stupid, stupid director

[ihateprepress]

It seems the spiel I've used for 7 years is now a cop-out.

" Whilst every precaution has been taken to ensure accuracy, please READ AND CHECK carefully the entire artwork, as it is your responsibility to indicate any changes or errors."

Here's the gist...
We received printready artwork for a self-sealing form that is filled out, folded and sealed to be dropped in the mail. The art was specific to Victoria. A few days later, the same job popped up for 3 other states, though we needed to make the necessary alts.

The instruction was to change the address and get soft-proofs through straight away. We didn't have live jobs for them, just a client screaming down the phone, but since they're one of our biggest, I appeased her demands.

Using the new artwork as a base I began making the address changes. Whilst doing so, I noticed that each state had a specific barcode on the front. Not a worry, as I changed this and gave the client a heads-up that they were also being changed. She was unaware and therefore grateful, as it would have been $20k worth of useless, incorrectly barcoded, evelopy-foldy-things. She signed them off and we ran out the plates.

All 3 states were printed and upon completion of the job, our production manager came up stairs and informed me that there was an error on the reverse. I said something supportive, like "that's a damn shame" and he asked what I'd like him to do about it. I pointed out the approved proof and he's let out a sigh of relief and went off into the distance. I organised an overprint to rectify the issue and the job was salvaged.

The client was happy with the job, but our sales rep (also a director) gave me a spray about how this kind of thing shouldn't happen. I mentioned how we don't have a proof-reader and that the client approved THEIR work, that THEY supplied and that had the alts that THEY requested, plus a the proper barcodes that THEY would have missed if it wasn't stumbled across by the prepress.

The fucktard, knuckle-headed mongoloid then produced a printout with some highlighting. It was the quote from above with his input of...

THAT'S A DAMN COP OUT!
"whilst every precaution" WE DIDN'T TAKE EVERY PRECAUTION. DID WE?
WE NEED TO BE ACCOUNTABLE FOR OUR WORK!
THEY ARE OUR BEST FUCKING CLIENT, WE SHOULD GO THE EXTRA MILE.
Etc etc.

I don't really think I need to mention where he went wrong, nor why I was disappointed with his gripe, as it is quite clear.

I calmly pointed out that people make mistakes and that 'most of us' are human. I also pointed out that I was happy to take full responsibility for my reckless and careless oversight. He noted my obviously apparent sarcasm and he asked me to stop being a "condescending bitch". I told him we'd be far less productive if we proof-read every job that came through, and that the instant responses he's accustomed to, would be a thing of the past. Then we went back and forth for about 25mins, yelling and shouting.

The new receptionist has been here for 2 weeks and knows nothing about the printing process. When I left his office, I walked passed and said something along the lines of "you've gotta love this game" and she responded with a nervous smile. She mentioned that she'd overhead the bulk of the "discussion" and that she agreed with my line of argument... Um discussion. She's already smarter than the rep/director that's been selling print for 15 years. Stupid, stupid man.

I've had a little project on the backburner for a while now, but ihateprepress.com is going to get some more attention very soon.

Everything we say sounds like an excuse, as no fucker understands our job.

We're unappreciated, undervalued and underpaid.

We're the most skilled people in the whole printing process, for fucks sake.

The printers at my work are fucking spastic, lazy fucks that refuse to print without IVS - even when they have plates and a job, but the network is down. If I hear another printer say "why drive a manual (stick) when you could drive an auto", I'll kick their fucking teeth out.

Bah, I started typing this as a vent, but the more I type, the more I remember and the more I want to smack my keyboard across someones face.

I need to get some gonads and find another profession. Perhaps I could cut out 90% of my brain and get into sales. Or cut out 98% and become a press operator.

Stupid. Fucking. Prepress.

[Joe]

That was ond fine damn rant. I hope you feel better after letting off some steam. Nice job.

[ihateprepress]

Originally Posted by Joe

That was ond fine damn rant. I hope you feel better after letting off some steam. Nice job.

Thanks for the support Joe. Much appreciated.

[Jalan]

Aw man, that's lame. I feel for ya. We all support you here. Sounds like a blowhard who needs a hard blow... to the back of the skull.

Hang in there.

