Historically, corrugated companies have purchased computer systems to handle most tasks that can be automated. From the front office personnel using order entry, quoting, scheduling and accounting systems, the sales department using contact management software, the design department with its CAD systems, all the way to the shipping department with software for UPS, Federal Express and label printing.

Through this process of becoming computerized, each department becomes more efficient.  But…there is still the problem of passing information between departments, especially for the design department and its CAD system. Then, along comes iNFORM.

INFORM is a two-way CAD link to business systems that increases the efficiency in corrugated plants. Business systems can be defined as existing software used in the packaging industry such as those manufactured by HRMS,  or general business software used in packaging plants for quoting, order entry, sample requests, and scheduling.

INFORM, which is based on the popular Impact CAD software, used by more than 3,000 designers worldwide, resides in the customer service area and acts as the liaison between the business system, the CAD system and the design department.

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	Print factory tickets, including 'to-scale' designs complete with graphics
	Receive sample requests from CSR's, and automatically create the design from a standard library of designs
	Send CAD data to estimators that originates as a creative design

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Each link works via a network between the business system, iNFORM, the CAD system, and the samplemaker. The Factory Spec is the most popular of the three functions of the iNFORM links. Most corrugated plants seem to use job tickets that may have a rough outline of the box on the form, but the rough is not drawn to scale and is without graphics. In fact, some plants still use scissors and manually cut and paste a drawing onto the job ticket, while other plants order a print card from their die manufacturer and attach it on a separate page.

But with the Factory Spec Option, the Customer Service representative simply inputs the order as usual in the business system and completes the order.

iNFORM continuously monitors the network and, once this order is placed, will automatically load the order information and print the integrated Factory Spec Card to the color printer. This is all done without an operator.

If the order is a new standard design, iNFORM generates the dimensioned drawing and puts the new standard on the printout.If there are graphics to be added, the operator can use a scanner or import the graphics from diskette or e-mail supplied from the customer.

Once graphics are added, the card is re-printed and sent to the shop floor. At this time, the job, complete with graphics, is permanently saved with the drawing. And, on any re-order of the box, the factory spec card will print again with order information and a to-scale design with graphics included.

The Sample Request link is a true timesaver for the Design Department and provides quick turnaround for salespeople to get samples to customers. Many times, the samples needed are from standard designs such RSC’s, POL’s, or OPF’s, and iNFORM can create these and many others without designer intervention. 

Just as with the factory spec card, iNFORM monitors the system for sample requests to be keyed by Customer Service representatives or salespeople. It then picks up the specification and matches it to the standard design library, creates the design with all the allowances per the company’s specs, and then sends the samplemaker-ready file over the network to the samplemaker’s front-end computer.

A print-out also appears in the design room, stating that a sample request is at the samplemaker and informing the operator of the board type and other information needed to proceed with the samplemaking. 

Depending on the work load in the Design Department, the designer, an after-school part timer, or the actual salesperson can load the board and start the samplemaker cutting the samples.

An additional plug-in feature to the Sample Request System is the Sample Assistant, which uses a Label Printer and will print sample information on a label to adhere directly to the sample.

This information is automatically generated from INFORM as well.  If you cut five samples, the Sample Assistant will print five labels.  

The Sample Assistant also includes other features quite valuable to the designer. All samples, mylars or e-mails are logged into the electronic sample database so reports can be generated, such as the number of samples generated a week per designer, the number of samples per salesperson, or the number of samples that became orders.

Finally, we find that most designers in most corrugated plants use a manually written form or a scratch sheet of paper to pass on information to Customer Service concerning special die cut designs that they create. Since Impact CAD, used in the Design Department, already knows the information that Customer Service needs regarding style, length, width, depth, board grade, test, and blank size, this information can now be electronically sent to the business system in Customer Service via iNFORM’s CAD Estimate link.

Most fields are automatically filled out by Impact CAD, and the designer can add to or override this data. Once pleased, the designer initiates the CAD estimate from his/her menu and the file is electronically sent over the network to Customer Service. A CAD estimate printout can then be generated in Customer Service to let the representative know the CAD estimate is ready for quoting.

Between the factory spec card for orders, sample requests for both Sales and Design Departments, and the CAD estimate for getting information to Customer Service for quoting, iNFORM’s two-way link has come a long way in improving efficiency in corrugated plants and is the proven CAD link to business systems.

• Based on Impact CAD, an industry leader in CAD software for Packaging
• "Automated" designer for creating common box styles unattended
• Creates/Assigns Customers for Organization/Searching/Reporting
• Automatically Saves Important Information to the Database
• Customizable Allowances
• Customer Provided Allowances
• Links with the Sample Assistant
• Large Symbol Library with many common graphics in common ink colors
• Customizable Symbols/Graphics
• Customizable and Automated Cert Stamp (BMC) placement
• Individual Customer BMC's
• BMC's (cert stamps) on Printed Boxes
• Order Logging and Historical Information
• The Slotted Container Wizard for creating common box styles
• Factory Spec Cards
  • Customizable Forms
    • Choose from Numerous Pre-defined Templates or Create Your Own
    • Unlimited Paper Sizes
    • True-Type Fonts using Colors
  • Full Color Graphics
  • Duplicate Spec Card Option for Other Departments
  • Separate Print Card Option for Detailed Graphics
  • Can be Printed through the Link, or Offline
• Sample Requests
  • Customizable Forms
    • Choose a Template or Create Your Own
    • Unlimited Paper Sizes
    • True-Type Fonts using Colors
  • Geometry Automatically Sent to Sample Table
• CAD Estimate
  • Sends CAD Information to Business System for Estimating
  • User Chosen Fields to Send for Estimating
  • CAD Estimate Confirmation Form

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