Staging part 4: The Ready Cart/Rack

[tonypep]

This is geared more to the multi auto shops but heres one way to pre-stage. At Harlequin we had special racks on wheels welded for us. The top was flat and could handle up to eight single gallons of ink. Below were slats that could accomodate up to eight screens. On the front there was a hook on the top for a sample and imprint instructions in a clear protective envelope. On the bottom hook was a 5 gallon pail with fresh squeegees and floodbars. Now, this was a large shop that had the luxury of having ink personnel whose duty it was to clean the ink out of the screens and libray them when done. The press ops simply removed the screen/sqg/fldbr, placed them in the cart and it was whisked away so they could begin setting up the new job which would be waiting beside it in a fresh cart.
One Nike shop adopted this concept using large racks along the wall which could accomodate two jobs per press.
We don't do it either way today but have morphed both ideas together and have a hybrid model. The reason I keep hyping this is that so many times I walk into a "high tech" shop and don't see this happening which is baffling. Whats the point in having all the toys if you can't pre-plan and organize efficiently? Anyway, this will probably be the last installment on the subject. Thanks for reading.

[Dottonedan]

Very jucie info.  Good for large shops and those just building into this size.
It actually can be applied to smaller shops as well that are really busy every day.


Thanks for the 4 parter. Great content!

[tonypep]

Thanks Dan, didn't mean to get all preachy at the end but smaller shops can at least embrace the concepts.
Hope this helps some of you

[TCT]

Anyway, this will probably be the last installment on the subject. Thanks for reading.

Um, is there a chance for a encore? Or perhaps, a "back by popular demand" with more installments?
Small shop, medium shop, huge shop, the basic concept behind these "systems" is what is important. It can be easily scaled, maybe a small cart that only handles 4 quarts of ink and a box on the bottom for manual squeegees....

Either way I think it is good stuff! 

[bimmridder]

I do have some luxuries that not everyone does. We don't do this all year 'round, but now during busy season we have a person (might not be the same one all the time) that will remove inks from screens, floods, and squeegees (in that order, by the way). Depending how the jobs are flowing in and out of the three autos, operators may help with tear down or move on to another press. Either way, the set up people are not clean up people. They tear the press down and move to the next set up. Our "utility" person does the dirty work. This way I make sure set up people are setting up, not cleaning up. The utility person may also haul screens back to reclaim, untape, check and adjust tension as needed.  This is during our busy season when we DO have the chance to have a few more hands around. As things slow, so does the number of hands around to help.

[tonypep]

A utility person is an excellent luxury but it is just that, a luxury. Like most we do things slightly differently from season to season.

[ebscreen]

How do you match ready garments to job carts? I've seen folks that stack garments on the same
cart as screens/inks, but that scares the crud outta me.

I traded my flatstock equipment (it was a hobby really, one that took up a lot of space) to a machinist
buddy and he's made some killer carts for me. I'll have to take a pic when I get a chance. They can hold fives
which is awesome.

[tonypep]

Typically they are staged separately. Some shops have "Parking Areas for" Others simply stage them along side the dryers. At HNG we staged them in a separate building because there wasn't enough room in the print buildings. It truly looked like a parking lot with taped off areas to allocate designated spots for eight presses, two shifts. They were rolled out as needed. Communication by intercom. "Press Three is tearing down" signals whse to send next order.

[ebscreen]

Haha, valet parking.

[tonypep]

A better pic of good garment staging practices