I Need Help

[alan802]

I try real hard to get ink through my screens, it just doesn't go.  I use lots of pressure and it still doesn't work.  What is off-contact?  Please help me. 

How yall turds doing around here?  Thought I'd drop by and say I haven't missed some of you, but some of you I have missed terribly. 

[Homer]

lower your mesh to at least 110 - wooden frames are best.

Fker...

[royster13]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xVLXO_1RRQ

[Sbrem]

Have you tried a squeegee? Is there an image, or just a coated screen? Not dead yet...


Steve

[Frog]

How yall turds doing around here?  Thought I'd drop by and say I haven't missed some of you, but some of you I have missed terribly. 

Wonder which group of turds I belong to.

[alan802]

How yall turds doing around here?  Thought I'd drop by and say I haven't missed some of you, but some of you I have missed terribly. 

Wonder which group of turds I belong to.

the love/hate , mostly love.

[alan802]

It looks like most have somehow survived the last 18 months ok, or at least pretending to.  I see a lot of familiar names as I browsed earlier.  Hopefully everyone is getting by or thriving.  And I'm sure those who aren't have moved on to better things, low bar.

[mk162]

I was wondering where you were.  Figured you were busy as heck.

[GraphicDisorder]

Welcome back stranger.

[alan802]

Good to be back.

I've been less busy the last two months, but prior to that the previous 1.5-2yrs I had too much on my plate and got fried, was ready to walk away.  We've had a drop from covid, but it was nothing compared to the drop in payroll.  Fall of 19' there were 8 of us in the screen printing building, and through most of 20' there was just 3 of us.  Leading up to March 20' we had lost 5-6 employees (both buildings) to different things and as we were preparing to hire, covid came.  Then another 3 full-timers decided to quit, then try to claim unemployment. It did suck having to go to court and testify against people you worked with for several years.  Up until a few months ago I was cleaning/coating/burning screens, receiving/shipping, running the RPM a few days/week, running the laser engraver, delivering, even took over a few customers from a sales rep that left.  I've actually been doing receiving since fall of 19' (maybe longer), but hiring someone, then training, then they spend 6-8 hrs/day doing something I do in 1.5-2 hrs didn't make sense.  AND finding employees has been a tad bit more difficult the past year so.  It took about 7-8 months to hire for receiving and a spot for screen printing production.  The last 5 years it has been trending that direction, so it's hard to say how much covid had to do with finding employees, but I'm sure it had an impact.

So we're slightly smaller now, but leaner.  We were pretty lean to begin with, and most of what was cut was done amicably and pre-pandemic.  And yes, we still use thin thread and mostly roller frames.  Because they are superior, that is all.

[3Deep]

Thought you had gotten lost out there in Big T, glad to see you back

[inkman996]

It was hard finding a decent employee pre pandemic, now its impossible to find a crap employee.

[mooseman]

Soon the waste material is going to hit the rotating cooling unit.............................
On September 5, 2021 several federal unemployment benefit programs will expire across the country, per federal law. The federal benefit programs that will expire are:

Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA)
Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC)
Extended Benefits (EB)
$300 Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC)
mooseman

[alan802]

I ain't gonna lie, I was to the point where I was more than willing to downsize this joint to fit the employees we had left.  And on average, you get the same result out of employees these days whether you pay them $10/hr or $18/hr.  Well, I take that back, we get less production now than we did 10 years ago when we paid far less.  Hopefully not everyone is experiencing the same problems.  I expect there are still pockets/regions that have a strong workforce base to pull from.  Central Texas isn't one of them.   

[GraphicDisorder]

I ain't gonna lie, I was to the point where I was more than willing to downsize this joint to fit the employees we had left.  And on average, you get the same result out of employees these days whether you pay them $10/hr or $18/hr.  Well, I take that back, we get less production now than we did 10 years ago when we paid far less.  Hopefully not everyone is experiencing the same problems.  I expect there are still pockets/regions that have a strong workforce base to pull from.  Central Texas isn't one of them.

To get a great printer we had to pay $25 a hour and 10k bonus. So feel you there. We do have a great staff most making the higher end of your listed price there and we live in nowhere TN. Factory jobs here now are posting jobs starting at $17.17 literally a mile from here and my staff passes that billboard daily. crap job over all but thats great starting wage to screw water heaters together. Others are paying even more. Fast food is now $15+ around here and they can't find help. Period.

We keep raising wages because frankly sales are off the scale right now but will that hold forever? No idea. We will add 7 figures in sales this year. But what about next year, when gov stops paying all these people to sit at home and blow money. Whats going to happen? No idea but im watching my money in general.