Sheetfed Press Manning

[arfamoe]

With all the labour saving devices that have been installed on the presses i thought i would ask what type of press manning is the current norm. Old days on a multi colour press it would be possibly 1st Pressman, 2nd Pressman, Feeder and maybe a press tender or Floor Helper.
I am interested to hear how many people on say a 6 colour 40" press. Long run shops may have different manning to short run multiple wash up shops and Packaging printers different from commercial.
Many thanks for any help this group can give

 

[Vee]

I visited 8+ packaging printers last year. All running 40+", 6c-7c presses for their folding cartons - each shop had 2 guys on each press. One shop running a 7c KBA w/ perfector had 3 guys on that press. These presses ranged from early 90's (maybe even late 80's) Heidelberg's to 1 and 2 year old KBA's & Heidelberg SMs. Hope this helps.
Vee

 

[Paultheprinter]

Hi there,

over in the uk its mostly one man per press, when i started printing ten years ago it was considerd normal to have a no1 and a second guy to load paper get pallets and top up inks but over the past five or so years its more a case of that the helper is shared over two or more machines if they even have help. I have worked at manilla board printers on a roland 700 with no no2 or help and on six colour heidelberg 102,s and it seems more and more the case that press manufactures tell owners/managers that these presses can be run with single operators, i spoke to a ink rep who goes into a place where one guy runs a ten colour 102 on his own, what makes it worse is that he is not even well paid to do it.

Paul

 

[Albert Noel]

we have two guys per shift on our 5 colour 29"
some days i feel like it's overkill, as i would happily run it alone

 

[Freeman A.Gain]

Depending on the reliabily of your press and/or your feeder(helper), I think 2 people are normally good for presses. There are always exceptions to this rule though. Speed normally running, # of jobs a day, wash ups and so on. I run a 8 colour perfecting press, and on good stock and longer runs, one guy can handle it. So much automation makes this possible. BUT, on a 1 over 1 printed on 50lb offset or 60lb gloss sheet, the feeding gives any problems... you are running back and forth it kills! Or on a job that is 15-24 pt, the runs are to fast for one guy to load and unload even with continous delivery. If you have a lot of wash ups for PMS colours, two and even three guys can make a huge time savings! We have tossed around the idea of having three guys on the press for a while because of getting a bunch of special jobs that were lots of pms colours and coatings and shorter runs. The extra guy would be someone who is maybe training for a head position. This way, they can get training, look after the set up for the next job, inks,paper and can check the info to ensure all is ready to go. Not wasting valuable time with your head pressman, and being able to concentrate on the task at hand. The economic downturn squashed that idea soon enough though!

 

[Sfdp2300]

We run a 2 man crew on our presses. 1 Oper. 1 Feeder. With the loss of the 3rd man in print shops I feel alot of the cleaning and general house keeping becomes a problem. We tried using what you may call a Utility person for the press room, But they normaly got shipped out to another department to help fill in for people that call in sick..

 

[madjock]

I don't know how anyone can run a 40 inch press on their own, that is just ridiculous, if I don't have a feeder I don't run the press.
I used to work in the Uk and we always had two guys on the press and sometimes three, I didn't think it had got that bad over there.
Where I work know we have a 6 col CD, and an 8 and a 12 col speedo, all with 2 guys on each press, I can't even begin to imagine how long it would take one person to wash up the 12 at the end of the shift, especially if one had to gum up 12 plates, a full wash up takes almost 2 hours with 2 guys, and it is bloody hard work.

 

[arfamoe]

Thanks folks for all your input. We run with 2.5 people meaning we share a helper between 2 presses, he goes where he is needed for wash ups, filling in for breaks etc (he would be training as a feeder) and this also allows our feeders to get some training as a first op. I was just interested in what other shops are doing. I agree that trying to run 18pt board on a 6 colour press by yourself would make you old real fast.
thanks

 

[Komoriopr]

Every shop that i have worked in that reduced manning to 2 men only without any additional help available is now out of business. My current employer tried it and almost folded. We now have 2 men and additional help available and are now the darlings of our regional Vice President. You must have the help available to produce at today's lvls.

 

[wildwhl]

We run solo on each press - 4 color 29 or 5 color 20 with coaters...truly isn't a need for anyone else anymore. On rare occasions, truly long runs continuous feeding/delivery I'll throw someone else in as a feeder, but it usually isn't necessary.

WW

 

[67drake]

Our 105 presses- anywhere from 6-12 colors,run 2 1/2 men. Our 74 5/c and 102 4/c are 2 men.

 

[G7prIHMPS]

We run solo on each press - 4 color 29 or 5 color 20 with coaters...truly isn't a need for anyone else anymore. On rare occasions, truly long runs continuous feeding/delivery I'll throw someone else in as a feeder, but it usually isn't necessary.

WW

Agreed, as technology has advanced the need for more on half size presses is no longer there. However it is demanding and requires a skilled pressman at both ends of the machine. This is becoming more and more rare so if you do find them keep them as replacing them can seem impossible. 40" equipment does reqire two people to acheive any sort of quality or effeciency.