HP 5500 Manning Levels

[putputtata]

Hi,
Nice quick easy one I think.
Currently at a company running 2 x Indigo 5500's.
Trawled the internet & still hassling our rep but I'm struggling to get an answer.
What is considered the 'best practice' for manning these machines? Is it normal to have 1 operator per machine or can they be run with 1 operator covering both.
Thanks

 

[MacTwidget]

We have a 5000, a 5500 and a Docutech 6160 that we have manned by a single person.

 

[putputtata]

Thanks Mac.
Anyone else?
I want to go & beat up my Operations Manager. I can just about bear to have one man to one press. But I want them to be performing finishing ops as well. Especially if they have a long run on.

 

[RGPW17100]

Definatly one operator for both. If you have a large workflow you may need a dedicated prepress person to allocate the jobs

 

[jinthebay]

One question PutPut & MacT. Are either one of you now, or have you ever ran an Indigo before?

I ask only because I run one myself and KNOW that yes, there are are times when I could probably run 3 of them at a time. HOWEVER, when things get dicey, it can be more than just a little stressful and chalengeing. If you're concerned about getting quality work off of these machines and about keeping them properly maintained, you may want to rethink this.

 

[TheProcessIStheproduct]

1 person could run 2 and have time to do a crossword puzzle also, I load mine up and go to lunch, when I comeback it is still clicking aways...

 

[Craigindigo]

1 person could run 2 and have time to do a crossword puzzle also, I load mine up and go to lunch, when I comeback it is still clicking aways...

And how many times do you come back and a cleaning blade line has developed in the print?

 

[jinthebay]

1 person could run 2 and have time to do a crossword puzzle also, I load mine up and go to lunch, when I comeback it is still clicking aways...

Or that your impression paper ripped and the machine continued to run, marking the blanket and wasting 100 plus sheets. Not trying to start a fight, but these are some of the things that can and do happen on a regular basis.

You wanted feedback? Here it is.

 

[TheProcessIStheproduct]

Out to lunch...

on rare occasions the press will be timed out from paper running out, or a jam, but it is good about detecting a sheet travel problem and stopping. If uncoated stock, yes, you can have times when you get cleaning station lines and you eat 100-200 sheets, but this could just as easily happen if you are standing next to the press and doing finishing and not pulling a test sheet every 25 sheets... as far as impression paper tearing off, I have not seen this in about 2 years, back then chalked it up to bad blanket lots, but it really has not been an issue, I don't run the exit roller and I think that really helps also...

 

[Craigindigo]

1 person could run 2 and have time to do a crossword puzzle also, I load mine up and go to lunch, when I comeback it is still clicking aways...

Could I ask what kind of work you run at your place of employment? (I say this because if you are a small copy shop then quality isn't usually an issue). At a previous company we used to run point of sale tickets which were two colours, This could be easily run on many presses by one person. the work I run now is fine art and vey high quality branded work that has to be exact to:

Average Alpha E of no more than 1.00
Max Alpha E of no more than 5.00

Average Alpha L of 1.00
Max Alpha L of 2.00

Now don't get me wrong if Joe Bloggs the Plumber walks in off the street then yes, he won't care about colour matching, quality etc. But if we sent any work to our customers that wasn't perfect they would up and leave straight to a competitor.

P.s I would worry about saying that you run two machines and sit and do a crossword puzzle, as if any of the management were to read this and you make any mistakes they will be straight on your back ;-)

 

[jinthebay]

Thanks Mac.
Anyone else?
I want to go & beat up my Operations Manager. I can just about bear to have one man to one press. But I want them to be performing finishing ops as well. Especially if they have a long run on.

Thanks for your well said reply Craig. But getting back to PutPut. Is this more of a statement on the printing environment as a whole. I guess that this is what it's come to. Squeeze EVERY drop out of all of your underpaid employees. God forbid they have idle hands for more than fifeteen minutes. I understand what it's like to try and keep a small shop profitable and have to watch your dollars and cents. I work for one now. But shouldn't the focus be on making sure the product comes first? Printed by a qualified person who is given the time and resources needed to produce quality work and have some time left to ensure that the machine is properly maintained? ESPECIALLY these Indigo presses!

