Usage scenarios for Deadline Tracker

These scenarios show how to set deadlines, estimated durations, or both for a Deadline Tracker workflow.

In this section:

  1. Time of day deadline in a workflow scenario
    In this scenario, all of the jobs in a linear PDF workflow must be printed by 5:00 pm on the day after they are received.
  2. Two deadlines in a linear workflow scenario
    In this scenario, a linear PDF workflow sends each job through an external program for the accounting department and then prints the job. You want to set one deadline for the external program and another deadline for printing the job. You place two SetDeadline steps in the workflow. The first SetDeadline step tracks the time required to complete the RunExternalProgram step. The second SetDeadline step tracks the time to print each job after it completes the RunExternalProgram step.
  3. Three deadlines in a conditional workflow scenario
    In this scenario, a conditional workflow has separate processing paths for PDF jobs, AFP jobs, and other jobs (PostScript and PCL). PDF jobs go through a time-consuming preflight step performed with the PitStop Connect Feature. AFP jobs go through a time-consuming accounting step that runs an external program. Other jobs do not go through the time-consuming preflight or accounting steps. You want to set a different deadline for each path: two hours for PDF jobs, 90 minutes for AFP jobs, and 30 minutes for other jobs. You place a SetDeadline step at the start of each path.
  4. Estimated durations for steps in a linear workflow scenario
    In this scenario, a linear workflow has nine steps. You want to track whether a job is on time or behind schedule from the time that the job enters the workflow until it completes the PrintJobs step. The first two steps process a job immediately. Four steps each take five minutes to process a job. One step takes ten minutes to process a job. You set estimated durations for those seven steps. You do not set estimated durations for the two steps that follow the PrintJobs step.
  5. Deadlines and estimated durations in a linear workflow scenario
    In this scenario, a linear workflow has 10 steps. You want to track whether a job is on time or behind schedule from the time that the job enters the workflow until it completes the PrintJobs step. The first three steps process a job immediately. Four steps each take 5 minutes to process a job. One step takes 10 minutes to process a job. You set estimated durations for those eight steps. You do not set estimated durations for the two steps that follow the PrintJobs step. You also want to know if a job does not meet its printing deadline. You place a SetDeadline step near the start of the workflow.
  6. Adjusting Service Level Agreements for weekends and holidays
    When you negotiate your Service Level Agreements (SLAs), you use No-service periods for days you are closed, such as weekends and holidays. The days that you are closed are not considered when calculating SLA deadlines.
  7. Setting up to monitor for expected work
    When you have recurring jobs, you can use the expected work function to check that the jobs have arrived on time at the correct input device.

Related information:

Setting up Deadline Tracker
Parent topic: Deadline Tracker