Stick a fork in me, I'm done!

[tmiller_iluvprinting]

It is time for me to say goodbye to printing. What started as a labor of love 35 years ago, has turned into a daily torturous grind. I leave an industry that has been transformed from skilled craft, to a manufacturing process governed by the laws of 'lean' that seem to emphasize and focus concentration on all that is not important. I leave knowing I have given my all to learn as much as I could, and to help my company be one of the best in the business (in our geographical area anyway!) I would like to thank each and every one of you who have helped me, and given much needed advice and information when I have needed it. I'm going trucking, a business where there is a demand. A business where there is a possibility to earn better than average wages and benefits. I look forward to the solitude and the therapeutic healing the road has to offer. And with that I say goodbye, and good luck, and please, give those truckers a break!
Best regards,
Todd

 

[dabob]

Todd . . . ditto - would do the same if I could, but being self enslaved I have these big gray hunks of metal that act like an anchors, but I'm working on an exit strategy that could see me in a motor home for 3-4 months a year and living on a lake the rest of the time - maybe we'll see each other on the road in a year or two.

Drive safe - rubber side down.

 

[Possumgal]

Wishing you fair weather, good roads, and watch out for the moron drivers and lot lizards.

 

[prepressdork]

All the best, Todd!

 

[Alith7]

Good luck!
and if you ever miss that homey smell on your way through Milwaukee, stop by. I'll show you my shop.

 

[Midwestprinter]

Not far behind you buddy. In the same boat as you and others. Been doing it 34 years and I've been burned out a LONG time. Survival is all its about and all its been about for the past 7-8+ years. Wish I could crack the cement thats holding my feet down. Good Luck to you!!!

 

[almaink]

Wow, I was thinking about doing the same thing if this place folds. Keep on Trucking!

 

[Possumgal]

Sounds like we may have enough for a new reality show: Printing Truckers.

 

[Alith7]

Sounds like we may have enough for a new reality show: Printing Truckers.

OoO! Printers on Wheels! Portable print shops!

....sorry...too much caffeine this morning...

 

[tmiller_iluvprinting]

Cab-Over Color Specialist??

 

[Mark Flanders]

Todd,

What a great truth-telling. I am sympathetic, but curious about the specific lean management laws that you think are most egregious...or is it simply the decline of an appreceiation for the craft? Better yet, do you think anything can be done about it?

thanks,

Mark

 

[tmiller_iluvprinting]

The continuous inaccurate tracking of data that does nothing to improve or control the process. The assignment of Japanese buzzwords to everyday common sense actions. Assuming ownership, without the benefits of ownership. Non-existant accountability for those at the top of the food chain. The use of slogans, catch-phrases, and the recognition and rewards to people singled out by management. Production by the numbers, and those numbers posted on the walls as an everyday reminder. I wonder how W. Edwards Deming would feel about all of this? Lean must be great, I've just never seen it properly implemented in my 35 years of working in the printing industry. Putting dots on paper is not the same as assembling widgets, it's a mix of mechanics, engineering, chemistry, math and educated guesswork. It matters not what I think about it, or if I think anything can be done about it.

Regards,
Todd

 

[JoeatData]

OoO! Printers on Wheels! Portable print shops!

....sorry...too much caffeine this morning...

Are we talking printing in the form of the old book-mobiles?

hmmmmmm.........................Printmobile?

A new reality TV show of Print My Truck with the Print shop Mafia, replacing the Trick My Truck show?

 

[arossetti]

...it's a mix of mechanics, engineering, chemistry, math and educated guesswork. It matters not what I think about it, or if I think anything can be done about it.d

As you already know, printing in the next generation is none of those. The OEM's are taking out the mechanics, engineering, chemistry, math and guesswork out of the hands of end-users. For better or worse; I personally think for the better.

