Processes to speed pre/post production

[jvieira]

Hi guys, newbie here! I run a small auto shop in Portugal and we have been struggling to speed up our pace. We currently have more work than we can handle but I feel there's a lot we can cut time on as we're not very effective (we're learning as we go).
The business is 10 years old but we've been doing screen printing in house for 9 months now. It's been a painful process but we're getting there!

I would like to ask about processes in pre production AND post production and some help to make sure we're doing all the right things and to know if there's anything we can improve on.

Right now we have 2 people doing everything (file prep, pre production, production, post production, etc) but it's not working anymore as we can't keep up with the orders. Starting August we'll have one dedicated person to prepping files and we're making changes as well to other people's job.

OUR PROCESS (starting August 1st)

- Person A preps files, prints screen positives

- Person B already has screens prepped with emulsion. Burns the screen, dips it in the dip tank for a few minutes and washes it out
- Person B runs a wet/dry vacuum on the burned screen and puts it in the dry box where it'll dry for 20/30 minutes
- Person B picks up the screen and preps the press. Runs job

- Person C disassembles the press after job is done, cards out the ink, removes tape, puts screen in reclaiming area
- Person C puts screen in the dip tank and washes it out, followed by wet/dry vacuum and leaves the screen to dry in open air while repeating on other screens
- Person C puts emulsion on a bunch of screens and puts them in the dry box waiting for new use (3/5 days)
- Person C removes dry screens (with emulsion) from the dry box and saves it in a dedicated closet for person B to repeat his own process

- REPEAT


This list includes all the changes we're planning on making (we weren't using our dip tank and person B was also doing the file prep which was taking him forever).
We always have ~15 screens needing to be washed right now and it's slowing things down A LOT. I feel we'll be more efficient (we'll save over 8 hours of work per week with these changes. It's a full day.

My question here is are you doing anything different? Is there anything here that doesn't make any sense for you more experienced folks?

[Screen Dan]

We have a much larger operation but a similar workflow.  What I would do is have each person focus on a specific part of the process.  How we do things is:

Person A -  The printer/print shop.  He sets up jobs, prints jobs, breaks down jobs, cards ink out. Repeat.  (This is three people at each press for me)

Person B - washes screens, reclaims screens.  (This is two people for me)

Person C - coats/tapes screens, preps artwork, images/exposes/develops screens.

This is assuming that the art is already complete and approved.  Our prepping is simply cropping, orientating and putting it through the RIP.

If I were in your shoes I  would try:

Person A - The Printer.  sets up, prints, breaks down, cards ink, repeat.

Person B - The reclaim/coater.  Washes, reclaims, coats, repeat.

Person C - Pre-production.  Preps art, tapes/blockout screens, images screens, develops screens, repeat.

My "person C" works in big batches throughout the day and develops all of the screens (100-150) at the end of the day.  Depending on work-flow and shop screen consumption sometimes I have him complete the jobs one at a time.  This is an important dynamic.  You would likely want him to do complete jobs at a time unless you have a significant screen inventory to keep a buffer of at least 1 day of work on the shelf.  Task switching takes time and reduces efficiency, so focusing on just one giant batch will get you more screens done at a once but at the cost of lag time from start to finish.  Completing jobs one at a time will yield less screens complete at the end of the day but will gain you the benefit of higher job availability at any given point of the day.  This is true of any task at any station.

But that's just my opinion based on the very little I know about your shop and the too much about mine that I am biased by.  Your mileage may vary.

Best of luck.

EDIT:  Oh yeah.  If everyone is cross-trained and is good at every station (which I would highly recommend.  That way if one guy calls out you don't grind to a halt.) Rotate each station in order.  I first instituted a half-day rotation cycle so everybody gets good at everything and doesn't get too bored of the more repetitive jobs...but my guys elected to do a 1-week rotation and prefer that.  If you go this rout (which I highly recommend) let them decide on the rotation cycle...They will be the ones doing the work after all.

EDIT 2: Also, sometimes a glut develops in the loop.  Lets say you've got tons of tiny jobs and suddenly you have tons of screens to wash in the morning.  Then I'll have two guys tag-team the tape pulling and washing for an hour or two until the flow balances out again.  The opposite situation is huge press-clogging jobs with tons of garments...once that guy on the floor finishes washing everything have him stretch screens, retension, preventative maintenance on equipment, etc. 

I applied what I know about microprocessors to this system and it's worked out phenomenally.  You have pipelines and buffers.  The longer your pipeline (how big the batch you work in) the more painful a buffer failure (the ASAP need for a job not on the rack).  The bigger your buffers (screens on the rack) the bigger batchs you can work in.  The shorter your pipeline the faster from start to finish.

[jvieira]

First off, thank you for your reply. Second, I'm sorry if my english is not perfect, sometimes it's just hard to know certain expressions/words you guys use.

Our operation is a lot smaller than yours. I only have two people running the press and pre/post production (one for each). In my shop it is mandatory that every person knows how to do someone else's job. Obviously everyone has its own role BUT I need them to cover someone else's holidays so production doesn't stop. I focus mostly on hiring people with a design/graphic background. All 4 people I have in production (2 for screen printing, 2 for dtg/transfers/others) would know how to print positives if they needed it. I find it important as they're likely to pay closer attention to detail.


Unfortunately I cannot have person A (would be your person C) doing coating/exposure/etc as this same person preps all other (non screen printing related) productions. She has a full day as is.
On the "plus side", we're not nearly as busy as you are, so our person C (your B) has time to pick up that sort of work.

I'm happy to read your have similar workflow with a bigger operation, it means we're doing something right.


My (not so long) goal is to have that Person C prepping jobs and having them ready as soon as my operator is done with his production. Disassembles machine, assembles with new job, test, run, repeat. Obviously this would mean that screens would pill up at times but there's always an extra shift he can pick up (he usually asks for those) to clean a whole batch of them.


I liked your idea to rotate stations. We are sort of doing that right now as we're doing shifts (I have one doing 9am/6pm and the other one  doing 2pm to 11pm) to pick up the pace but when we're done I'll talk to them and see what their response is. My pre/post press guy can handle himself but I know that one tougher jobs he still has problems.

[jvieira]

Let me tell all of you this forum has helped me immensely. I have been reading it for weeks and most of the changes we've made and are making to the shop are based on what I've read here.

We've purchased a second dip tank to fill with water and have it sit screens after exposure (BRILLIANT!)
We've purchased a wet/dry vacuum to speed the screen drying times (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDFKwsTsH_Q)
I'm also buying cards to remove ink from screens (we were using spatulas)

The ideas I've read for removal of lint or that roller squeegee are incredible. I feel we've got a long way to go but it has definitely become easier with the help from this forum.

[Screen Dan]

Honestly, it sounds like you've got a great handle on your operation.  The simple fact that you are reading here, asking questions and trying to come up with ways to squeeze more out of what you have says volumes.  Too many people set up something that works, at all...good or not...and consider it a done deal.

By the way, your English is perfect...worry not.

You've found a fantastic resource.  I've been lurking here for years and only recently started posting.  The amount and spectrum of experience here is unrivaled...not to mention the industry contacts and resources.

Again, just keep up the good work and don't lose that perfectionist streak.  It's what sets apart your average printer from your exceptional printer.