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Prevously, we discussed the fact that \u201cchange,\u201d while often misunderstood and resisted, is absolutely necessary. No gains can be made in controlling a manufacturing process, its outcome, and ultimately its bottom line without it. In other words, change must be embraced by everyone involved in creating your bottom line!<\/p>\n
While I would like to move right into discussing gravure-specific process issues and solutions, if the personnel using these process techniques do not fully understand why they are important and how they work, then they will soon drift back to their old habits. That is why this next topic to be addressed in our series is \u201cOperator Best Practices Training.\u201d<\/p>\n
Training personnel and establishing Best Practices Standardization is extremely important. When each pressroom employee performs their part of the process in precisely the same way and according\u00a0to established procedures, from press to press and shift to shift, the outcome is more predictable.<\/p>\n
Benefits include:<\/p>\n
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In most pressrooms, each operator\u2019s skill level is usually the result of \u201ctrickle-down\u201d training. What this means is that new hires usually progress through the ranks as higher positions become available. Senior employees train the new hire while they are learning the skills required for a position.<\/p>\n
An example of position progression is:<\/p>\n
Trickle-down training may be okay in some cases, but the senior employee may not always be the best person to train a new hire. Let\u2019s face it; the senior employee often was trained by someone who was trained by someone else who may not have understood or practiced the best practices. The end result of trickle-down training is little or no documentation of what information and skills sets are being relayed, and critical information is often lost during the transfer, plus many personal habits (some undesirable) are also passed on.<\/p>\n
The outcome of this type of training can often establish bad practices as \u201cstandard practices.\u201d How often is the answer to your question, \u201cWhy?\u201d, \u201cCuz it\u2019s the way \u2018we\u2019 do it here,\u201d as if that\u2019s the end of that subject! Unfortunately, many managers asking the questions don\u2019t know the answers so they drop it there!<\/p>\n
With all operators having different skill and ability levels due to wide variations in their training and troubleshooting experiences, the end result is process variation.<\/p>\n
The typical operator has his or her own method of setting the machine and process variables, based on what they \u201cfeel\u201d will allow the press to run most efficiently. Unfortunately, this often means that even though the press may be running fine, adjustments are made, usually at shift changes\u2014\u201cjust because\u201d every operator knows best and because he\/she can. Once again, this type of mid-run adjustment causes the end product to change. In other words, process variation occurs.The typical operator has his or her own method of setting the machine and process variables, based on what they \u201cfeel\u201d will allow the press to run most efficiently. Unfortunately, this often means that even though the press may be running fine, adjustments are made, usually at shift changes\u2014\u201cjust because\u201d every operator knows best and because he\/she can. Once again, this type of mid-run adjustment causes the end product to change. In other words, process variation occurs.<\/p>\n
In order to eliminate process variation, we need to:<\/p>\n
Equalizing the knowledge base is every company\u2019s biggest challenge. Operators don\u2019t usually like to share their \u201csecrets\u201d because they feel it will cause them to relinquish their status or expose deficiencies.\u00a0Your best recourse is to assign a \u201cChampion\u201d who fits your \u201cBest Practices\u201d criteria and have that person\u2019s knowledge base be the starting point for creating your new standardized procedures.Your best recourse is to assign a \u201cChampion\u201d who fits your \u201cBest Practices\u201d criteria and have that person\u2019s knowledge base be the starting point for creating your new standardized procedures.<\/p>\n
Establish a classroom-training syllabus of predetermined best practices (endorsed by the \u201cChampion\u201d) to which all personnel will be trained. Each of your vendors has some kind of presentation that will explain in depth all the information regarding their products\u2019 use. Incorporate this information into your syllabus.Establish a classroom-training syllabus of predetermined best practices (endorsed by the \u201cChampion\u201d) to which all personnel will be trained. Each of your vendors has some kind of presentation that will explain in depth all the information regarding their products\u2019 use. Incorporate this information into your syllabus.<\/p>\n
Once the classroom training is completed, continue with a \u201chands-on\u201d training course that will be more familiar to most pressroom operators and that will effectively reinforce classroom learning.<\/p>\n
And, once all your personnel are trained, a system must be in place to:<\/p>\n
As I said earlier, many operators are given ability labels, usually based on how well they troubleshoot and handle problems. In my next few columns, I will discuss some important key elements that, if not under control, will affect the process stability and create the need for Troubleshooters!!!<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s start focusing on how to prevent trouble\u2014not how to troubleshoot\u2014 because once we experience trouble during the production run, we are already loosing Bottom-Line Profits.<\/p>\n
If you need help with assessments or training for the best doctor blade solution, contact one of our experts for a consultative evaluation. Our team will be able to help you with solutions.<\/p>\n