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Newspages 2006 2nd Qtr Spotlight

Product Spotlight on UnForm

N E W S . P A G E S ◊ 2006 . Quarter . 2

Product Spotlight on UnForm

Zero Error Rate

at Hodges Badge

“Getting orders right” is usually a pre-requisite of staying in business and providing the kind of service that keeps customers coming back, and frequently is what separates industry leaders from the rest of the pack.

In a supply business where customer artwork is involved, and where customers’ show and event timetables are not flexible, “getting orders right” becomes an even more crucial barometer to success.

Imagine a single company that produces fully HALF of all award ribbons used in the USA. That’s Hodges Badge Company, located in Portsmouth, Rhode Island.

Now imagine that same company manually photocopying customer artwork, and manually taping or pasting it to the front page of every order. As recently as 2003, that’s how it was done at Hodges.

Enter UnForm.

Using UnForm and Image Alchemy, Hodges now rasterizes customers’ image files “on the fly”, and incorporates them directly into order documents during printing.

Since they implemented this system three years ago, owner and CEO Rick Hodges knows of no errors where a customer has received an order with the wrong logo, or where a logo’s orientation was incorrect.

Every print job processed on Hodges’ Linux-based order processing system is piped through UnForm. They have about 40 “rule files” that they created in-house that handle everything from purchase orders to sales orders to barcodes.

Rick considers that Hodges Badge is “very automated” for what he describes as “a basic business like ours”, and points to their extensive network integration of Linux and Windows, factory terminals, and RF scanning as examples.

Now, with over 15,000 custom logos in their library of active customer artwork housed on a Windows NT server in JPG format, the process of controlling and managing the flow of this crucial element of the manufacturing and fulfillment process has evolved with technology, in a classic “market-share/profitability-growth-leveraged-by-technology” fashion.

Here is a description of the underlying technical process at work during order generation where UnForm comes into play. This is a summarization of what's coded in the UnForm rule file, which is reproduced in its entirety at the bottom of this article.

UnForm detects an order with a die number reference. The die number is the reference to the image. If there is no die number reference a different production order rule file will be detected with a different set of commands.

In the prejob { } routine get ( ) commands are used to get certain order info into expression variables for later reference by UnForm, and to lookup order header and customer data directly from the data files, using BBx file open ( ) and read ( ) commands. The die number is one of the pieces of order data read from the order header file.

In the prepage { } routine the existence of an order die number causes the logostatus flag to be null (rather than 'F') , and causes code to resolve the network directory location of the die image file to be processed.

Three values are needed to resolve the location of the image properly: a design number, a design letter, and a design directory. Code in the prepage section handles pulling this info out and building the full path and filename to the proper image file.

At the end of the prepage section the command is built to invoke the Image Alchemy graphic file conversion with the resolved path and file name, and a BBx scall ( ) command is used to execute it, causing a 450x450 pcl-compatible image to be created in the UnForm directory from the art department's TIF file version.

A precopy { } block sets up some SKIP logic so that multiple page orders can be processed properly. The die image and a barcode is only printed on page 1 of an order, so subsequent order pages are formatted differently than page 1. Only page 1 of an order document is assigned to copy 1, and all subsequent pages are assigned to copy 2.

The actual form printing text and graphic enhancement commands are then established within IF COPY 1 or IF COPY 2 clauses.

A postjob { } section to expreslly erase the image file is included at the end, so that an order with no die number reference does not duplicate the image from the last order.

Below is an image of the production order produced by UnForm. Hodges has chosen to font and bold mainly order header and form label data, but for the most part leave the main order data in the mono-spaced courier font. While many companies choose to enhance all text with some combination of complementary proportional fonts and attributes, our experience at SDSI shows that many companies also intentionally choose to leave certain form text in what some think of as a more "unenhanced" courier mono-spaced font, as a way for that data to stand out more as variable data from the rest of the text on the form.

The customer's artwork logo we have been discussing can be seen in the bottom right section above the total charges.

SDSI enjoys counting Hodges Badge Company as one of its end-users. Their proud family-owned heritage is an inspirational story that it's nice to be a part of, in an evolving-technology sort of a way. Visit the elaborate and colorful Hodges web site at www.hodgesbadge.com, and read more about founding great-grandfather William Hodges and his two younger daughters Anna and Emaline, who together in 1920, probably couldn’t envision the ways in which their order-taking, assembly and stitching operations would evolve to command such a large share of this interesting recreational market.

Thank you to Rick Hodges and Jenn Bento for sharing this unique implementation of UnForm with all of us. And best of luck to Rick and family hanging all those ribbons on all those horses. After all, someone’s gotta do it …

The rule set instructions as provided by Hodges are shown below.

