How to increase workshop productivity?

[Ryk]

Hello everyone. As I recently joined my family business, I need to bring in some new systems to help it grow.

Here's what I want to know:
a) How do you increase productivity in your company? Something like a project timeline. (included due dates, install dates, people in charge, etc.)
b) How do you organize/monitor tools used on-site and off-site? (My employees always leave their instruments at the site)

 

[Gino]

Need to know about your business like...... how many employees, what do they do in & outta the shop and what tools do you need to mention some basics.

 

[rjssigns]

The "B" part is simple. Employees buy all their own tools and take their own tools on the job. Expensive specialty tools are bought by the company and signed out by the crew leader of that job.. If it goes missing it comes out of their paycheck. Same thing in the shop. You sign out a specialty tool, don't bring it back you buy the next one.

That's the way it was when I worked a factory job and would go on the occasional field service trip. Would have liked to see the checked baggage bill for my 180lb tool kit that flew with me.

The "A" part is more complex and I agree with Gino. Need more information about what you produce, number of employees etc...

 

[netsol]

we got our employee motivation plan from gino...

it has worked very well

 

[Stacey K]

Here's a post with a video to inspire you within your shop. Of course not everyone agrees with everything but the point is to get your creative juices flowing and spark ideas. There have been some really good threads on this subject. It seems like most shops are either old school whiteboards or new school computer programs. One guy said he had computer monitors in work areas showing the daily schedule or something like that. There's also a thread on carts...which was helpful to many people.

A little organizational inspiration

A bit of inspiration for getting better organized and staying that way....and a short lesson in amazing corporate culture. It's almost a little bit too magical to believe, but it really is their M.O. JB

www.signs101.com

 

[Pauly]

The "B" part is simple. Employees buy all their own tools and take their own tools on the job. Expensive specialty tools are bought by the company and signed out by the crew leader of that job.. If it goes missing it comes out of their paycheck. Same thing in the shop. You sign out a specialty tool, don't bring it back you buy the next one.

That's the way it was when I worked a factory job and would go on the occasional field service trip. Would have liked to see the checked baggage bill for my 180lb tool kit that flew with me.

The "A" part is more complex and I agree with Gino. Need more information about what you produce, number of employees etc...

Although i agree with having your own tools. Sometimes the employees cannot afford to even buy basic tools.
Having a van or ute loaded with the right tools is always better (investing in your employee and company)
Having your employee pay for anything that breaks or goes missing.
This way, everything is treated as their own. They know if it breaks, they buy a new one...
For example, i would have every vehicle have identical tools. for example: 2x shifters, 1x screwdriver set, 1x drill bit set, Cordless drill, 3x batteries etc ect im sure you get the drift.
Have all the tools listed and accounted for. Once every month or so, go though the vehicle & tools. See what's missing. Replace and take it out of your employees paycheck.

 

[myront]

We have 10 employees
3 - sales
2- designers
1 - IT & Print Tech
1 - Production/Vehicle Install
1 - Production Off site installer
1 - Accountant/Sales
1 - Owner Operator/Sales

We use trello to track jobs and we use antiquated accounting software for invoices and such. Manual time punch clock.

We've only been using trello for a couple of years and everyone agrees that the speed has increased 10 fold.

We have 3 HP Latex printers, an old beast of a laminator, a separate Mimaki plotter.

 

[netsol]

Although i agree with having your own tools. Sometimes the employees cannot afford to even buy basic tools.
Having a van or ute loaded with the right tools is always better (investing in your employee and company)
Having your employee pay for anything that breaks or goes missing.
This way, everything is treated as their own. They know if it breaks, they buy a new one...
For example, i would have every vehicle have identical tools. for example: 2x shifters, 1x screwdriver set, 1x drill bit set, Cordless drill, 3x batteries etc ect im sure you get the drift.
Have all the tools listed and accounted for. Once every month or so, go though the vehicle & tools. See what's missing. Replace and take it out of your employees paycheck.

i have been involved in a similar situartin

The "B" part is simple. Employees buy all their own tools and take their own tools on the job. Expensive specialty tools are bought by the company and signed out by the crew leader of that job.. If it goes missing it comes out of their paycheck. Same thing in the shop. You sign out a specialty tool, don't bring it back you buy the next one.

That's the way it was when I worked a factory job and would go on the occasional field service trip. Would have liked to see the checked baggage bill for my 180lb tool kit that flew with me.

The "A" part is more complex and I agree with Gino. Need more information about what you produce, number of employees etc...

a large client of ours had a similar situation with signing out wireless scanners.
the company didn't want to have an employee give up enough time to manage the handing out and taking back over 60 wireless devices
it's amazing how many people lose a gun in a busy warehouse. an employee hides a gun in the top box on a pallet & is used to taking it in the morning (they do this because they want to have the same device each day) one day the pallet is gone, along with the device. i wonder how many of you have had this type of issue?

 

[Stacey K]

i have been involved in a similar situartin

a large client of ours had a similar situation with signing out wireless scanners.
the company didn't want to have an employee give up enough time to manage the handing out and taking back over 60 wireless devices
it's amazing how many people lose a gun in a busy warehouse. an employee hides a gun in the top box on a pallet & is used to taking it in the morning (they do this because they want to have the same device each day) one day the pallet is gone, along with the device. i wonder how many of you have had this type of issue?

