Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. - Thomas Edison
This is all very interesting. It's good to know there's clearly low hanging fruit out there. We are a bit slow. None of us have worked in any other shop so we're all new to auto speed possibilities.Finishing up the run today, we managed 1080 in 2.6 hours = 415/hr, which would be 8.8ish hours print start to finish at that speed (ignoring any snags of course). That was us trying to be about as quickly controlled as we can be. PFP, auto, zero dwell, flash walked down from 5.5 sec to 3.5 seconds. Loader, Puller, Catcher – plus me floating (I'm about a half). That is all of our employees excepting the front desk (who was also un-boxing and hauling the full boxes to the warehouse but I could have likely fit that into my floating). Breaks for smoke were taken. Breaks to de-lint (fruit of the loom 100%) UB screen.
Prince: “7 second dwell time, loading & pulling. Add a second person to catch/count/fold/pack at the end of the dryer. So, that's around 500/hour, . . . With a second person on press”wait wait wait, you could get 500/hr loading AND pulling yourself? That seems crazy.We're at zero dwell, 2 people (plus the inker) on the press and only managing 415 (?)
I haven't run a press in almost 7 years...but I did run a press for almost 8 years. Gauntlet II. For a job like this back in my day I'd say 1 10-hour shift would easily complete this with no fancy tricks. I'd pump out 3000 prints a day pretty reliably back then, and I was the trainer for all the new guys which meant that as soon as they were trained (I got it to a 2 week regimen from complete noob to capable printer...first setup on first day) I would lose them to another press. This meant I would run alone. A lot. Sometimes for months at a time. I didn't mind. In fact, I really enjoyed the workout, even if my knees still hate me for it. For an 8 hour shift I'd do a couple things. First, if I'm working with an unloader the press will be around 60-70dz/hr, non stop. Then for re-inking and table loading I'd drop it to 45-50dz/hr and run it by myself while my assistant took care of the little stuff. I always wondering what my numbers would have been like on a Gauntlet 3...we didn't get that beast until years after my run in the shop. That thing indexes like greased lightning. We got to try one out 6 or 7 years ago at the printing competition at the Atlantic City ISS. By the end we crept it up to 134dz/hr...and it indexed so fast it wasn't any more difficult than my Gauntlet II at 85dz/hr. We didn't win the press, but I think we came in 4th....it was like 15 minutes and I think we printed 315 pieces with only 4 defects...I think. It's been a while and immediately after that we went back to our room and drank all the beer to offset the gallon of coffee we chugged immediately beforehand.Back on topic, 3000pcs can easily be done in an 8 hour shift as long as the crew works like a well oiled machine. I once worked with a guy who ran a rickety old GT-8 with one flash, on a PFP revolver program, all by himself, and he could consistently do 3000pcs in a day. Between the unload/load cycles he'd re-ink and reload his table. The press would never stop spinning except for breaks and lunch. Ever. I guess this is a ton of words to just say don't let the press stop spinning and work at a diligent pace.
Wandering a bit here, but I think I was at the first print off at an open house at M&R. Rich was so impressed with a team that had never even printed on an auto. They finished so far back, but he gave them an auto too. All those years ago, building relationships.