[Jezza]

That's one quality rant. I feel for you. Frustration is so difficult to deal with. Let us know when you get the site up and running. Get it off the back burner now. You owe it to yourself.

Take it easy

[ihateprepress]

It seems everything is good now. Poor baby had his afternoon nap and he's now my best friend. How truly pathetic. If he's so sure the system is flawed, surely you'd stick by your guns to ensure your company was as profitable as possible.

I'm calm now & I didn't break anything. Both my mouse and keyboard are fully operational and the uncontrollable swearing has subsided.

Sometimes I forget that I get paid to be here and should STFU and roll with the punches. I hate it when I let that shit get to me.

[jimking]

Bravo! Question, what was the error on the back? Is the back common to all three? The first envelope you printed, was the back the same as the new envelopes? What I'm getting at is that since we do deal with idiots and if the job is a reprint with changes I'll try to use the old preflighted digital files and make the changes myself if it's possible to avoid being an all seeing god like mindreading idiot myself. I mean lets face it you didn't create the job, they did, and loved it anough to approve it. Another question, was the job a total loss and had to be reprinted or the error got caught and the job got printed and the client was happy? If it's the latter then your salesperson/boss needs to go sell cars for a living because this is the nature of the game. Mistakes happen all the time, it is par for the course. The trick is to keep the mistakes down to a minimum .

[ihateprepress]

Originally Posted by jimking

Bravo! Question, what was the error on the back? Is the back common to all three? The first envelope you printed, was the back the same as the new envelopes? What I'm getting at is that since we do deal with idiots and if the job is a reprint with changes I'll try to use the old preflighted digital files and make the changes myself if it's possible to avoid being an all seeing god like mindreading idiot myself. I mean lets face it you didn't create the job, they did, and loved it anough to approve it. Another question, was the job a total loss and had to be reprinted or the error got caught and the job got printed and the client was happy? If it's the latter then your salesperson/boss needs to go sell cars for a living because this is the nature of the game. Mistakes happen all the time, it is par for the course. The trick is to keep the mistakes down to a minimum .

The error on the back was a code that differentiated the states - apart from that they were common. They have never entertained the idea of coding their items, so you'd imagine that if they wanted to implement such a change, they'd tell someone. The code for the first one had 'VIC' (abbreviation of Victoria) in it, so it was clear it was wrong when the subsequent states were printed. Wish I was asked to change it, or even alerted to the fact that they now had codes, as I would have looked out for it.

I didn't mention this is my initial rant, but the code was 6pt and 7 digits (EG. 1234VIC). The overprints consisted of a little black box and 7 new digits. It was an easy fix and didn't stand out. I'd put up with the black box for a saving of just under $20k. I take my hat off to the production manager for picking it up, as it could have been a nasty result. All states were printed, but if they had gone onto finishing for the glue strips, guillo and fold, it would have been game over. Start again.

Keep in mind that the client was alerted to the fact that the same code had been printed across all 4 forms, but was fixable with a little box. I had one of the guys mock up what the end result would look like and send a PDF. She gave it the nod and was content. She knew it was her error as she'd signed for it and there really was minimal fuss. It was a 30 second discussion. In her defense, she coordinates print work from all departments and was probably ill informed herself. There is every chance that the jobs weren't supposed to be coded, but some cowboy decided to throw it on without being asked to. Thats another rant entirely... morons in there I tell you.

Every single person was content, EXCEPT for the pumpkin-headed cock-bag who kicked up a fuss. AKA my new best mate.

What gets me the most is that we have a tight setup and rarely make mistakes. We have a solid team and our procedures are efficient and thorough. Shit runs smooth and to get the blame for that kind of stuff just gets my back up. The better you do something, the more people accept it as the norm and take it for granted. They then want more and more.

I hate the stupid industry, as it's messy and hectic. However, it's what we do and I take pride in my work. That's why that kind of thing makes me narky. If that's a word.

In regards to car sales, he does sell cars. Annually, he sells his car and buys a better one. This year was a SAAB Aero to an ML500 merc. Gotta do something to keep you entertained i guess.

[jimking]

Ah the codes! Don't you hate them. Tell the SAAB guy to kiss my yankee ass!!!! :P

[morgan20]

Originally Posted by ihateprepress

I appeased her demands.

There's your problem right there, I would have told her to, oh never mind, I hate prepress too!