thinking a little ahead at the moment...

[whitewater]

Right now i put an invoice and a mockup in a protective sheet so it has all the job details....but i was thinking what about having an ipad for the mockup? I use a ton of ink printing the mockups..but still have the job sheet for invoice..

Maybe too much? expensive item for the shop, and deal with gettign ink on it and dropping? and more room for error since they are not together?

Maybe i answered my own question...LOL

[Dottonedan]

Thats an interesting thought. Nothing wrong with thinking outside the box to see what works.  You could get a plastic case where you cans till touch it but protect it also.

[bj]

My ipad goes with me where ever I go.  You can get a protective sheet for the screen then you can replace once it gets too dirty and also a cover with case.  As far as dropping it, just be careful who handles it

[inkman996]

Right now i put an invoice and a mockup in a protective sheet so it has all the job details....but i was thinking what about having an ipad for the mockup? I use a ton of ink printing the mockups..but still have the job sheet for invoice..

Maybe too much? expensive item for the shop, and deal with gettign ink on it and dropping? and more room for error since they are not together?

Maybe i answered my own question...LOL

Your actually closer to a good idea than you think. I own an IPAD and it goes with me to work every day. Years ago we decided to stop buying useless color ink and useless color printers and stuck with black lasers. I started setting up my ipad on a shelf in the back room with jpegs of jobs we are printing, including the specs.

An iPad is expensive so why not get a cheaper tablet model and a protective case a screen. Nice thing is it also doubles as music storage

[alan802]

I've thought about putting my ipad into the production environment.  I made a spreadsheet and have a production flow chart/scheduler for the numbers app I acquired from another industry guy that would be valuable in the workplace, I just haven't implemented them yet.  Get an otterbox for it and you can drop it all day long and it won't break.  Mine survives the toddler playing with it several hours a day.

[balloonguy]

Rokform makes the best cases. They even make one with magnets.

[Rockers]

Right now i put an invoice and a mockup in a protective sheet so it has all the job details....but i was thinking what about having an ipad for the mockup? I use a ton of ink printing the mockups..but still have the job sheet for invoice..

Maybe too much? expensive item for the shop, and deal with gettign ink on it and dropping? and more room for error since they are not together?

Maybe i answered my own question...LOL

No way, that is the right tool for a shop.
We or better my wife made a database in filemaker, that incls. jobsheets, mockups, invoicing etc. She comes to work makes all the jobsheets on her Mac and at a push of a button it`s all updated on my Ipad. I have a Gumdrop case for it just in case I drop it it won`t get damaged.
http://www.gumdropcases.com/military-edition-ipad-2-case.html

You can get as well Ipad holders that suspend from the ceiling, which would be good if you need to have it right by the press to look up jobsheets.

[whitewater]

Right now i put an invoice and a mockup in a protective sheet so it has all the job details....but i was thinking what about having an ipad for the mockup? I use a ton of ink printing the mockups..but still have the job sheet for invoice..

Maybe too much? expensive item for the shop, and deal with gettign ink on it and dropping? and more room for error since they are not together?

Maybe i answered my own question...LOL

No way, that is the right tool for a shop.
We or better my wife made a database in filemaker, that incls. jobsheets, mockups, invoicing etc. She comes to work makes all the jobsheets on her Mac and at a push of a button it`s all updated on my Ipad. I have a Gumdrop case for it just in case I drop it it won`t get damaged.
http://www.gumdropcases.com/military-edition-ipad-2-case.html

You can get as well Ipad holders that suspend from the ceiling, which would be good if you need to have it right by the press to look up jobsheets.

suspension would be sweet

[Nation03]

I think it's a great idea. If you don't want to spring for an iPad, there are plenty of low cost solutions like the Nexus 7. It definitely isn't as capable as an iPad, but for $200 it is a nice little toy to have around.

[Catnhat]

The Boss got us iPads for Christmas last year (2 employees). We use them for all kinds of stuff at the shop.  Picked up 2 versions of FileMaker Go, synced  them up with PriceIt Master.  We can quote/proof/etc. from virtually anywhere.  (As long as somebody doesn't turn off the front counter computer).  It wasn't cheap to get it all set up: 2 iPads, FileMaker (x2), FileMaker Go (x2), PriceIt Master licenses, and some apps that he's reimbursed us for (some worth it/ some not)  But it's all paid for itself many times over, so he pretty much just let's us run with it. 

[inkbrigade]

We're thinking about iPod touches. You can pick them up used off Craigslist super cheap, fits in the pocket easily. Hand them out to employees and connect with FileMaker to go.

[brandon]

Hey,
We have been running some cheap ass Androids, tried the Ipad, did a nice Android Samsung Galaxy Tab, and the jury is still out for us. Right off the bat the 10" or larger is the way to go. 7" was too small and anything under might as well have been a phone in my opinion. But to be fair it wasn't the tablets but what we are trying to do. And all the software we have tried is pretty cool but so far does not fit our shop's needs. So we will be attempting to implement our own soon. Hopefully it will work with all the time I have already spent with it!