ATA CARNET printing problem solved with Print Sampler

MPI Tech were contacted by our partner HP Inc (UK) Ltd to solve a problem at one of their large corporate customers, a major Logistics company. This company has to produce daily a considerable amount of ATA carnet for temporary exports.

The ATA Carnet, often referred to as the “Passport for goods”, is an international customs document that permits the tax-free and duty-free temporary export and import of non-perishable goods. It includes unified customs declaration forms which are prepared and ready to use at every border crossing point. It is a globally accepted guarantee for customs duties and taxes which can replace the security deposit required by each customs authority.

The Problem

The ATA carnet requires printing from 8 different trays, with 4 colours in multiple weight papers. An ATA Carnet is generated by the London Chamber of Commerce in a PDF file that can contain any number of pages between 50 and 600.

Within a single PDF Carnet there are a mix of different coloured sheets and cards depending on the section of the document. The first page has to be printed in colour with the signature in a different colour to the text. 

The Chamber provides a header index to help the user collate the coloured paper and card sheets in the correct order, reload the paper tray, and press print for each colour and weight. The printer often jams because paper with different weight is mixed through the rollers. For larger Carnets it is typical for the operator to print each page range and manually change the paper tray.

For an ATA Carnet of around 450 pages it originally took the user about an hour to complete the task. They print upto 35 carnets in a day. HP and the customer were looking for a solution to speed up printing time and ease the workload.

The Solution

MPI Tech delivered the software solution Print Sampler to drive two printers. The solution delivered great improvements and has reduced the overall printing time commitment by 75%

With Print Sampler the digital version of the Carnet is automatically indexed and split into multiple print jobs using criteria present on the carnet.

Based on the indexing Print Sampler routes output to the relevant printer trays. Print Sampler also automatically forces colour or B/W for cost savings.

Now all it takes for the user is to click on File, then Print. As simple as that.