Systems
Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2014 3:13 pm
My question has to do with common systems used in screenprint shops to see a print job thru from beginning to end.
A little backstory first. I was hired by a local, small screenprint shop in my town about 5 weeks ago. Besides the owner there are two full time printers, myself and one other guy who has been there around 2-3 months, a part time person for the retail area of the shop and a part time person that does graphic design and helps with back office stuff (ie payroll, a/r, a/p, etc) Prior to this job I have had zero screen print experience so everything i'm learning is from the owner (who has been in business for around 15 years).
Sometime late last year a girl that had worked for the owner for 3 years and who basically ran the print floor had to leave due to a family issue. At the time there was another guy working there but he quit shortly after the girl left. So over the last 6 months or so there has been several people that have been hired and for whatever reason haven't worked out. And because of this it seems that the organization and systems have broken down and the place is kinda chaotic.
So needless to say her business has been struggling and I would like to do whatever I can to help her get it back to where it needs to be. But since this is my only experience with working in a screenprint shop i'm not sure how to fix things. She is helping as me as much as she can but she's busy doing the stuff she needs to do keep the business running so it's not like she can stand by my side all day and coach/teach me. I know there is a ton of stuff i need to learn about the technical process of printing itself (which a lot of that stuff is covered in jonathans videos) but i'm also trying to figure out the optimal way in which the shop should run. Prioritizing tasks is the biggest challenge i'm having right now. But the thing that is frustrating me the most is the way orders are communicated. So my question is what methods do shops use to make sure an order goes from the customers idea to a finished shirt without anything being lost or changed?
A little backstory first. I was hired by a local, small screenprint shop in my town about 5 weeks ago. Besides the owner there are two full time printers, myself and one other guy who has been there around 2-3 months, a part time person for the retail area of the shop and a part time person that does graphic design and helps with back office stuff (ie payroll, a/r, a/p, etc) Prior to this job I have had zero screen print experience so everything i'm learning is from the owner (who has been in business for around 15 years).
Sometime late last year a girl that had worked for the owner for 3 years and who basically ran the print floor had to leave due to a family issue. At the time there was another guy working there but he quit shortly after the girl left. So over the last 6 months or so there has been several people that have been hired and for whatever reason haven't worked out. And because of this it seems that the organization and systems have broken down and the place is kinda chaotic.
So needless to say her business has been struggling and I would like to do whatever I can to help her get it back to where it needs to be. But since this is my only experience with working in a screenprint shop i'm not sure how to fix things. She is helping as me as much as she can but she's busy doing the stuff she needs to do keep the business running so it's not like she can stand by my side all day and coach/teach me. I know there is a ton of stuff i need to learn about the technical process of printing itself (which a lot of that stuff is covered in jonathans videos) but i'm also trying to figure out the optimal way in which the shop should run. Prioritizing tasks is the biggest challenge i'm having right now. But the thing that is frustrating me the most is the way orders are communicated. So my question is what methods do shops use to make sure an order goes from the customers idea to a finished shirt without anything being lost or changed?