Business growing, more jobs, more employees = repeat production error ?

[Grafika]

Hi,

(Sorry for my poor english)

I'm in charge of a small printing shop. A lot of things are going through me : price estimation, pre-press, press operation, buying, problem resolution.

The shop is growing but there's a lot production problems :

We are using printing docket with all the information to complete the job. Sample for color matching from the last time the job was printed, approval sheet with the last modifications, the last docket to compare information if needed....time sheet,

The time sheet form include a small check list (10 points) per department: Design, prepress, printing, finishing. All department can leave a comments about problem production : missing information, technical problem, printing machine problem...

There is a short meeting every morning to established priority jobs for the day and take the feelings from everybody and their idea or commnets.

I am trying to be everywhere, but now, with de business growing I can't.


All those tools seem to be working (GOOD) for me...but they don't work for others. After, a production error, they seemed to be shocked but 2 or 3 days after another problem happens...


- color miss match
- wrong file printed
- missing bleed
- score to stong
- etc...


I don't wanna be part of the problem, i am working to hard for so long time...


P.S. cannot write a 500 points check list ? cannot fired everybody ?


Thank you for any suggestions.


Grafika

 

[CSimpson]

Have you tried having a second person sign off on jobs?
What I mean is my operators run the first copy of something and then get another operator to look at it and the ticket and sign off on it. This way two people are looking at it which doubles your chances of catching an error without really any extra expense and it also forces people to slow down when checking the job for accuracy. This will help out a lot at getting rid of the dumb overlooked errors from people who really care, but just might be going to fast. If your still getting a ton errors after getting two people to look at each job then I think your problem might jut be a lack of caring on your employee's part and you might have to can a few to get the point across.

 

[gordo]

There are a few ideas to get you started here:

The Print Guide: To err is human

To that list I would add: Systemic issues. That refers to the systems that you have set up in your production workflow from order entry to final delivery that allow errors to occur without being detected, avoided, or corrected. Sometimes it is easier to find systemic issues by have an expert from outside the company examine your production workflow systems.

If you can understand there errors that are made using that guide then you can work out a plan to prevent them from hhappening.

best, gordo

 

[Grafika]

Gordo, CSimpson,

Thank you for your comments.

I will try the 2 signatures system : it's a kind of ''press OK'' but for every step of the workflow.
But, the way the shop is configured, i will be the second person to sign off.

I would like to tranfer a minimum of responsability to the person working in each step of the workflow.

Maybe, i'm dreaming ? Can't figure out how simple for me it's easy to drove a job from a to z, but it so complicated with others...


Your wright Gordo, i've got the problem right in my face and i can't find the real problem...maybe the solution will be an expert from outside.


But, that mean to me, i am not able to complete my job...that hurt a lot.


Thanks again.

Grafika

 

[Rikkie]

It's not that you don't know how to do your job - it's more that you can't see the wood for all the trees. It often happens to busy people.

 

[MailGuru]

Like many execs in a small to medium shop, we must wear multiple hats. Not knowing about the make-up of your organization (such as number of employees, number of customer service reps, production work-flow, etc) it's difficult to come up with a solution for you. Your customer service rep, (or even the person who sold the job), is your "customer-facing" person, and, ultimately must answer to an irate customer if something goes wrong. Our workflow is designed to make that person the "hub" of quality control for his/her jobs. All jobs travel from the CSR out to a department, and then back to the CSR for QC signoff, and then out to the next department, and back to the CSR, etc.

If that arrangement doesn't work for you, here's a another suggestion that I have seen work quite well: Establish a "bonus-pool" consisting of a small percentage (usually 1 - 2 percent, or, whatever you can comfortably afford) of the profit off of each job. Any mistakes made that cost re-runs, re-prints, etc. are subtracted from that "bonus-pool". At the end of the year, or, quarter, etc. Whatever is left-over in the bonus pool is split up amongst your production staff. This method accomplishes 3 very important objectives in correcting quality control issues and, it does it naturally and seamlessly: (1) It rewards good work (2) it punishes bad work and (3) since all employees must pay the price when only one screws-up, it encourages a "team" buyin from all employees and applies a "natural" peer pressure to do the job right, the first time.

 

[gordo]

@mailguru:
Dr W Edward Deming, the father of quality in manufacturing, would disagree with you. It's the wrong way to deal with this kind of problem and can be counter-productive.

Best, gordo

 

[MailGuru]

@mailguru:
Dr W Edward Deming, the father of quality in manufacturing, would disagree with you. It's the wrong way to deal with this kind of problem and can be counter-productive.

I know, and, you're probably right. I have the upmost respect for Dr. Deming and his teachings. The man was a visionary. That being said, I don't necessarily agree with every single word he put on paper. For instance, Dr. Deming also did not agree with annual performance reviews or merit pay raises...............

 

[Al Ferrari]

Gordon,

A quick review, or such, of Deming's thinking on this would be appropriate here, or at least a tittle or other reference. The more specific, the better.

Al

 

[gordo]

Gordon,

A quick review, or such, of Deming's thinking on this would be appropriate here, or at least a tittle or other reference. The more specific, the better.

