Processing Time

The Dubuque Community School District Print Center services all district facilities, Hillcrest, partner four-year-old preschools, Four Oaks and mental health grant needs. Two staff members complete work orders using five modern copiers and 9 finishing machines, with the highest production volume taking place between May and October and peak months being August and September.

Print Center users can expect the following processing times (View this info as a PDF):

MONTHS PROCESSING TIME* PRIMARY INCOMING ORDERS
PEAK VOLUME:
May, August, September		 1 to 4 weeks Daily Work Orders, Curriculum Orders
June, July Completed and delivered by first week of August Summer Work Orders, Curriculum Orders, Registration Materials
HIGH VOLUME:October, November, December, January, February, March, April 1 to 3 weeks

(Submit future orders during these months to avoid lengthy beginning-of-the-school year processing time. Please write August as the due date for orders being processed for the next school year.)

 Daily Work Orders, Curriculum Orders, Curriculum Guides, Registration Materials

*Day one of processing time is the day the work order goes into the trucking envelope.

IMPORTANT NOTE: These timeframes are approximate and vary depending on the volume of incoming workloads, any equipment malfunction and staff schedules. The best way to ensure your order is delivered by your completion date is to plan well in advance.

PLANNING AND PROCESSING TIPS

  1. We sort according to color and paper weight. This means that:
    • One machine is always copying onto white paper, and white paper orders are continuously being processed.
    • All works orders requiring colored paper and cardstock are completed on a rotating basis, which may add to the completion time.
    • Jobs requiring special finishes are also completed on a rotating basis. This may also add to the completion time.
  2. Letter size jobs requiring stapling will be processed much faster if using a corner staple or two side staples because this can be machine stapled. Other staple configurations require hand finishing, which will add to completion time.
  3. Hand manipulation and multiple step work orders that involve cutting, laminating, padding, gluing, hand or floor stapling, folding, punching and comb binding add to the processing time. They are completed on a rotating basis and may take an additional 2 to 3 weeks to complete.
  4. Lack of prior planning does not constitute a Print Center emergency. Users who plan ahead will have their orders processed before late-arrival orders. (Don’t forget to make sure end-of-semester, end-of-year, culminating and holiday projects are turned in at least 3 weeks before the date needed.)
  5. Use non-peak months to process routine jobs (such as standard forms and documents that do not change).
  6. ALWAYS KEEP AN ORIGINAL IN YOUR FILES. The Print Center is not responsible for original(s) sent with a project.
  7. Orders requesting two-sided printing with one- and two-sided originals are copied “as is”.
  8. Please do not email or call for a status update on your project before the standard production timeframe has passed – it unnecessarily pulls us away from working on orders.

THANKS FOR HELPING US!

The Print Center is committed to processing your job as quickly as possible – but remember that we serve many users. By using these tips, you can help us run more efficiently.