I am new to owning my own screen printing setup but I am not new to the process and have been around the scene for about 15 yrs. my experience comes from signs and now I am a full time designer. I would like to start my own business but all the little things must and always should be calculated. I have debated and looked around for a long time (4 months now) and I am leaning towards ranar package #1 or #2. I know each one has their own hourly production rate, but is that rate based on 1 person production?

What is the normal rate for screen production with the ranar setup?
Expose Screen time?
Setup time?
Reclaim time?

Thanks

Yes, this would be based on 1 person operating the manual press but it does not take into consideration shirt handling and folding times. In my opinion these are very difficult things to calculate because the individual job can affect the production rate. For instance a1 color 1 side only print job will be faster to print than a 4 color print on the front and back.

Also black ink on a white tee will cure faster than white ink on a black tee. Follow? Therefore production rates provided by manufacturers are most likely based on a 1 color print in one location. Even then the production rate is not accurate because everyone prints differently and at a different speed. In the beginning you will not be able to print tee shirts as fast as I could for instance.

Exposure times vary based on your humidity, relative temperature, exposure source, film positive and finally emulsion. But a screen generally may take anywhere from 30 seconds to 12 minutes to expose.

Set up time varies depending on the job. A 1 color job sets up in less than 5 minutes whereas a 4 color job may take. 20 to 40 minutes or more depending on your skill level. This includes choosing squeegees, taping off screens, setting up pallets and inking up.

Reclaiming takes maybe 10 minutes per screen if they are relatively easy to reclaim. This includes reclaim, dehaze, and mesh prep. It may take longer if the emulsion or stains are stubborn.

So you can see it is difficult to be realistic unless you set some parameters for your numbers. You’ll have to base your calculations based on a particular scenario.

thanks for the reply. My apologies for not going into detail. I am currently building my formulas for light VS dark, sides, and additional colors. If memory serves me a light garment with 1 color 1 side took about:

14 mins exposure
8 mins setup and tear down
12 mins reclaim if I do several at a time.

so for one color print setup it would take 30 mins on the safe side (with a test) and for additional colors I'd say 20 mins on a light garment.