Each business solution we develop comes from understanding a company’s existing processes, stakeholders, and end-goals. Once we understand the need, we create customized workflows that meet business goals.
Often times, these workflows require TSG to create custom job controllers. A job controller is a unique piece of hardware or software—often a combination of both—created for a specific application.
The following case study features a job controller created by TSG to achieve a business objective. This case study is laid out in the same way we approach creating a job controller: Identify the need, develop and test a workflow, and deploy the workflow as a solution. This particular case study focuses on our ability to match and encode products with a quick and accurate workflow.
Client A
Client A creates student testing materials (booklets, answer sheets, and other documents). Most standardized testing booklets use barcodes encoded with a variety of information. Client A uses these barcodes to track and verify booklets during production and shipping. Each booklet type needs to be in a particular order as it’s bundled for shipment. Additionally, not every booklet is the same.
In this case, our client had three different versions of testing booklets: version A, version B, and version C. Each version needed a barcode encoded with a unique serial number.
Job Controller
The job controller created by TSG ensures each booklet runs in the correct order with no booklets missing. It also ensures each booklet is the expected version (A, B, or C). It prints a serial number on each booklet and then ensures the printed barcode is readable by assigning a quality grade to each barcode. If the booklet is not the correct type—or if the barcode is not readable, not correct, or below below a defined grade of quality—the book is rejected.
Summary of Solutions
Here’s a look at the different solutions TSG created to properly match and encode each testing booklet for Client A.
| CLIENT A | |
| NEEDS | DEVELOPED SOLUTIONS |
| The sales team of Client A needed a way to design custom jobs based on the needs of their clients. | TSG created a website to input all details for the job, which exports job information and a data file to the different printing machines. |
| Client A needed to be able to track each booklet during the printing process. | TSG developed software to verify each booklet is the correct version. This software also verifies each booklet is encoded with a functional barcode that will meet Client A’s shipping facility standards. |
| Booklets needed quality checks to ensure their barcodes were printed properly and encoded with accurate information. | TSG developed a quality control station with cameras that make sure the barcodes are marked as completed.The job controller created by TSG ensured that each book is placed in the correct pack, carton, and pallet and prints labels for each of those. There is a 2-camera QC station that verifies that each pack has the correct label and top and bottom book barcodes. |
Conclusion
Our method is agile. As an integrative company, we create solutions that are tailor made to your problem. We make sense of massive amounts of variable data through visibility, tracking, and end-to-end highly variable document creation.
In the most simple of terms, we connect dots. We understand multiple specialties, how they impact each other, and foster collaboration to achieve an end goal. As integrators, we make the connections, execute the business plan, hold the Leadership Team accountable and act as the steady force of progress. We create organizational clarity. We generate team unity. We force harmony and resolution.