TECH TIP RULE FILE:
[Hodges Production Order With Die on Page 1]

detect 0,0,"HODGES PRODUCTION ORDER WITH DIE"

# Detect anywhere on the page
# This is set at line 5104 in H.ORDER.PRINTING.1 when PASS=0 and die$ <>""
# There are different rule files for orders with dies and orders without dies.

dpi 600
cols 80
rows 66
pcopies 2

#constants - from logo printing
const textcol=18
const textattr=cgtimes,13
const lgtext=cgtimes,20,bold
const ltrhd=univers,8,bold
const designpath$="/artdept/"

#set the font for the page as 12 pitch courier (note pitch, not point as it is a fixed font!)
#non-proportional
font 0,0,66,80,courier,10

# find the parts of the order number

prejob{

acknowledgement1$=cvs(get(29,7,3),3)
ordernum1$=cvs(get(69,7,2),3)
ordernum2$=cvs(get(72,7,6),3)
custnum1$=cvs(get(44,7,9),3)
promised1$=cvs(get(61,8,8),3)
event1$=cvs(get(61,10,8),3)

horderheaders=unt; open(horderheaders)"/u/hbc/data/H.ORDER.HEADERS"

read (horderheaders,key=get(69,7,2)+get(72,7,6),tim=30)\
*,*,*,*,*,*,*,shipby$,*,*,*,*,*,*,*,init$\
,order,*,*,*,*,*,*,*,*,die$,*,*,*,*,time,*,*,web$,repeat$,*,change$

hcustomers=unt; open(hcustomers)"/u/hbc/data/H.CUSTOMERS"

read (hcustomers,key=get(44,7,9),tim=30)\
a3$,b3$,org$,bill2$,bill3$,bill4$,billfone$,billfax$,bille$\
,shipname$,ship2$,ship3$,ship4$,shipzip$,shipfone$,shipfax$,shipe$,listinfo$,type$,first$\
,thisyear,lastyear,allyears,history1$,history2$,key$,coment$,ccard$,paycode3$,lastcode$,limit\
,state$,tax$,designs$,c3$,d3$,e3$,f3$

}

prepage {

if acknowledgement1$="ACK" then acknowledgement1$="ORDER ACKNOWLEDGEMENT"\
else acknowledgement1$=""
if key$<>"" then keytext$="Acct Mgr: "+key$ else keytext$=""
if shipby$<>"" then shipby$="Ship By: "+shipby$(3,2)+"/"+shipby$(5)+"/"+shipby$(1,2)\
else shipby$="Ship By: / /"
#if die$<>"" then dietext$="Customer's Design: "+die$
if repeat$<>"" then repeattext$="SKETCHES: "+repeat$ else repeattext$=""
if change$<>"" then changetext$="REVISED " else changetext$=""
if web$<>"" then webtext$="WEB # "+web$ else webtext$=""
if die$<>"" then dietext2$="This order uses a logo. " else logostatus$="F"
if die$<>"" then logotext2$="Printed below is logo # "+die$+"."

# test the design value to see what folder it is in
# since all designs have 5 digit uppercase numbers on tigger (linux), and either 5 or 4 digit
# lowercase #'s on pooh (NT), we need to differentiate based on the dash character in position
# 2 of the file name to tell if this is a stock or custom design

if logostatus$="F" goto done_logostatus_not_F:

# logostatus_not_F

if len(die$)=>6 then die$=die$(1,6); type$="custom"
if die$(2,1)="-" then type$="stock"

# if it is a stock design (based on the dash character) the design letter
# is the first character. If it is a custom design, the design letter is the
# first 2 letters.

if type$="stock" then designltr$=die$(1,1)
if type$<>"stock" then designltr$=die$(1,2)

# whether a stock or custom design, the design number is always the last 3 digits

if num(designnum$)<999 then designnum$=die$(4,3) else designnum$=die$(3,4)
if type$="custom" goto do_type_custom