 

[TheProcessIStheproduct]

I've run $10K jobs for J.P.M. and Living S. and I've run $40 jobs for some chick's wedding, and I have never seen a "perfect" job, I strive for a job being "sellable" not "perfect"...I would love for you to take us through and average day, if you have a 5000 sheet run do you send it to the bypass tray and visually inspect every sheet? I figure it would take 3-4 hours, what do you do for all that time?... Sweep up?

This is not hyperbole, I have the press running 8-10 hours a day with maybe being in the same room as the press for 1 hour, if I ONLY ran the press I would go stir crazy...

 

[Craigindigo]

I've run $10K jobs for J.P.M. and Living S. and I've run $40 jobs for some chick's wedding, and I have never seen a "perfect" job, I strive for a job being "sellable" not "perfect"...I would love for you to take us through and average day, if you have a 5000 sheet run do you send it to the bypass tray and visually inspect every sheet? I figure it would take 3-4 hours, what do you do for all that time?... Sweep up?

This is not hyperbole, I have the press running 8-10 hours a day with maybe being in the same room as the press for 1 hour, if I ONLY ran the press I would go stir crazy...

I agree with what you are saying, as at previous employments I have run 2 and even 3 presses at a time. The main point I want to make is that if the gentleman who posted this thread is expecting a single employee to run two/three presses then he needs to be made aware that mistakes are going to happen. In this current recession (I can only speak for what's going on in england and not america) customers are very few and far between, I have found that because print buyers are driving down the price so much that if you upset a customer they will soon be off using your competitors services (No customer loyalty anymore)

When I used to run two/three presses, the owner of the company I worked for really pushed for me to do this but went ballistic if a mistake was made.

 

[kristianeyman]

sorry if i hijack the thread, but there seems to be a good amount of contributors to this thread that run or have ran indigos. i am a small pay per print company with 2 xerox digital presses turning out 1000+ tabloide/13x19 impressions daily. my dilemma is that i have a heidy DI, but its VERY problematic (understatement) so i am looking for something to grow into. what would be the plus or minus for a turbostream or 1000 model unit? i am going to need something that can handle 500+ static (same image) jobs and have good (+/- .2mm) sheet to sheet registration. in essence looking at one of these machines that i can run and do maintenance on but that will take place of my DI press, as most work is 1000 pieces and not more! thanks for your time, and once again sorry to steer this thread another way. K

 

[TheProcessIStheproduct]

Ive had a Ryobi DI and currently run halfsize presses and an Indigo. I would not like to be in an either or situation, it is real nice to have both offset and digital, some jobs run better on one platform, sometimes it is a timing issue, I have run jobs digital one time, offset one time, then back to digital, all depending on time, cost, quality, etc....

 

[kristianeyman]

the problem with the di is that it seems to need to be constantly coddled. i am not sure with the indigo as i have never ran on, but have my sights on a 1000 or 3000 series. my operator for the di does not want to learn how to operate the rip to send the files to the machine (not physics, go figure). so for me, i am looking for something that can be as close to running a digital (toner based) press, but that can also take the punches of jobs 500-1000 whether they be static or VDP. maybe just add a couple of dc6060's to take the overload and for-go all the additional headaches?

 

[putputtata]

Thanks for all your very helpful & sometimes colourful respsones. My intentions are only to get the most out the kit I have & ensure that the business is profitable, competitve & still here in 5 years time without compromising on quality.
Since my initial post our business card slitter is now run by the press operators. Means I get it done for free 'inside cycle time' & don't need a finisher on it. Small potatoes yes but every little helps!
What I want to get introduced next is staggered starts & breaks to increase my press uptime. 1 operator warms both presses up in the morning. They cover each others presses during lunch & finally 1 operator shuts both machines down at end of shift. Ergo I get 2 hours additional production a day at no extra cost. Common sense isn't it? Or am I showing my print naivety?