Al

I'll try and find a more direct quote/reference, but in the meantime:

"The idea of merit rating is alluring. The sound of the words captivates the imagination: pay for what you get; get what you pay for;motivate people to do their best, for their own good.

The effect is exactly the opposite of what the words promise. Everyone propels himself forward, or tries to, for his own good, on his own life preserver. The organization is the loser.

Merit rating rewards people who do well within the system. It does not reward attempts to improve the system."

W. Edwards Deming in Out of the Crisis

And read this:

http://carmine.se.edu/cvonbergen/Incentives.pdf

And think on this:

"Alfie Kohn, in a now-classic Harvard Business Review article, wrote:

... at least two dozen studies over the last three decades have conclusively shown that people who expect to receive a reward for completing a task or for doing that task successfully simply do not perform as well as those who expect no reward at all.

He concludes that "incentives (or bribes) simply can't work in the workplace". DeMarco and Lister go further, stating unequivocally that any kind of workplace competition, any scheme of rewards and punishments, and even the old fashion trick of "catching people doing something right and rewarding them," all do more harm than good. Giving somebody positive reinforcement (such as stupid company ceremonies where people get plaques) implies that they only did it for the lucite plaque; it implies that they are not independent enough to work unless they are going to get a cookie; and it's insulting and demeaning."

Oh, and ask yourself, have the performance bonuses that Antonio Perez received at Kodak over the past years made a positive impact on Kodak's business?

I'm not against giving a financial bonus to employees, as long as it is not a reward based on a target, or goal, that they meet, or based on internal competition. Going back to the points in the OP, why should my share of the bonus be reduced because someone else in the production chain screwed up? Why should a co-worker profit from my performance?

Best, gordo

 

[Mark H]

After, a production error, they seemed to be shocked but 2 or 3 days after another problem happens...

P.S. cannot write a 500 points check list ? cannot fired everybody ?

Dear Grafika,

It sounds like you have many of the checks and balances you should have for a print production process in place already. What doesn't seem to be happening is your employees aren't learning from their mistakes.

You said you meet every morning to discuss the day's jobs, set priorities, and discuss ideas. I would add one additional weekly meeting, perhaps first thing Monday morning, where you and your team discuss the errors, by both department/person and step in the process.

You need to be specific - what steps are creating or allowing errors to occur, is it a specific person that creates the error or can anyone make the mistake, what job(s) have the most errors. The more specific you can be, and the more data you can capture, the better you will be at identifying the root cause for each error.

First, determine what to track, then figure out how to measure it, then determine what is acceptable for performance, and finally track your performance metrics. Once things go out of acceptable parameters determine WHY and fix that.

People need to see, visually, where and when problems occur. You can talk about isolated issues all day long, but once you start piling them up and showing how much went awry each week/month/job/ step/etc. it becomes much more difficult to ignore.

Regards,

Mark H

 

[ondemandbindery]

Mistakes suck. I truly believe that in life we all assume good intent and nobody wants to make a mistake. With that being said if people are doing their job everything is not always as you would like it to be.

First off you can't wear all the hats and grow the business. There are an elite few that pull it off but for the rest of us we need a good supporting cast. Give me a B plan with an A team all day long. I suspect you have some underlining issues within your company.

Are you in a payscale with your employees that is realistic for the market you are in? If your pay is not up to speed don't expect for most people to put in but so much effort. It just doesn't work that way and never will. You get what you pay for. People should always try to do a good job whether they are folding someone's Brochure or cleaning toilets. Once again, that is my opinion.

Then there is the bait trick with the Bonus program for low errors. I have actually seen that work quite well at times. It has ranged from affecting a bonus for all employees based on rework to those who standout in production receiving a nice giftcard for them and their spouse to a nice Restaurant. Tread lightly as not all months let you allow for this in the budget and if employees start zoning in on the extra incentives that can create conflict within the company.

It sounds like you have spent some time creating some safety nets in production. The big problem that shows signs of weakness is a redundancy in the type of rework. That can come from lack of training, lack of overall knowledge, personel friction, substance abuse, trying to do things with equipment that is not realistic, and people just not giving a crap.

Maybe get the whole company together for a meeting and explain to them that it is an exciting time for the company with growth. Make them aware that actions have rewards and consequences. And ultimately it may come down to you getting a strong Production Manager to release some of that pressure off you. It would allow you to concentrate on building the business. At the end of the day, we all makes mistakes. We learn and we get smarter in what we do. If you don't have that energy in your shop, then evaluate the staff and be ready to make adjustments whether it bothers you personally or not if it will help you grow the business.

Good luck,
JW

 

[smatros]

What, besides money, can be a motivational resource to reduce mistakes?

 

[Al Ferrari]

Does pride in craftsmanship count these days?

Al

With apologies in advance to the women in the forum!

 

[ondemandbindery]

Does pride in craftsmanship count these days?

Al

With apologies in advance to the women in the forum!

Not really. Most employees of shops I know have taken pay cuts, lost jobs, lost benefits, and generally feel like a number. There is always a percentage of people who will charge on and take pride in their work but those days are long gone from what I have seen in the last 5 years.

JW