Method and system for efficient job scheduling by collecting data from multiple sources

A non-transitory computer readable medium (CRM) storing computer program code executed by a computer processor that performs a process for scheduling print jobs on a plurality of printers, the process comprising:

• collecting job information on each of a plurality of print jobs;
• assigning each of the plurality of print jobs to one or more printers of the plurality of printers;
• receiving a new print job, the new job including job product information;
• calculating a pre-processing time for the new print job;
• calculating a processing time for the new print job;
• determining at least one printer of the plurality of printers to execute the new print job;
• assigning the new print job to the at least one printer of the plurality of printers;
• determining if one or more of the plurality of print jobs assigned to the one or more of the plurality of printers can be reassigned to another printer of the plurality of printers to minimize a print schedule for each of the plurality of print jobs by attempting to re-assign each of the one or more of the plurality of print jobs to another printer of the plurality of printers when the reassigning of the one or more of the plurality of print jobs minimizes the print schedule of the plurality of print jobs;
• and
• re-assigning the one or more of the plurality of print jobs to another printer of the plurality of printers when the reassigning of the one or more of the plurality of print jobs minimizes the print schedule of the plurality of print jobs.

A system for printing a job ticket received from a client computer, the system comprising:

• one or more client devices configured to generate print jobs;
• a plurality of printers configured to print the print jobs;
• a server having a memory and a processor, the processor configured to:
• collect job information on each of a plurality of print jobs;
• assign each of the plurality of print jobs to one or more printers of the plurality of printers;
• receive a new print job, the new job including job product information;
• calculate a pre-processing time for the new print job;
• calculate a processing time for the new print job;
• determine at least one printer of the plurality of printers to execute the new print job;
• assign the new print job to the at least one printer of the plurality of printers;
• determine if one or more of the plurality of print jobs assigned to the one or more of the plurality of printers can be reassigned to another printer of the plurality of printers to minimize a print schedule for each of the plurality of print jobs;
• and
• re-assign the one or more of the plurality of print jobs to another printer of the plurality of printers when the reassigning of the one or more of the plurality of print jobs minimizes the print schedule of the plurality of print jobs;
• and
• wherein the server is configured to:
• display on a graphical user interface (GUI), a job schedule screen, the job schedule screen being a two dimensional chart in which a first axis indicated an execution length of time for each of the print jobs and the new print job, and in which a second axis shows each of the plurality of printers.