Packaging & Printing · Implementation
How to implement ERP in a packaging and printing company
A practical plan for putting an ERP live in a packaging or print unit: what to decide first, which data to prepare, how to roll out machine group by machine group, and the mistakes that delay go-live.
By Nexfloe · · 6 min read
- Industry:
- Packaging & Printing
- Article type:
- Implementation
ERP projects in print and packaging units seldom stall because of the software. They stall because specifications are scattered across old job cards, nobody agrees what counts as make-ready, the reel register does not match the rack on day one, or the press room is asked to change how it records work without being shown why. This guide sets out an approach that keeps the project small enough to finish.
Quick answer
Implement ERP in a packaging or print unit in stages. Agree what the system must answer first, usually job cost against the quote, waste by machine and reel balances. Prepare item specifications, live artwork revisions and plate sets, machines, waste reasons, units and conversions, and opening stock reel by reel. Run one machine group on real jobs, switch it over, then extend to the rest.
Before you start: decide what the system must answer on day one
Write down the questions the owner and the production head ask most often and cannot answer quickly. In most units they are: what did this job actually cost against the quote, how much did we lose in make-ready this week and on which machine, how much film is really on the rack, which jobs are sitting at the lamination vendor, and which artwork revision is this job running. Those define the first scope.
- Name an owner from the plant, usually the production head or the owner, not IT alone.
- Choose the first machine group: a press and its conversion steps, with a willing supervisor and regular repeat jobs.
- Agree what stops when it goes live: the paper job card for that group, the waste column in the register, the reel sheet.
What data do you need to prepare?
| Data | What to check | Usually owned by |
|---|---|---|
| Item specifications | Board or film grade and size, ups, inks, coatings, die, glue, pack-out per client item | Planning or estimating |
| Artwork revisions | The current approved revision for each live item | Prepress |
| Plates, cylinders and dies | Which set belongs to which item and revision, and where it is stored | Prepress or production |
| Routings | Printing and each conversion step in order, including vendor steps | Production |
| Machines | Presses, laminators, die-cutters, slitters, folder-gluers, shifts and running rates | Production |
| Units and conversions | Kilograms, metres, sheets and thousands per item | Stores and planning |
| Waste and downtime reasons | Short lists, with make-ready and running waste kept separate | Production and quality |
| Inspection checks | What is checked at each machine and at final inspection, against the approved sample | Quality |
| Suppliers and job work vendors | Board, film and ink suppliers, lamination, foil and coating vendors | Purchase |
| Opening stock | Each reel and pallet by lot with current weight or count, and location | Stores |
| Open jobs and rates | Jobs in progress, quoted rates per thousand per client item | Sales and planning |
Running rates and waste allowances do not need to be exact on day one. A rough figure is enough to start, and the floor's own entries will show the real ones within a few weeks.
The stages of an implementation
1. Configure the unit as it runs
Machines, shifts, items, specifications, routings, waste and downtime reasons, and inspection checks are set up in the unit's own terms. Opening stock is loaded reel by reel, and the accounting sync is connected. By the end of this stage a test job should run from board issue to dispatch on the screens.
2. Run the first machine group on real jobs
Press and conversion operators, the supervisor and QC on the first group are trained at their machines, a short session each, and record real jobs while the rest of the floor carries on as before. Gaps show quickly: a waste reason that is missing, a conversion step that needs splitting, a unit conversion that is wrong. Fix them the same day.
3. Switch the first group over
The first group now runs on the system alone, and its job cards stop. Planning, reel stock and job cost read what the floor records.
4. Extend group by group
The other presses and conversion lines follow the same pattern. Each goes faster, because the masters, reasons and training approach are already proven.
How long does a packaging ERP implementation take?