# do_type_stock

if designltr$(1,1)="A" then designdir$="$a$animals\ stock/"
if designltr$(1,1)="B" then designdir$="$b$athletic\ stock/"
if designltr$(1,1)="C" then designdir$="$c$corporate\ stock/"
if designltr$(1,1)="D" then designdir$=""
if designltr$(1,1)="G" then designdir$="$g$org\ stock/"
if designltr$(1,1)="H" then designdir$="$h$animals\ stock/"
if designltr$(1,1)="M" then designdir$="$m$misc\ stock/"
if designltr$(1,1)="O" then designdir$="$o$drug\ stock/"
if designltr$(1,1)="P" then designdir$="$p$plant\ stock/"
if designltr$(1,1)="X" then designdir$="$x$religion\ stock/"

goto done_logostatus_not_F

do_type_custom:

if designltr$(1,1)="A" and type$="custom" then designdir$="$a$animals\ custom/"
if designltr$(1,1)="B" and type$="custom" then designdir$="$b$athletic\ custom/"
if designltr$(1,1)="C" and type$="custom" then designdir$="$c$corporate\ custom/"
if designltr$(1,1)="D" and type$="custom" then designdir$="$d$hospitals\ custom/"
if designltr$(1,1)="E" and type$="custom" then designdir$="$e$education\ custom/"
if designltr$(1,1)="F" and type$="custom" then designdir$="$f$fair\ custom/"
if designltr$(1,1)="G" and type$="custom" then designdir$="$g$4\-h\ custom/"

# horse shows have 5 sub folders :(

if designltr$(1,2)>="HA" and designltr$(1,2)<="HE" then designdir$="$h$horse\ custom\/hahe/"
if designltr$(1,2)>="HF" and designltr$(1,2)<="HJ" then designdir$="$h$horse\ custom\/hfhj/"
if designltr$(1,2)>="HK" and designltr$(1,2)<="HO" then designdir$="$h$horse\ custom\/hkho/"
if designltr$(1,2)>="HP" and designltr$(1,2)<="HT" then designdir$="$h$horse\ custom\/hpht/"
if designltr$(1,2)>="HU" and designltr$(1,2)<="HZ" then designdir$="$h$horse\ custom\/huhz/"
if designltr$(1,1)="O" and type$="custom" then designdir$="$o$drug\ custom/"
if designltr$(1,1)="P" and type$="custom" then designdir$="$p$garden\ club\ custom/"
if designltr$(1,1)="R" and type$="custom" then designdir$="$r$rec\ park\ custom/"
if designltr$(1,1)="S" and type$="custom" then designdir$="$s$swim\ custom/"
if designltr$(1,1)="W" and type$="custom" then designdir$="$w$misc\ custom/"
if designltr$(1,1)="X" and type$="custom" then designdir$="$x$religion\ custom/"

#convert designnum$ from uppercase (tigger) to lowercase (pooh)

if type$="stock" then designltr$(1,1)=chr(asc(designltr$(1,1))+32)
if type$="custom" then designltr$(1,1)=chr(asc(designltr$(1,1))+32)
if type$="custom" then designltr$(2,1)=chr(asc(designltr$(2,1))+32)

done_logostatus_not_F:

j1$="/artdept/"
j$=j1$+designdir$+designltr$+designnum$+"*"+".tif"
filein$=j$
fileout$="/u/unform/logo.pcl"

#page 154 of imagealchemy manual convert the image filein$ to HP PCL file called
#fileout$ with dimensions of 450 x 450 at 300 dpi, gamma in is 1.0, gamma out is
#2.0 to compensate for dot gain, with type 3 ditering, a serpentine raster and
#adding dithering noise. -Q is quitet mode = pg 267, the -+ preserves aspect ratio

a$="/u/hbc/alchemy/alchemy "+filein$+" "+fileout$\
   +" -Q -P -o -+ -X450 -Y450 -D 300 300 -Gi 1.0 -Go 2.0 -ds3 10"

a=scall(a$)

btmlinetx$="Hodges Badge Company, Inc. 1170 East Main Road Portsmouth, RI 02871"\
   +" www.hodgesbadge.com Order w/Logo"+date(0,tim:"%M/%D/%Y %Hz:%mz")

# end of prepage routine

}

# if this is the first copy and the page isn't 1, skip it. If it is the second
# copy and the page is 1 then skip it.

precopy {

if copy=1 and get(50,11,6)<>"PAGE 1" then skip=1
if copy=2 and get(50,11,6)="PAGE 1" then skip=1
if copy=2 and get(2,4,3)="ACK" then acknowledgement1$="ORDER ACKNOWLEDGEMENT"

}

if copy = 1

# insert barcode for customer number, ship by date and order number
# using code 39 - 3:1 - no check digit which is 440, see page 32

barcode 12,1,{custnum1$},440,100,3
text 33,1,{shipby$},courier,7,bold
barcode 59,1,{ordernum1$+ordernum2$},440,100,3

