What problems do you run into?

[ams]

From fabrication to installation and dealing with shop activities, what everything day problems do you run into?
Such as cutting a straight line on a ruler, putting transfer tape on large prints, weeding out vinyl, etc.

I am curious and perhaps the members here can help resolve the issues.

 

[rossmosh]

We're not a pure sign shop by any means but I'd say our biggest daily problems are the following:

1. Defective/Poor quality products. I've done two big jobs within the last 2 months where I had incredibly high rejection rates (40%)
2. Employee communication issues. Family business. Enough said.
3. Customers that eat up time like shrimp at a buffet. Coming in unprepared and sucking up my time while you have to call around to get final info for your small order drives me crazy.

 

[ams]

We're not a pure sign shop by any means but I'd say our biggest daily problems are the following:

1. Defective/Poor quality products. I've done two big jobs within the last 2 months where I had incredibly high rejection rates (40%)
2. Employee communication issues. Family business. Enough said.
3. Customers that eat up time like shrimp at a buffet. Coming in unprepared and sucking up my time while you have to call around to get final info for your small order drives me crazy.

What was the reasons for rejection of the big jobs?

 

[rossmosh]

What was the reasons for rejection of the big jobs?

Our primary business is engraving/awards and we're expanding out into dimensional signs.

One job was for 70 crystal awards and 40% were scratched or had serious enough surface imperfections to make them unacceptable. The second was a 250 pc sublimation acrylic award job where one supplier had surface finish issues (scratches in the coating or little black hairs caught in the coating). We had a 35-40% rejection rate with that product. On top of the QC issue, that supplier ran out of blanks for me to use so I had to swap to another supplier and their product was completely defective because of their coating. The coating was so temperamental that peeling the paper off caused issues. To get 40-50 acceptable awards, I think we ran through 120 awards.

The good thing I get full credit for the bad product. The bad thing is I waste hours doing QC on the products.

 

[bob]

From fabrication to installation and dealing with shop activities, what everything day problems do you run into?
Such as cutting a straight line on a ruler, putting transfer tape on large prints, weeding out vinyl, etc.

I am curious and perhaps the members here can help resolve the issues.

The solutions to your three problems are [in order]:

1; Learn to pull a straight line without a ruler. The operative word here is 'pull', just like a brush, you set the knife down out in front of you and pull it towards you. Cut longer than your arm? Learn to step back faster than your pull. Pulling a line is a fundamental skill in the sign business.

2; Tear it and pull it off in narrow[er] strips. No need to fight all that adhesive at once. It comes off in pieces just fine.

3. Pay attention to what you're doing as well as learning just where to put your fingers on one hand while doing sort of a jerk/pull with the other. Of the two paying attention is usually the more difficult..

As for myself, I have no particular problems with anything other than a tendency for absentmindedness and wandering attention. That and I'm not much for janitorial work.

 

[ams]

The solutions to your three problems are [in order]:

1; Learn to pull a straight line without a ruler. The operative word here is 'pull', just like a brush, you set the knife down out in front of you and pull it towards you. Cut longer than your arm? Learn to step back faster than your pull. Pulling a line is a fundamental skill in the sign business.

2; Tear it and pull it off in narrow[er] strips. No need to fight all that adhesive at once. It comes off in pieces just fine.

3. Pay attention to what you're doing as well as learning just where to put your fingers on one hand while doing sort of a jerk/pull with the other. Of the two paying attention is usually the more difficult..

As for myself, I have no particular problems with anything other than a tendency for absentmindedness and wandering attention. That and I'm not much for janitorial work.

Those were examples and not problems I am having, so those didn't need to be answered.

 

[reQ]

Only problem for me at the moment is:

NOT ENOUGH HOURS IN A DAY

 

[bob]

Those were examples and not problems I am having, so those didn't need to be answered.

Even if rhetorical, still nicely answerable. That being the case, you might want to work some on your skills at allegorical exposition .

 

[Gino]

The things you mentioned are not problems, but incompetence. Problems are when you are blindsided by someone else's mistakes, like the distrubutor sent you the wrong supplies or someone changed a deadline on you. Nonetheless, when scheduling things, you most likely are not counting on something coming in the next day for a job due that day. Planning properly will give you time to scramble. Working fist to mouth is not a good sign of any business. Sounds like you have problems with hiring the right people. How many employees do you have working for you full time and part time ?? The problems you describe could simply be you are not hiring the right people to begin with..........