 

[tmiller_iluvprinting]

As you already know, printing in the next generation is none of those. The OEM's are taking out the mechanics, engineering, chemistry, math and guesswork out of the hands of end-users. For better or worse; I personally think for the better.

Better? At what cost? The upcoming generations can have it. The kids coming out of the local technical college won't know any better. They'll be working for less wages, paying less taxes, purchasing less goods, while the shareholders and CEO's are laughing all the way to the bank!

 

[Possumgal]

Printing IMHO has always had a little intuition in it. In prepress, doing a certain thing to fix a lousy file is not supposed to work, yet it does. A pressman knows his press, not by numbers, but by the sound and the feel of it running that tells him something is not right. Likewise the bindery person and his machines. Yes, measurements and standards are important, but it's that little indefinable sense that good printers have that makes the difference.

 

[tmiller_iluvprinting]

It just occurred to me that maybe the cart has been put before the horse. If the printing industry becomes a cookie-cutter, push button industry, maybe then lean will work? Just think, we will be able to do produce more with less people (the true meaning of lean IMO). I just hope we can figure out how to get the machines to pay taxes and purchase goods to keep the economy robust and bullish!

 

[Captain Kirk]

The continuous inaccurate tracking of data that does nothing to improve or control the process. The assignment of Japanese buzzwords to everyday common sense actions. Assuming ownership, without the benefits of ownership. Non-existant accountability for those at the top of the food chain. The use of slogans, catch-phrases, and the recognition and rewards to people singled out by management. Production by the numbers, and those numbers posted on the walls as an everyday reminder. I wonder how W. Edwards Deming would feel about all of this? Lean must be great, I've just never seen it properly implemented in my 35 years of working in the printing industry. Putting dots on paper is not the same as assembling widgets, it's a mix of mechanics, engineering, chemistry, math and educated guesswork. It matters not what I think about it, or if I think anything can be done about it.

Regards,
Todd

Sent a shiver up my spine with how close this sounds to my shop

 

[Mark Flanders]

Todd, and all,

Great replies. good thread. I started out in a mom-and-pop and now work in an on-demand factory. Change is the only thing that never changes. Still. There are good things about lean, that I think were lost in the translation. Scientific management went to Japan post WWII and came back as lean...but where the Japanese have (or had) strong relationships between their workers and managers, the US never got that part. We adopted the parts of lean that appealed to the protestant work ethic and militaristic mind-set. So we get lectures on cleaning up and are driven mad by relentless "metrics" used, not to engage us in mutual success, but to threaten us with dismissal. There is no buy-in because there is no loyalty from the top down. In my opinion, anyway. I still believe in the intuition, and the craft. It's still there, under the surface, even in some of the new kids. All the best!

 

[Deleted member 16349]

Todd, and all,

Great replies. good thread. I started out in a mom-and-pop and now work in an on-demand factory. Change is the only thing that never changes. Still. There are good things about lean, that I think were lost in the translation. Scientific management went to Japan post WWII and came back as lean...but where the Japanese have (or had) strong relationships between their workers and managers, the US never got that part. We adopted the parts of lean that appealed to the protestant work ethic and militaristic mind-set. So we get lectures on cleaning up and are driven mad by relentless "metrics" used, not to engage us in mutual success, but to threaten us with dismissal. There is no buy-in because there is no loyalty from the top down. In my opinion, anyway. I still believe in the intuition, and the craft. It's still there, under the surface, even in some of the new kids. All the best!

Lean is a tool and not a way of life. Even in Japan now, there are problems showing up with Lean thinking that has gone too far.

I like it as a tool but not as a way of life, which most managers think is what it should be. In the typical Lean environment, thinking and innovation are seen as a waste of time and resources. Lean and innovation are in conflict.

Lean is easier for unimaginative managers to push because it seems to have rules, where innovation is messy and needs the freedom to waste resources in order to find out what can actually be done that will benefit the organization. Managers with no vision can not live with this uncertain situation. And in the printing industry, those are basically the managers you have.