# if this is an acknowledgement, print ORDER ACKNOWLEDGEMENT down the page

text 40,21,{acknowledgement1$},univers,35,bold,rotate 270,shade 20

# start printing stuff below the header

text 10,4.5,"HODGES BADGE COMPANY, INC.",univers,12,bold
text 10,5.5,"1170 East Main Road",univers,11
text 10,6.5,"P.O. Box 1290, Portsmouth, RI 02871",univers,11
text 10,7.5,"www.hodgesbadge.com",univers,11
text 1,9,"Telephone 800-556-2440 or 401-682-2000",univers,10
text 1,10,"Fax 800-292-7377 or 401-682-2329",univers,10
text 2,13,"SHIP TO:",cgtimes,11,bold
text 47,13,"BILL TO:",cgtimes,11,bold
text 47,6,"CUSTOMER #",univers,12,bold
text 47,4.5,"ORDER NO.",univers,13,bold
text 47,8,"Promised for Delivery",univers,10
text 47,9,"Stated Event Date", univers,10
text 47,10,{"File: "+get(74,9,13)},univers,10
text 47,11,"ListInfo:",univers,10

# draw a box around the shipto and billto addresses

box 0,12,80,9,10

text 58,6,{custnum1$},univers,12
text 58,4.5,{ordernum1$+ordernum2$},univers,13,bold
text 68,4.5,{changetext$},univers,13,bold
text 65,8,{promised1$},univers,12
text 61,11,{file1$}
text 53,11,{listinfo$},univers,10
text 65,9,{event1$},univers,12
text 70,12,{keycode1$}
text 2,18.75,{"Special Instructions "+get(24,19,20)},12,cgtimes, bold
text 2,19.5,{"Order Entered On: "+get(16,20,8)},9,cgtimes
text 18,19.5,{init$},9,cgtimes
text 23.5,19.5,{webtext$},9,cgtimes
text 2,20.5,{keytext$},12,cgtimes,bold
text 18,20.5,{repeattext$},9,cgtimes

erase 2,19,45,1
erase 2,20,40,1
erase 1,1,80,13
erase 21,1,80,1
erase "Our order",0,0,20,1

text 47,18,{"Invoicing Terms: "+get(64,18,17)},11,cgtimes,bold
erase 47,18,53,1

text 47,19,{"Shipping Instructions: "+get(57,19,15)},11,cgtimes
erase 47,19,53,1

text 60,20,{get(24,20,21)},11,cgtimes,bold # special ship instruct
text 1,60,{"Printing Time: "+str(time)},9,cgtimes
text 1,59,{dietext$},10,cgtimes,bold # cust design number

# bottom line of text, company name, addr, etc.
text 10,66,{btmlinetx$},univers,6

# insert HODGES logo
image 1,1.25,"\u\unform\hodgessmalllogo.pcl"

# actually print the customers logo on the page
# - this fails if there is no logo so nothing gets
# printed in this case

text 60,48,{dietext2$},10,cgtimes
text 60,49.5,{logotext2$},10,cgtimes
image 60,51,"/u/unform/logo.pcl"

# if driver pdf
# image .5,1.25,8,8,"\u\unform\hodgessmalllogo.pdf"

endif

if copy = 2

text 2,4,"HODGES BADGE COMPANY, INC.",univers,12,bold
text 2,5,"1170 East Main Road",univers,11
text 2,6,"P.O. Box 1290, Portsmouth, RI 02871",univers,11
text 2,7,"www.hodgesbadge.com",univers,11
text 2,8.5,"Telephone 800-556-2440 or 401-682-2000",univers,10
text 2,9.5,"Fax 800-292-7377 or 401-682-2329",univers,10

# draw a box around the static info at the top of the page
box 0,3,80,7,8

text 40,4,{"ORDER NO: "+ordernum1$+ordernum2$}

# print a message at the bottom of the page
text 12,65,{"Hodges Badge Company, Inc. 1170 East Main Road Portsmouth, RI 02871"\
   +" www.hodgesbadge.com "+date(0,tim:"%M/%D/%Y %Hz:%mz")},univers,6

erase 1,1,80,13
erase 21,1,80,1
erase "Our order",0,0,20,1

# if this is an acknowledgement, print ORDER ACKNOWLEDGEMENT down the page
text 40,21,{acknowledgement1$},univers,35,bold,rotate 270,shade 20

endif

postpage{

# delete logo.pcl so it doesn't show up if there is a problem w/file conversion
# on the next order

b$="rm -f /u/unform/logo.pcl"
b=scall(b$)

}

<eof>

Look for this product spotlight feature in every issue of our quarterly News.Pages.

UnForm and CirrusPrint are registered trademarks of SDSI. General and MailCall are trademarks of SDSI. Other product names used herein may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. SDSI uses Google analytics and conversion tracking on some site pages. Site design by ZiMDesign.