We seem to be having a difference of opinion in our shop regarding productivity. We have a 6 head manual press (Ranar) and I was wondering how many "hits" a day you think is reasonable? I believe that we should be able to achieve 500-600 if we are properly prepared, my pressman thinks that 200-300 is a better target.

I would think an average of 50/hr is a pretty decent number, which would put you at 400 roughly(8hr day). Meeting in the middle is usually a good starting point in my opinion. Im very new at screen printing but it also will depend on the type of dryer and number of colors being used.

The answer for this varies and is dependent on the printer. Back in my heyday when I was young I could easily print about 125 1 color prints on white shirts in an hour. But that took concentration and determination without disturbances. Some people claim to be faster than that. Today I am much slower than that and how fast you can print will really be determined by how easy it is to print that screen. The easier it is the faster it will be.

But I do think a goal of 400 to 500 prints per day is doable and could be increased possibly as you go along. I say prints meaning simply printing any screen. A multi-color job will consume more prints per hour hence taking longer to print. You’ll have to fine tune the process so printing is as easy as possible. That means good screens, squeegees and inks. It also means a clean, well-organized shop with proper tools and equipment. You already have a good press

If you can do 75 prints an hour that is 600 prints per day. But we are talking about printing white tees here. Printing dark tees can significantly increase production time. Time is money so the faster you can get a job done the better but it may be wise to compromise as suggested by drew to begin with. Then you can push your printer further if he can meet the initial demand.

Manual printing is a lot of manual labor obviously and it has a heavy toll on the printer. Make conditions for the printer as comfortable as possible. Make sure to have an anti-fatigue mat for the printer to stand on and make sure to create artwork that will print well easily. Artwork can also have a lot to do with how the job has to be printed.

Thank you so much for your replies they were very, very helpful. I was thinking that we have the ability to produce 600 impressions (white shirt, one hit of color, front imprint only). Quite possibly my numbers could be unrealistic. Our shop has fantastic equipment complete with anti fatigue mats and a wonderful work environment. Lately our production seems to be a bit off so I think I need to jump into that area to see where I can help. Thanks again for your responses - I do appreciate it!

very nice post

I have a production question, how do 2 people best work together on a 2 station 4 color machine? The job, lets say is white on black tees, 2 sides. A pocket sized image for the front and a full size image across the back. You are using one flash dryer but you do have a heat press that you are not using.... You want to flash between ink strokes i presume, correct me if I am wrong please. Only one person is stroking the ink at any one time on this one color job is this correct? Does the second man do the flash between strokes? Can the heat press be set up to help in any way? Thanks in advance...happy holiday weekend to all....peace

Hey there, I hope you had a good weekend.

On a manual press I would use the second person to catch shirts at the end of the belt dryer and fold them or prepare them for printing the other side. They can also handle ink, keeping the printer’s hands clean and printing. If you don’t have a belt dryer then the second person could pull shirts off the press to one side of the printer but it’s probably not necessary.

If at all possible you really want to use a high quality high opacity white ink on an open mesh like 110/80 or 125/70 and only print once. Doing a hit/flash/hit will increase production time exponentially and reduce the profit made per hour.

I have never seen 2 people efficiently work a manual press together. Normally there is only one operator of a manual press and that is the printer. I don’t have any suggestions on how to use the heat press either because flash curing or belt drying will have a different print surface than those that are heat pressed if you were referring to using it for the final cure.

I suggest you establish a time clock situation whenever a job is started/stopped. Using this methodology you are able to account for labor that is utilized in performing that specific job. By establishing accurate stats on each job you can determine productivity levels. One employee may perform slower than others, but have a higher productivity when reviewing the stats. Mistakes cost money in product, supplies & especially labor. Everyone's efforts involved in a project should show up on "job reports".

Production work requires a person to focus or errors will occur. Therefore, it is a good practice to have multiple employees qualified to do the same task. Changing duties of employees periodically minimizes mistakes caused by inattention and loss of focus.