Paul Grieco

BY CAROLINE MILLER Implementing a new computer management system can sometimes feel like a reoccurring nightmare that leaves you feeling dazed, confused and just plain exhausted. But whether you are buying your first system, going through an upgrade or looking at a completely new system, there are several steps you can take to avoid waking up in a cold sweat. "The ideal implementation includes smart people using smart technology that is supported by smart people," remarks Paul Grieco, president of Printers Software. So what makes an implementation successful? Several computer management vendors recently discussed the "do's" and "don'ts" of software implementation with Printing Impressions.

Discipline, flexibility, planning, responsibility—key ingredients to successfully implementing computer management systems. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO The installation of a computer management system is not purely an academic process—it is an arduous, yet ultimately beneficial, production process that must be initiated, controlled and completed without impeding the regular, day-to-day business tasks of any commercial printing operation. Easier said than done. In a perfect world, implementing new software solutions for estimating, electronic job ticketing, job costing, job invoicing, inventory tracking—essentially every administrative data collection component of a print production cycle—would be as easy as sticking a disk into a CD drive and executing a few,

Job tickets—which have been around since Gutenberg, if only in an elementary form—have evolved from handwritten envelopes to computerized, customized, global documents. In the new millennium, that evolution continues as job tickets are transformed from mere digital versions of their paper-based predecessors to virtual windows in the production process. BY CHERYL A. ADAMS "Our crystal ball indicates that, not only will print buying on the Internet become widespread, but also, in many cases, the management systems that the printer uses [such as those for electronic job ticketing applications] will be run totally over the Internet, as well," says Carol Andersen, president of Micro