Good Afternoon
Hello Fellow Tech’s . Today I want to talk about what is needed to run a efficient print shop . now a lot of you will say that it should be simple enough but in fact it is easier said than done .
there are all kinds of moving parts that must be addressed . so lets start by looking at personal , most places will be set up as a in house thing which means that you will be operating your shop inside of a already thriving company . This possess its own unique strength’s and weakness . and depending on how large or small your setup is your the one that has to deal with and adjust accordingly . Let’s look at some of the things you will face . Your machines are your most important asset . Now you cant just have machines without knowing your work flow all locations will not need the same machines . your printer choice should be based on your job loads for example here where I am currently stationed the ideal setup would be two color machines a binder a cutter that can do both normal jobs and business cards . your finisher is the second most important part of your gear you need to make sure it has the ability to do booklets, staple, three whole punch and if possible it is good idea to have the ability to make booklets where the cover is different from the insides which is also an attachment added to the finisher .
The next thing to consider and you need to know this among the top priority is paper type and sizes . there are as many different paper types as there are types of people . it is important to make sure your fiery is fully setup you don’t want to get a job or project and not have the license to impose or compose . if you are unfamiliar with these terms don’t worry at the end I will give you a cheat sheet of terms commonly used shop terms . Moving on it is vital you make it know what your shop can and cant handle it is equally important that your clients understand your capabilities so they don’t think you can do something you cant .
Now lets talk about personal and hours . I could use the shop im at but in truth that is not wise because every location will be different either way it is my experience that two personal at the least is what you want for a couple of reasons one being day to day operations it is just natural your going to get sick or have some reason be it family or other wise that your going to need time off . that said you need to have someone that can pick up the load during those times which is why it is paramount to have at least two people at your station . it would be helpful if one was familiar with graphic design but the important thing is to have the two bodies to maintain your shop readiness . hours typically 8-5 is what you would think is the normal for everything mon-fri however a print shop is not the normal you will get jobs that will come in at the last min or require two days to complete and this is while running other jobs that come in so basically you need to prepare your self for the fact that even though it says 8-5 mon-fr on the door you maybe working til 6,7,8 or even on the weekends but then again you may also be at a site where you only work mon-thurs .whatever your site setup is just understand you’ll need to be flexible and your organization will need to be flexible the client will expect when they want a project, for it to be done when they want it done .
your going to have problems so expect paper jams and error messages , files that don’t turn out right etc. the thing is don’t panic hopefully you have a tech waiting but while waiting on that tech there some things you can do . when dealing with paper jams check all openings and drawers you be surprised at the fact that the smallest scrap of paper left inside can throw the whole machine off .
11×17 ,12×18, 8.5×11, 13×19, 8.5×14 these are some of the average paper types you will deal with on a daily basis’s
gloss cover, gloss text , hammermill, aspire pelltilics which is a metallic type of paper
so that’s all for now until next time fellow tech’s
