putting in place defense tactics and workarounds assume change orders are inevitable—they’re going to happen and when they do, they’ll be a pain to deal with. But while change orders can’t be totally eliminated for custom printing, they can be a lot less painful.
The print buyer’s change order solution
eLynxx Solutions print buyer’s software is specifically designed for managing the printing process. It significantly reduces change orders and handles the unavoidable ones much more smoothly.
One example. eLynxx software makes it easy to manage the milestones in the production process. All the steps where something can go wrong are automatically handled. For instance, if a press check is due Tuesday, eLynxx alerts the buyer to the upcoming date. Without eLynxx, the buyer can try to keep track of milestones on all the projects. Maybe on a piece of paper or maybe on a spreadsheet. But forget a press check and the printer charges for the time the press waits.
eLynxx software also helps eliminate mistakes or confusion resulting from unclear specs by getting the specs right from the beginning. The software ensures that communication is clear, specs are clear, milestones are checked, quality and quantity are checked and no balls are dropped.
eLynxx expedites projects when changes do occur. Because with the specialized software, resolving them is easy and fast. eLynxx, manages pricing and approval of the change orders by both sides. When the buyer makes changes, the software alerts the printer. eLynxx makes the information auditable and presents it in final form to the ERP or accounting system. With eLynxx, there’s never an argument over price. Because both the buyer and printer approve change orders—there are no billing surprises.
eLynxx is the only print management software that handles change orders in a sophisticated way, with monitoring, approvals, and interfacing with other systems.
Using eLynxx print buyer’s software saves print buyers time, hassles and money
- Bringing efficiencies for writing specs from hours to minutes, and time needed for obtaining pricing from days to hours (saves time)
- Allowing your own vendors to quickly respond to your request for competition on your projects (saves 20-40% on price)
- Controlling communications, specs, and details to eliminate or reduce change orders (saves hassles and up to 15% on price)
Change orders are neither inevitable nor inevitably painful with eLynxx. For a demonstration or information, contact info@elynxx.com or 717-709-0990.
Mike isn’t just the Director of Marketing at eLynxx Solutions – he’s a customer-whisperer, a growth alchemist, and a trend-spotting oracle all rolled into one. His passion lies in igniting interest in eLynxx’s innovative solutions, fueling the company’s customer base, and using client feedback to steer the industry towards a brighter future.