At home all my tools have pink electrical tape wrapped on them. My sons have orange and blue. It was really easy for my older one to grab all his stuff when he went to college. It also created a few fights..."stop using my wrench! you have your own!" Maybe you could mark the guns with colors and everyone has their own color? If you're employees fight like my kids do, it makes it easier for you to referee.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

At home all my tools have pink electrical tape wrapped on them. My sons have orange and blue. It was really easy for my older one to grab all his stuff when he went to college. It also created a few fights..."stop using my wrench! you have your own!" Maybe you could mark the guns with colors and everyone has their own color? If you're employees fight like my kids do, it makes it easier for you to referee.

I was going to do the same when I setup the new tool boards but with heat shrink.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

Is it legal to deduct the cost missing tools from an employees pay check? That is on the horizon here but I didn't want to have an issue with the department of labor over it.

 

[Solventinkjet]

If I was an independent contractor and was asked to bring my own tools, I'd say, "Of course." If I am a regular employee and my employer asked me to buy my own tools I'd tell them to pound sand.

 

[rjssigns]

Is it legal to deduct the cost missing tools from an employees pay check? That is on the horizon here but I didn't want to have an issue with the department of labor over it.

Not sure at this time. I've been out of that environment for over 15 years.

I would think a private entity would have more flexibility in that regard.
e.g. A shop owner doing high end restorations was finishing a Rolls Royce.
One morning he came in to do the final prime and blocking. Noticed a rather large dent on the hood that wasn't there the day before.
Asked whoever did it to come clean and he wouldn't say another word about it.
Nobody stepped up so he fixed it himself and docked everyones paycheck for the hours it took for the repair.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

If I was an independent contractor and was asked to bring my own tools, I'd say, "Of course." If I am a regular employee and my employer asked me to buy my own tools I'd tell them to pound sand.

It's common and expected in a lot of trades for you to have your own tools. There may be some big ticket items that the shop has and are loaned out like RJsigns said but the day to day stuff is the employees responsibility. There is also an expectation that you invest in things you need to do your job. Best example is with mechanics. I've seen mechanics get fired for not having enough tools and borrowing stuff from others in the shop. A/C techs have their own gauges, torches, vacuum pumps etc. Youd be laughed out of the place if you told the boss that he needs to give you that stuff.

 

[MGB_LE]

A) Training, training, and having good role models.
B) Lean Manufacturing. 5S will bring organization to the shop and sustain it. Kanban will help you not overspend on supplies/tools.

Check out a membership at Gemba Academy for training on Lean. Well worth the subscription. (https://www.gembaacademy.com/)

Our business of about 60ish employees saw a big turnaround in productivity and cash flow because we weren't sitting on mountains of yet unused paper and ink. We ordered only what we needed when we needed it. Less time was wasted looking for tools (a place for everything and everything in its place) and we spent time daily sustaining the improvements we'd made.

That's the super condensed version of it.

 

[MGB_LE]

If I was an independent contractor and was asked to bring my own tools, I'd say, "Of course." If I am a regular employee and my employer asked me to buy my own tools I'd tell them to pound sand.

Then you'd be an independent contractor again, lol!
I understand what you're saying though.

 

[Solventinkjet]

Then you'd be an independent contractor again, lol!
I understand what you're saying though.

lol I'm sure I would! I guess I haven't been in one of the major trades so it's been different for me. I've been fixing printers in the field for over 13 years. Every tool I've ever needed was either provided or I bought it with the company card. Just bought metric feeler gauges the other day.

 

[Ryk]

Our company is a sign company with fabrication, vehicle livery, printing, and other services. Our production team has eight people. We have problems such as workflow, timeline, and control tools to keep from losing (for example, vehicle livery uses squeeze, but they always forget to return the origin place and end up lost).

Need to know about your business like...... how many employees, what do they do in & outta the shop and what tools do you need to mention some basics.

 

[Ryk]

The "B" part is simple. Employees buy all their own tools and take their own tools on the job. Expensive specialty tools are bought by the company and signed out by the crew leader of that job.. If it goes missing it comes out of their paycheck. Same thing in the shop. You sign out a specialty tool, don't bring it back you buy the next one.

That's the way it was when I worked a factory job and would go on the occasional field service trip. Would have liked to see the checked baggage bill for my 180lb tool kit that flew with me.

The "A" part is more complex and I agree with Gino. Need more information about what you produce, number of employees etc...

Thank you for the idea. I'll consider it.

 

[Ryk]

Here's a post with a video to inspire you within your shop. Of course not everyone agrees with everything but the point is to get your creative juices flowing and spark ideas. There have been some really good threads on this subject. It seems like most shops are either old school whiteboards or new school computer programs. One guy said he had computer monitors in work areas showing the daily schedule or something like that. There's also a thread on carts...which was helpful to many people.

A little organizational inspiration

A bit of inspiration for getting better organized and staying that way....and a short lesson in amazing corporate culture. It's almost a little bit too magical to believe, but it really is their M.O. JB

www.signs101.com

Our company uses whiteboards to note down the current projects, but I think it's not specific and convenient. I think we need a system.