SUMMER’S HERE AND the time is right… to keep cool, take breaks, make shop improvements, and focus on your team. We asked our Brain Squad for their tips related to managing a print shop this summer season.
Do you have any good ones to share? Feel free to comment below with your own thoughts.
- Fans. Run them at the end of the day to make sure you get the heat out of the shop before the next day. It’s a great time to work mornings and evenings and disappear for mid-day. Try to get some stuff built, when the weather is nice and long hours. — Eric Carnell, Independence Printage Corp, Bellevue, Washington
- Count the stock in as soon as it arrives, that way you can work out any miss orders ASAP. — Shannon M, Aisle6ix Industries, Sydney, Australia
- Focus on improving the shop in the off-season; R&D and technical advancement, process/admin streamlining, facilities improvements, equipment upgrades/maintenance, deep cleaning. Focus on production in busy season: direct all efforts to keeping the press running without compromising on quality. — Kyle Baker, Baker Prints, Chicago, Illinois
- Stay cool. — Keith Abrams, The Decoration Facility, Indian Trail, North Carolina
- Keep cool. Stay hydrated. Have plenty of water available. — Mark Coudray, Coudray Growth Tech, San Luis Obispo, California
- Store your inks in a temperature-controlled part of the shop if the temps in your area get to be really hot. — Juke Leman, International Coatings, Cerritos, California
- Start early, leave early. — Lonny R Willis, Freelance Arts, Caldwell, Idaho
- Ice water and lots of fans. — John Drake, Quackerbox Creations, Dallas, Texas
- Stay hydrated and lots of caffeine; stay composed. — Pete Junior, New Era Apparel, Oceanside, New York
- Not really. We typically spend the first half of summer preparing and working ahead for the crazy fall season. — Joe Ortinau, Ortinau Art, Pemberville, Ohio
- A team activity, like grilling together is a fun thing to do during the summer. In exchange for good performance, offer a long weekend off but paid to employees. — Gavin StGeorges, Proud Tshirts, Miami, Florida
- Air conditioning. — David Ashenden, QTCo, Kedron, Queensland, Australia
- Urge folks to schedule their vacation and PTO early to avoid too many people being out at the same time. — Edward Cooke, ECI Screen Print, Watertown, Connecticut
- Have a good water cooler. — Juan Davis, Tampa T-Shirts, Tampa, Florida
- We ask employees to manage the heat. They can have ice cream or popsicles, cold water, and take breaks when needed. If all else fails and the shop is too hot, go home. No harm, no foul. — Tracey Johnston-Aldworth, Traces Screen Printing, Waterloo, Ontario
- Don’t micro-manage. — Randall Reneau, All Seasons Screen Printing & Embroidery, Chicago, Illinois
- Keep the doors shut, even if it makes it warmer! Humidity can make the feel-like temp a lot higher than it is, and it can cause multiple issues when trying to print! — Mark Kistler, FireSprint Printing, Omaha, Nebraska
- If you are talking about managing the heat during the summer, use industrial fans in the shop. Have them all point in the same direction, instead of at people or their workstations. This creates a wind-tunnel effect and cools the entire shop, instead of just one person. Be careful not to have the fans blow into the dryer tunnel as that can cause problems for curing. — Marshall Atkinson, Atkinson Consulting, Mesa, Arizona
- Always keep a day open on your schedule to allow for those profitable rush jobs. — Bill Bischoff, Bischoff Design/Atomic Tees, Modesto, California
What’s the Brain Squad?
If you’re the owner or top manager of a U.S.screen-printing business, you’re invited to join the Screen Printing Brain Squad. Take one five-minute quiz a month, and you’ll be featured prominently in this magazine, and make your voice heard on key issues affecting screen-print pros. Sign up here.