System and methods for efficient and adequate data collection in document production environments

A production process performance reporting system comprising:

• a plurality of print job processing resources;
• a data collection system operable to coordinate the flow of print jobs to the print job processing resources;
• and
• a computer-readable storage medium containing one or more programming instructions for performing a method of providing a report of performance metrics in a document production environment, the method comprising:
• receiving, by the data collection system, job size information for a plurality of print jobs to be performed by one or more print job processing resources in one or more document production environments;
• identifying a print job size distribution for the plurality of print jobs;
• determining, by the data collection system, one or more of the following performance metrics:
• job turnaround time, job inter-arrival time, average job size, resource utilization and process efficiency, wherein the one or more performance metrics each relate to at least a portion of the one or more print job processing resources;
• determining, by the data collection system, whether the print job size distribution exhibits a heavy-tail characteristic;
• and
• if so:
• preparing a performance report of the one or more determined performance metrics, wherein the performance report indicates that the one or more determined performance metrics were determined using a heavy-tailed job size distribution, and
• distributing the performance report to a user.

A computer-implemented method of providing a report of performance metrics in a production process, the method comprising:

• receiving, with a computer, job size information for a plurality of jobs to be performed by one or more resources in one or more production environments;
• identifying a job size distribution for the plurality of jobs;
• determining, with the computer, one or more of the following performance metrics:
• job turnaround time, job inter-arrival time, average job size, resource utilization and process efficiency, wherein the one or more performance metrics each relate to at least a portion of the one or more resources;
• determining, with the computer, whether the job size distribution exhibits a heavy-tail characteristic;
• preparing a performance report comprising:
• the one or more determined performance metrics, and
• if, the job size distribution exhibits a heavy-tail characteristic, an indication that the one or more determined performance metrics were calculated using a heavy-tailed job size distribution;
• printing the performance report;
• and
• if the print job size distribution does not exhibit a heavy-tail characteristic, processing the plurality of jobs with the one or more print job processing resources based on the performance report.

A computer-implemented method of providing a report of performance metrics in a production process, the method comprising:

• receiving, by a computer, job size information for a plurality of jobs to be performed by one or more resources in one or more production environments;
• identifying a job size distribution for the plurality of jobs;
• determining, with the computer, one or more of the following performance metrics:
• job turnaround time, job inter-arrival time, average job size, resource utilization and process efficiency, wherein the one or more performance metrics each relate to at least a portion of the one or more resources;
• determining, with the computer, whether the job size distribution exhibits a heavy-tail characteristic;
• and
• if so:
• preparing a performance report of the one or more determined performance metrics, wherein the performance report indicates that the one or more determined performance metrics were determined using a heavy-tailed job size distribution, and
• distributing the performance report to a user.