Do you shut your presses down during lunch?

[Zebedee]

I thought I had a money saving idea for our small pressroom. I was almost thrown out of the room when I suggested that we have a Pressroom Assistant monitor press runs while the Press Operator is taking lunch. Currently they shut down our 3 Sakurai presses. I am new to the industry so I can claim inexperience, but is this idea way out of line?

 

[kansasquaker]

Seriously? What kind of presses are we talking about here? Our guys eat at the press while they work (we have two 40" six colors). Press operators don't take lunch. I've never heard of anywhere that does. So, no - you aren't out of line at all.

 

[Bigscottd]

Our press guys eat while working to, they finish 1/2 early than the rest of the production staff.

 

[almaink]

Who has enough work to care? We are lucky these days to run 10 jobs a week never mind worry about shutting down for lunch.

 

[Cornishpastythighs]

Lots of pressrooms do not allow food to be eaten at the press due to the nature of their work (Pharmaceutical Packaging).
Also if press people do not wash their hands while eating their lunch at the press they might get a mouthful of Reflex Blue and solvent from their dirty hands. If you are serious about keeping the press running during breaks you can install a small breakroom near the press so that the press guys can keep and eye on whats happening. If you want to keep the presses running then you must have a good training program in place so that the rest of the press crew can fill in the gaps when someone is off on break.
You can have your pressman plan makereadies and wash ups so that the press is always manned and never sitting idle.
Just some suggestions.

 

[PrintingFocus]

When I was a pressman, I never took a break in the middle of a run and yes, I did have some reflex blue on my ham salad butties!

It takes way too long to get the press up and running again - run-ups etc, the ink needs to warm up etc.

The metal plates will also start to oxidise etc.

That was a while back though!

You should consider a second pressman, a No. 2 press op that normally does the paper loads, plates changes, wash-ups and capable of machine minding for 20 minutes or so while No.1 takes a break

The presses these days cost the same per hour if they are running or not!

Staggered breaks maybe? Have staff trained on different machines, rota basis?

 

[maas]

As a project we are currently in the process of building an app for our (1990's) sheetfed press, this will run on an Ipad that the pressman can take to the loo if necessary to monitor the press and have his assistant present to monitor the delivery/feed etc, if successful this can be rolled out to any press and also will deliver analytics to measure performance etc..

 

[kansasquaker]

@mass

I'm not quite sure I understand. What specifically are you monitoring with the app and how is it being monitored? How difficult would it be to adapt this app to different makes/models? Depending on the answers, this could be a really terrific idea.

 

[maas]

Afternoon

I must admit this is not my idea, in fact I got the idea from a Manroland seminar held at Drupa, more on their integrated press control here - Taking the tablets: manroland’s new approach to press control on GXpress - basically in order for this to work the control system of the press must include an IP address (most presses do as they are jdf compatible etc) based on this we are looking making the press specific functions controlled via the keypad and touchscreen available via a portable interface, the design of which is easy, the difficulty is syncing the app with the press control, its early days but like you I feel the potential is huge (this is an in-house project where some press manufacturers are on board and have made introductions to their dev teams whilst others throw curve balls our way)
As to how applicable this could be to the different press model and makes it really depends on their coding and the integration with C++ in this instance (I am a printer who dabbles in programming so I am no guru) essentially we are looking to have what you see on the touchscreen available online via an intranet.

 

[kansasquaker]

I think you sell yourself short maas. That article essentially suggests replacing the current UI with a tablet based UI. In and of itself, that probably has some advantage - assume 1 minute of a 15 minute makeready. Fine enough, but not exactly impressive. You go further in letting the operator manage the press remotely. I can't say loo with a straight face, my apologies

We're a sheetfed shop with two modern 6 color 40" presses. In general, a skilled second pressman can perform most of the operations that a lead pressman performs. E.G. Our lead operators regularly take a break without the presses missing a beat.

The more interesting question is, how many presses can a skilled lead pressman manage remotely with all the pertinent information and controls at his fingertips? For the traditionalists, what could your pressroom do with your best operator controlling EVERY press?

I'm not sure if this is practical, but I know we do essentially the same thing with laser and inkjet presses today. Extending this idea isn't all that far fetched.

 

[maas]

it may not be practical for a single senior printer to control every press in a shop but with the analytics available a remote diagnosis could be rendered should problems occur during a run, expert help is only a log-in away, if your press has a console denso SID and dotgain can be monitored, consumables (spray powder, press chemistry levels can be monitored and automated alerts send at any given time if levels are low), you can even have web cams on the press, i have played with the idea of magnifying the slur targets on a stack using a web cam, and with data available in real time CSR, bindery, logistics, finishing can be more informed.
To be honest its the challenge of making our old press as user friendly as a new modern press that gets my juices flowing.

 

[Mike Herndon]

Shut down for lunch??!!! no way.. not here

Lunches are staggered, 2nd pressman watches the press while the lead eats. We have two helpers for three 40 inches presses- two 640's and one 8 color. Everyone takes turns and the presses stay running. The only time the press shuts down is to clean back cylinders at shift change.

Most of my guys will just eat at the press.

Mike

 

[Albert Noel]

Well, coming from a smaller company.. we DO have lunch breaks IF we want them provided we don't stop mid run. We run an sm74, an older MO (25"?) and some smaller stuff so its not like we have helpers or tenders/feeders.

While I spent 11 years at another company that made me eat while I worked, this one is much more lenient. They respect their employees.

Plus.. Ontario labour laws...
"Eating Periods and Breaks

Employers are required to provide eating periods to employees, but they are not required to provide other types of breaks.

Eating Periods

An employee must not work for more than five hours in a row without getting a 30-minute eating period (meal break) free from work. However, if the employer and employee agree, the eating period can be split into two eating periods within every five consecutive hours. Together these must total at least 30 minutes. This agreement can be oral or in writing.

Meal breaks are unpaid unless the employee's employment contract requires payment. Even if the employer pays for meal breaks, the employee must be free from work in order for the time to be considered a meal break."

 

[jbeniston]

No, most pressmen work through lunch and eat at press side, with the press running, it's just too much of a hassle to shut down and then have to restart a short while later.
What's lunch anyway?
You are not way out of line it's a decent idea but with offset pressmen it's doomed.
There are a few places I know of who do shut down and the operators have to go eat in the lunch room, no food or beverages(other than water) are allowed in the press room. They are UV shops where the inks do not tack up and restarting is relatively pain free.

 

[zamajam]

At the shop where I work, most of the pressmen eat at the machines. They have the opportunity to eat elsewhere, but most stay at the machines.