Last week I was surprised to find my usually unperturbable friend Norm looking rather pale and agitated. To my concerned enquiry he confessed that he had given in to the combined pleading of his wife, children and doctor, and had agreed to give up cigarettes for Lent.
"I just can't seem to get on with a pipe at all", he confessed. "They even gave me one of those big Meerschaum ones for Christmas."
"Of course, quitting smoking has often been the making or breaking of print companies", he added, with something approaching his usual twinkle starting to reappear.
"How on earth can you make a connection between giving up smoking and running a print company?" I demanded.
"Well, you see, if a printer is a bit disorganised and also a smoker, he will tend to do his calculations for estimates on the backs of fag packets", he replied. "We all know it's not a good idea, but as long as he doesn't lose the fag packet he is usually OK. And a fag packet is much easier to find in a waste bin than a crumpled sheet of A4 paper. But when he gives up smoking he is faced with a new problem - what shall I do the calculations on now?"
"But don't people use specially designed fill-in-the-box job sheets?" I asked, trying hard to show off my little knowledge. "Yes. And they some-times fill them in accurately." Norm answered guardedly. "But the job sheets, useful or not, are lost as frequently as the fag packet was thrown away. So it's back to square one !"
"What about computers?", I proffered. "Yes, you don't tend to throw them away", he laughed. "But if you're after a system to calculate and record everything properly for you - you have to try it out thoroughly first. It's a minefield out there. You wouldn't catch me buying a car without driving it first! It's the same with MIS."
It's a funny old game, printing, isn't it?
Test drive Printpak yourself, whether you've given up or not. Download a copy from http://www.printpak.com/.
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