Smart business manager cost predictor
OwnerGeorge Bradley Hobbsinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and system for predicting postage and consumables costs for a print job prior to production of a hardcopy, wherein the print job includes a set of predefined attributes which may be used to predict the weight and size of a print job. A postage rate scale for a chosen carrier may then be applied to determine the postage or shipping cost. Similarly, the print job attributes are used to predict the consumables cost to produce a hardcopy of the print job. The consumables cost thus may be combined with the postage cost to determine the total cost of production and mailing of a hardcopy.
Claims18
A computer-implemented method of managing print job costs, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing an electronic print job request, the print job request having a set of attributes;
- displaying the set of attributes;
- prior to printing the print job, calculating a cost of the electronic print job using the set of attributes;
- and
- displaying the calculated cost.
A computer-implemented method of managing print job postage costs, the method comprising the steps of:
- receiving an electronic print job request, the print job having a set of attributes;
- calculating a preliminary cost of the print job using the set of attributes;
- presenting a menu of business rules;
- receiving a selection of one of the business rules;
- adjusting the set of attributes in response to the selection of one of the business rules;
- and
- calculating a final cost based on the adjusted set of attributes.
A program storage device readable by a processor, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the processor to perform method steps for managing print job costs, the method steps comprising:
- providing an electronic print job request, the print job request having a set of attributes;
- displaying the set of attributes;
- prior to printing the print job, calculating a cost of the electronic print job using the set of attributes;
- and
- displaying the calculated cost.
A program storage device readable by a processor, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the processor to perform method steps for managing print job costs, the method steps comprising:
- receiving an electronic print job request, the print job having a set of attributes;
- calculating a preliminary cost of the print job using the set of attributes;
- presenting a menu of business rules;
- receiving a selection of one of the business rules;
- adjusting the set of attributes in response to the selection of one of the business rules;
- and
- calculating a final cost based on the adjusted set of attributes.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.