01 · Enquiry
Capture the requested job
Customer, quantity, dimensions, material, finishing, due date and attached artwork are placed into a structured draft. Missing information stays visibly missing.
Commercial printers · Sign makers · Wide-format shops
Print workflow automation for commercial printers and sign makers
Most print jobs are typed three or four times: from the enquiry email into the estimate, from the estimate into the proof request, and from the approved proof onto the job bag. We connect the information already present in the enquiry, quote and approved proof so your team checks each handoff instead of retyping it. Pricing judgement, artwork and customer approval stay with the people responsible for them.
Fixed scopeQuoted before work starts
Human controlDecisions stay with your team
Honest boundaryKeep existing systems where they work
The same job, without six versions of its specification
The useful record already exists by the time a job reaches the floor. The problem is that its fields are scattered across an email, a quote, an artwork file, an approval reply and a handwritten note. We establish which record owns each field, then carry confirmed information forward.
02 · Quote
Apply your existing rules
Repeatable items are priced from the rate card or rules you already use. Anything that needs estimator judgement waits for the estimator rather than being invented.
03 · Proof
Keep versions together
The proof, the job reference and the customer conversation remain linked so the team can see which version is actually awaiting approval.
04 · Approval
Record an explicit decision
Approval is logged against the correct proof. Silence, a delivery receipt or an unrelated reply is never treated as permission to produce.
05 · Job ticket
Carry confirmed fields forward
The approved specification becomes the production ticket with finishing, due date and artwork link intact. Exceptions remain marked for review.
06 · Status
Show what is actually happening
A board can show queued, proofing, approved, in production and complete—but only from events your team can record reliably.
One made-to-order job, followed from inbox to floor
This is an illustrative workflow. The exact fields and approval points come from your own process, not a generic print template.
A repeat exhibition-panel order with a changed size
- Enquiry arrives
- The email, requested dimensions, quantity, deadline and artwork attachment receive one job reference.
- Quote is drafted
- Known material and finishing rules are applied; the changed size is highlighted for the estimator to confirm.
- Proof goes out
- The proof version and sent time are recorded against the same job rather than in a separate inbox trail.
- Customer approves
- The explicit approval is attached to that version. A requested amendment returns the job to proofing instead.
- Ticket reaches production
- Only confirmed specification fields are carried forward, with the approved artwork linked and unresolved items still visible.
Automate the handoff, not the judgement
A made-to-order job is not a commodity order. The system should reduce clerical repetition while making the points that need experience easier to see.
Good automation candidates
Facts already agreed
- Copying customer and job details
- Applying documented rate-card rules
- Chasing an outstanding proof
- Generating a ticket from approved fields
- Showing a recorded production state
Human decisions retained
Work that needs authority or craft
- Pricing an exception or unusual substrate
- Assessing or amending artwork
- Approving on the customer's behalf
- Choosing a production method
- Accepting an unresolved specification
The existing-system rule: if your MIS already moves an accepted quote into a complete job ticket, we do not rebuild that feature. We look for the unsupported handoff around it, or tell you the process is already covered.
A bounded build, with the exclusions written down
Automation project
Fixed price from £1,495
- Current handoff mapped before the build
- Named input, output and review points
- Connection to supported exports or interfaces
- Working system, documentation and code you own
Quoted separately or excluded
No vague “end-to-end” promise
- New MIS, RIP or machine integration
- Writing a rate card that does not exist
- Artwork production or pre-flight decisions
- Hardware, scanners and wall screens
- Shop-floor process change
When we would tell you not to buy: if every job is genuinely priced from fresh judgement, proof approvals return promptly and the accepted specification already creates the ticket, another automation layer would add maintenance without removing meaningful work.
Questions printers and sign makers ask
Do we need to replace our print MIS?
Usually not. We first check whether it offers a supported import, export or API and whether the missing work sits before or after it. Connection is normally safer than replacement.
Can it price every custom job?
No. It can apply rules you can state and surface what does not fit them. A genuinely unusual job stays with the estimator; the system should not disguise a guess as a price.
Can approval be taken from an email?
It can be recorded from an explicit response linked to the correct proof version. Silence and ambiguous replies remain unresolved for a person to check.
Will this connect to our machines?
Only when a named machine, RIP or MIS exposes a supported route that we have assessed and included in writing. Machine integration is never assumed from a sales call.
How is this different from web-to-print?
Web-to-print suits standard products a customer can configure and order online. This is for made-to-order and trade work that arrives by email or phone and needs an estimator, a proof and a decision before it reaches production. Some businesses need both; we will say which one your work calls for.
Can it chase proofs that have gone quiet?
Yes. An unanswered proof can trigger a reminder after the interval you choose, and the job shows as waiting on the customer rather than sitting in someone's inbox. The reminder never approves anything; it only asks.
Sign and print work is where we started
BEL Signs, a Sussex sign maker, ran its quotes, works orders and job sheets on a system built for them in 2008, every working day for 18 years. In 2026 we rebuilt it as WORMS 2, keeping every quote, job and customer. It covers the same ground as this page: a quote that becomes a job, and a complete job sheet the workshop can trust. Read the BEL Signs case study, or see our job tracking software for sign makers page, which also covers a full job system for sign-making and installation rather than automation around an existing MIS.
Built and supported locally
Based in Horsham, we work on site across Sussex and Surrey. Explore the practical starting points for businesses in Worthing, Brighton and Hove.
Bring one recent job that was typed twice
The first call is fifteen minutes and free. We will trace the handoffs and tell you whether there is a sensible first automation—or whether your existing system already does enough.
If the honest answer is that the process needs the system rebuilt rather than one step automated, that is a bespoke quote, proof and job-ticket system.