The answer turns on what is in scope, how clean the specifications and reel data are, and which system you choose. A broad ERP covering finance, purchasing and several plants is a much larger project than putting jobs, stock and waste live on one machine group. FleekERP's implementation plan is built to put the first production line live in 18 days. A unit migrating years of history from another system, or with specifications that have to be rebuilt from old job cards first, will take longer.
Common ERP implementation mistakes in packaging and printing
1. Configuring software before understanding the process
Setting up screens before anyone has followed a job round the floor gives a system that matches a template, not the unit. Walk one repeat job first: where board is issued, where make-ready starts and ends, where part reels go, which steps go to vendors. Set the system up to match that job, and live with the standard setup for a few weeks before asking for changes.
2. Poor master-data preparation
Wrong ups on a specification, a missing conversion from kilograms to sheets, or opening reels loaded without lots will break the first job costs. Clean the masters for the items you start with. The opposite mistake is as common: trying to load every specification ever printed and every past job. Live items, open jobs and current stock by lot are enough to go live.
3. Ignoring shop-floor users
Press and conversion operators make most of the records, yet they are often trained last, in an office. Train them at their own machine on real jobs, and keep their entries short: good count, make-ready waste, running waste with a reason, downtime with a cause. FleekERP's shop floor apps take these entries at the machine on ordinary Android phones. Show the supervisor the group's waste figures from the first day, so the entries are used. If press updates travel today as WhatsApp photos of job cards, read why WhatsApp ends up running the floor before go-live.
4. Trying to digitise everything at once
Prepress, stores, every press, every conversion line, job work and dispatch on the same day leaves nobody free to fix problems as they appear. One machine group live is worth more than the whole floor half configured.
5. Unclear specification and routing ownership
If nobody owns the item specification and the routing, they drift: the client changes the board grade, the estimator updates the quote, and the specification on the system still shows the old one. Name an owner for each, usually planning or estimating for the specification and production for the routing, and decide who approves a change.
6. No pilot, or a pilot with no end
Going live on every machine at once means every gap shows everywhere. Starting on one press and its conversion line shows those gaps on a handful of jobs. Set the date its paper job card stops, though: a pilot that runs alongside the old card indefinitely becomes a second record nobody trusts.
7. Measuring software usage instead of operational outcomes
The number of entries a day tells you the press room is using the system. They do not show whether jobs cost less or reels balance. Measure the outcomes the project was started for.
After go-live: what to measure
- Make-ready waste by machine and job length, reviewed weekly.
- Running waste by reason and operation.
- Actual job cost against the quoted rate per thousand, by client.
- Reel and pallet stock on the rack compared with the system, by lot.
- Short returns from lamination and foil vendors caught on the job, not at dispatch.
- Jobs printed on the wrong artwork revision, which should be none.
In the first weeks, the share of jobs recorded at the machine is worth watching as an early sign that the outcomes will follow. Waste by machine and job cost are read in manufacturing intelligence.
For how the full flow runs once the unit is live, see FleekERP for packaging and printing.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to implement ERP in a packaging unit?
Scope, the state of the specifications and the system chosen all decide it. Putting jobs, stock and waste live on one machine group is a much smaller project than a broad ERP across finance and several plants. FleekERP's plan puts the first line live in 18 days; rebuilding specifications from old job cards or migrating history takes longer.
What data does a print unit need before going live on ERP?
Item specifications, current approved artwork revisions, plate, cylinder and die sets, routings, machines with rates, units and conversions, waste and downtime reasons with make-ready kept separate, inspection checks, suppliers and job work vendors, opening stock reel by reel, and open jobs with quoted rates.
Should we load every old job specification into the new system?
Usually not. Live items, open jobs and current stock by lot are enough to go live. Older specifications can be added when the item is next ordered, and loading everything at once is a common reason go-live slips.
How do we get press operators to record make-ready waste?
Train them at their own machine on real jobs, keep their entries to good count, make-ready waste, running waste with a reason and downtime, and show the supervisor the waste figures from the first day. Set a date when the paper job card stops.