Moved shops.....

[Rocfrog]

So I finally made a move to another shop in town and in the two days I have been there and the tiny bit that I have been exposed to the shop I came from is a joke! I am absolutely amazed at the stuff I thought I've known over the past almost 3yrs!

I'm SUPER excited to have made this move and I can't wait to learn more!

Just wanted to put that out there. 

Oh and BTW I'm the Graphic Designer there not a printer at my last shop I was kind of an everything employee. The new place said I will also probably have to help in the shop from time to time but my main focus will be in the office.

Nick

[Dottonedan]

Good for you!  Moving on up.  I can read the eye of the tiger in you.

[Rocfrog]

Thanks Dan! I'm excited to learn, and the even better part is once I learn their processes I get to help figure out how to streamline them! So that means more research and more learning!

Nick

[Homer]

the craziest feeling in the world is to come to the realization that EVERYTHING you know is wrong.....it's like the first few seconds when you wake up and go " why am I on the couch?..oh yeah"

Everything I learned at a shop I worked at 15 years ago could not be anymore wrong. Everything and I mean everything I learned had to be rinsed out of my head and start over...good move on your part and you have a forum full of knowledge to pull from.

[Frog]

What's even cooler, is when those with more than a couple of similar experiences under their belt also can cherry pick the good stuff from each shop, especially the sometimes unique, quirky things that do work!

As we learn here over and over, there are many ways to skin this screen printing cat!

Good luck in your new endeavor.

[tonypep]

I'll never be able to remember how many shops I've worked in visited, or consulted for but heres a few observations. First, there are many ways to achieve the same outcome. Often one method, technique, chemistry, or piece of equipment may not necessarily be wrong, just different. Second, what works for some may not for all. Third, and this is for those of you who may be switching jobs as a supervisor or production manager, resist the initial urge to effect immediate change. This will alienate you from your employees and often a positive change can cause unexpected negative effects elsewhere in the production chain. Take time to observe the whole picture. Eventually the weak links in the chain will become apparent.
In large shops I give it the nine month rule. First three months are delegated to absorbtion and observation. Take this time to know your employers and employees And most importantly use this phase not to only to understand the "How" of things but also the "Why" of things.. Second phase involves the beginning of implementing change slowly and methodically, taking time here to observe impacts, both positve and negative. Third phase involves gathering data and recording progress. This is the beginning of the "Polishing".
And that part never ends.
Best of luck Nick!

[Dottonedan]

Tony,

Third, and this is for those of you who may be switching jobs as a supervisor or production manager, resist the initial urge to effect immediate change. This will alienate you from your employees and often a positive change can cause unexpected negative effects elsewhere in the production chain. Take time to observe the whole picture. Eventually the weak links in the chain will become apparent.

I've experienced this myself.  Granted, the two large shops I've been at that I applied this method may have been more extreme cases of being alienated from my co workers. (other management). The direct reports and other employees respected what I was doing even though they didn't understand it at first. My case was in management of equal level and was fought all the way up until I was able to prove my findings by actual results. My mistake was doing it alone and not finding ways to bring them in for the changes (as if they had come up with it themselves). They felt more like what they did was wrong (and it was) but they didn't want to embrace that until I smoothed things over with them and made them more a part of it. That was my biggest mistake early on in those two situations.

Both were shut down coincidentally, each being a year almost to the day or week of my arrival.
One might say, that "my impact on the improvements may not have been viewed well enough by the owners", but these company's are far larger than me and my impact to sway either of these two businesses decisions. These decisions were both well under way at the time of my arrival on a more senior management level that I had no connection to. Any improvements only enhanced the look of the company and sale for one of them. The other was a more global business decision as we were only a small part under the umbrella.

Why mention all of this? The time frame of management coming along and embracing the changes didn't come soon enough for both locations. After much change had been achieved, quality improved and major financial increases shown on paper, the changes came far too late.
I agree with your statement above wholeheartedly. I also wanted to add to that.
There are several ways needed to approaching change of this magnitude. Yours is one of them and probably the safest method to achieve a peaceful change although slightly slower. If your company is more stable, invested into the industry and shows interest in staying in the business for years to come, this slower method can be the best answer.
Conversely, if the company does not solely rely on screen printing to exist, and can shut the doors of your location to better benefit it's over all business, (to cut the infected arm off to save the body) so to speak, then another more faster approach is needed.

I've done it your first way both times, and both times the Co shut it's doors even after major financial improvements have been shown. People were happy, proud of what they were doing, the Co was better off and the doors still closed for reasons beyond our control.  My belief is that had both of these company's been introduced to these changes a year or two prior, they would still be running today.

For the last reason above, I feel that in some cases, depending on the Co and situation, a more (fast and furious) or total revamp of processes, procedures, policies as well as people and positions approach is more beneficial to the overall survival of the Co and employees positions than the more timely, lengthy, more happier employees approach. Some employees and management may plot your demise but using this technique may need to be understood that this is what you signed up for. As we all know, you can't always be the good guy in business decisions.
What you are trying to avoid above in your more softer, slower, "walking softly" gaining respect as you go approach is more well received than the 2nd option. In this 2nd approach, you stand a greater chance of then running into other problems as a result, such as dealing with employee issues.
Some positions and specific people or skill sets that are disgruntle, that don't accept the change well can be harder to replace but the Co. still survives. Positions are still available to be filled. In these cases, Needing to fill the positions is a better choice than closing the doors.
Both are effective, your first approach is a better, more nicer for the people than the 2nd.  The 2nd, is better for the overall existence of the business and the option chosen should be weighed out based on the position of the company and it's intended longevity or potential. The important factor is being able to know where the Co stands in the beginning of your decisions.
The above is merely an observation and a personal theory on the two different scenarios of the businesses. I do not state that I know the 2nd "fast and furious" option as a tried and true process. I've only experienced the first "kinder more friendlier" option and in my experience and results with those specific company's may not reflect all situations. Food for thought is all it is.

Lastly, I want to say, that both Tony's post and my post pertain to RocFrog's original reply as I can tell that he wants to make an impact on company and to approach them with change for the betterment of the Co he works for (as much as one can).

[Rocfrog]

That's for all the great support and advise guys. I am in no way a "production manager" or any other type of manager, the company has just been trying to make some changes to their process lately and asked me if once I learn their current process give them feedback and ideas on how to better it. I am constantly looking for better/different ways to tackle this screen printing thing, I know there are a MILLION different ways to produce the same product but a lot of it just depends on how quickly and efficiently you can out put it. My last shop was nothing but troubles, always band aiding things or cleaning up "messes/mistakes" vs trying to prevent them. That shop would struggle to produce 300-400pcs a day (sometimes worse, my last days it took them 2 days to print 146pcs on an auto) and my first day at the new place they guys had pumped out almost 2K shirts by lunch time!! A lot if this business is knowledge and experience, and my last shop would always higher people whit zero experience and expect them to know it all in less than a week with little to know training and then complain when things were behind or messed up. I have a huge thread in here (some of you have seen it) about some of the troubles I had at that place. It's so nice to be at a "real" shop, I mean I out put films on Friday before I left and the fact that I had a RIP and a printer that I didn't have to manually cut and feed the film into was amazing to me!

Nick