PQM – Statuses, Departments and Production Workflow

Statuses and departments are the core of Production Queue Manager. They define how tasks move through your company and whether PQM becomes a real production control tool or just another task list.

Why workflow matters

A workflow describes the path a job follows inside the company. PQM helps organize work, but first you need to name the real stages of production and define who is responsible for each one.

Designing statuses

A status should describe what is really happening with a task. It should not be too vague, but it should also not be too detailed. A status like “In Progress” is fine at the beginning, but larger production teams may need more precise stages such as Prepress, Printing, Finishing, Quality Control and Shipping.

Minimal status set

• New – task received but not started.
• In Progress – work is currently being done.
• On Hold – waiting for files, materials, customer approval or decision.
• Waiting for Approval – requires internal or customer approval.
• Ready – completed and waiting for pickup or shipping.
• Completed – closed job.
• Cancelled – will not be completed.
• Complaint – requires review, correction or complaint handling.

Special statuses

Most production systems need at least three special status types: completed, cancelled and complaint. These statuses are important for reporting because completed work, cancelled work and complaint cases should not be counted in the same way.

Designing departments

A department represents an area of responsibility. It can be a real department, a machine, a production stage or a group of staff members.

Example print shop departments

• Prepress / DTP,
• Digital printing,
• Offset printing,
• UV printing,
• Large format printing,
• Cutting,
• Folding,
• Laminating,
• Packing,
• Shipping,
• Quality control.

Example general manufacturing departments

• Order intake,
• Design,
• Material preparation,
• Assembly,
• Quality control,
• Warehouse,
• Logistics,
• Customer service.

Avoid overcomplication

The most common mistake is creating too many statuses and departments on day one. A simple workflow used every day is better than a perfect workflow that nobody maintains.

Customer-facing status mapping

Not every internal status should be visible to customers. You can map detailed internal statuses to simpler customer-facing messages.

Who changes the status?

Every company should decide who is responsible for changing task statuses. A good model is that the person or department finishing a stage updates the task before passing it forward.