Digital Original: Does Chaos Reign Supreme in Your Shop?

Production chaos can seem to be a normal condition for many printing companies. Jobs turn into rush jobs because of communication issues. Overtime costs climb because too many jobs were scheduled on a specific date for a specific department. Customers delay proof approval and disrupt scheduling. It seems it is a daily battle to meet delivery times and keep customers happy.

Chaos doesn’t have to be the standard operating procedure. Applying some simple procedures can reduce problems and eliminate many production snags if you can get everyone on the shop to follow them.

Put someone in charge.

Assign someone to be the production manager to move the jobs through the shop. The production manager’s job is to assure that customer demands are met and jobs are delivered on time. He or she will have complete control of the production schedule and even the owner must pay heed to the production manager’s schedule. It isn’t a full time job so that person can be doing other work, but one person having the say over when job gets done will streamline the entire operation. It will avoid having sales people manage their own jobs through production creating havoc and taking time away from selling activities.

Establish standards.

Determine an estimated standard as to the average time it will take to do each task for every function within the shop. How long will it take for the prepress department to do certain types of jobs? How long should it take to do certain types jobs in the press department? In the digital department? In bindery? Production standards are the estimate of the normal time it would take to move a job goes through the shop. Sales people would use the standards to give the customer a delivery date. If there are special time requirements, the production manager must approved the promised date when weighed against the other work.

Review jobs as they enter production.

The production manager must review each job as it enters production to assure the work order includes all the information necessary to meet the delivery date on time. Are all the specifications included? Was the delivery time scheduled using the normal production time or is it a rush job? Is the job priced correctly? Are there any special paper or materials needed to produce the job? The production manager is the choke point where jobs are reviewed before they enter the production cycle so the company can avoid mistakes and create delivery issues.

Keep a production log.

The production manager maintains a daily production log with the delivery date and the interim due dates the job will be out of each department. Using interim due dates will help make sure that each department will have time to produce the work when it gets to their department. If the production manager sees that the work is delayed in one department, he can readjust the schedule as necessary. Usually work done on digital equipment that will be completed within a day isn’t put on a production schedule. Everyone has access to the production log so they know where jobs are and can schedule new jobs properly.

Meet with staff daily.

The production manager makes sure communications are open among the work groups. Everyone should attend a daily morning meeting to review the key issues of the day’s production schedule. Any issues can be discussed and interruptions can be eliminated.

Review each job twice a day.

Twice a day, the production manager should review the progress of each job. Will the job be ready to move to the next work station as scheduled? Are there any issues with the job? Checking the progress of each job is a short process that helps assure the delivery date is met.

Chaos erupts if the entire team isn’t working together and not following the production procedures. Print owners can eliminate the chaos by purring a production manager makes sure the procedures are followed by everyone, including the owner. Putting the responsibility in the hands of one person will keep everyone on task and make sure all customer delivery dates are met without losing money.