Impressions - October/November 2015 - 58

tS

Screen Printing Production

When more staff is
trained in other departments, the easier it is
for people to help make
decisions that could affect
things downstream.

or outsource something like artwork creation so you can keep up with your sales
calls or printing.
Getting to this point is a sign of growth.
You can find temporary workers at any
staffing agency, or even within your own
network of friends. For more complicated
tasks like hiring a freelance artist, look to
your social media and professional networking groups for referrals. Sometimes
you could be making more money (or doing things more quickly) by concentrating
on more primary tasks, such as printing
or selling, while simultaneously having
other tasks completed, such as reclaiming
screens or creating art.
What to Do: Medium Shops - Many
medium-sized shops struggle with writing
and following procedures or rules. They've
grown from a one- or two-person operation and suddenly there are 20 people
working in the shop. The need for more
direction and management is apparent.
More and more jobs are coming through
the door daily and this creates a logjam of
orders in various departments.
Managing your shop's time is critical to
creating a smoother production schedule
and getting everyone on the same page.
Look to moving beyond using Microsoft
Excel or a whiteboard for planning and
finding a shop operating system that will
work for you. Start establishing standards
that jobs will follow as they work through
the shop as tasks are completed.
58

Impressions | October/November 2015

Get these policies and procedures
established so everyone follows the same
rules. Standardizing the way the shop
organizes and prioritizes work will allow
you to get more done in a day.
What to Do: Large Shops - Once a
shop gets to a certain point in its growth,
the key employees will have things figured out. However, time management still
could be a factor as orders are coming in
faster than they can be produced.
This is a good problem to have. Rather
than invest in more space and equipment,
shops sometimes overlook adding more
production shifts. You already have the
equipment, but it's unused for half the day.
However, ramping up a second shift
can be tough. You'll need a strong leader
to manage the shop while everyone is
away. Planning and scheduling the work
produced during second shift is slightly
different. Most shops give these shifts
longer production runs, as there's usually
nobody around to approve the strike-off
or ask a question if there's a challenge.
If you have a full staff on this shift, your
shop easily can double its production capacity. You'll still have to figure out what
to do with mixing ink, burning screens, art
sign-offs or other challenges that probably
will arise. Also, once you've established the
second shift, sustaining it throughout the
year may become a sales challenge during
your slower months. It's not easy, so think
it through.

RULES & MANAGEMENT
There's a big difference between how a
one- or two-person shop is managed versus
a large shop with scores of employees. The
larger the shop, the more corporate-like
the management structure. In addition to
benefitting the company, having rules also
defines the culture and sets the expectations everyone should follow.
Since the work in our industry is performed by people, how each person works
will define effective workflow. For example, having a press operator that comes
in late a few times a week, or staff that
constantly checks Facebook or texts their
friends while on the clock, can dramatically
affect your final production numbers for

Medium-sized shop owners should
have an employee handbook that clearly
defines all of the expectations for the staff.
Hold people accountable by having scheduled
employee reviews.
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