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Wage war on waste
One of the main reasons why screen printing is under pressure is that waste has become part of the culture. Waste can be defined as rejects, both on-line and off-line, unused materials, inefficient use of materials and consumables, wasted manpower, machine downtime and excessive set up time. Any reduction in waste goes straight to profits.
This is where bravery comes into play. Challenging wasteful practices and creating a culture of change can be difficult. Screen printing can provide good margins, but optimising the process will make it really attractive.
In fact the production process is controllable, measurable and predictable, which makes it possible to increase profitability without having to drive up turnover. The main focus is to capture the technical know how, refine it and distribute it as necessary throughout the company. To do this, it is essential that those involved in the process understand its operation and are able to avoid problems rather than constantly problem solving. This means practitioners can look at ways of improving process performance rather then just keeping it going.
Be truthful about rejects
The first step is to position your company in relation to industrial best practice using perceived rejects. If you think your reject level is above 2.5 per cent, it is concerning, above five per cent is potentially disastrous, above 10 per cent and it's not worth doing business. The target is zero defects.
A complete review of the company will take into account estimating, quotation and works order generation. Production planning and machine loading have a significant effect on efficiency. Assess what degree of historical information is used in the creation of costing and determine the accuracy of the quote verses actual production cost equation. In time this will demonstrate what type of work is most profitable and you can determine your willingness to take on less or non-profitable work.
The best change scenario is to improve the process to bring all jobs into an acceptable level of profitability. This is even more important because the market is in recession. Getting additional volume is difficult, but getting more from less is a challenging yet attainable outcome.
Aim for continuous improvement
Standard operating procedures (SOP) are a vital part of improvement. They need to provide a clear description of how each process is carried out, ensuring consistency throughout the workforce. There should be sufficient information in the SOP that the operative could follow the instruction and complete the job without having to ask additional questions. The aim is to continuously improve each process, updating the document as methods evolve and develop.
A key factor in achieving consistent results is the production of the stencil. This is an aspect of screen printing where some industrial screen printers have a great deal of experience, particularly in the development and operation of stencil production units for biomedical sensors. The dimensional tolerance of stencil thickness and image size are very tight and the techniques applied in this application are relevant to all other high quality screen printing applications. The stencil is a precision engineered template for the image.
Once you are satisfied that stencil production is under control and capable of producing consistent stencils, move on to machine set up, ink preparation and print production. Drying and curing is a key aspect of most forms of screen printing. It is also an area where energy costs can get out of hand if the dryers are inefficient or incorrectly set. Cure levels determine the effectiveness of inter-coat adhesion particularly when using UV curing and reactive curing systems. Drying will affect registration and it is important to recognise where miss-registration is caused either during stencil production, printing or drying. Sometimes all areas will have an effect to a greater or lesser extent.
The only way to manage these and other issues out of the process is with effective agreed standard operating procedures, rigorously applied. Those working to the SOPs must recognise the effectiveness of such procedures. In screen printing it is easy to compromise the effectiveness of an SOP with a small deviation from procedures that throws the process out of tolerance.
Standard operating procedures will enable you to continuously improve the process from a firm foundation of best practice.
Time to get lean
For those who really want to shine, it's time to address lean manufacturing. This is the principle of getting the right things, to the right place, at the right time, in the right quantity to achieve perfect work flow while minimising waste and being flexible and able to change.
To achieve this, it is essential to reduce variables in the process. It may be that equipment is unsuitable due to maintenance deficiencies. A screen printing machine that is out of alignment is a reject production machine. You may have equipment that is unable to maintain a consistent result, necessitating capital investment. Making this kind of judgement is only possible when the potential variables are understood, as well as how to rectify them.
The way forward relies on benchmarking production performance, adjusting SOPs to suit, then embedding the improved practices in production and providing a platform and milestones for continuous process improvement.
Don't expect this to be an overnight exercise. It is vital to explain to the workforce what you are trying to achieve. Removing cost does not mean redundancy, it means higher profits and having a fit company ready for opportunities as the arise. Some of the best ideas for process improvement come from the people who are carrying out the tasks. Sometimes a temporary worker who has no experience will say "Why do you do that?" The answer is often because that is the way it has always been.
Times have changed and if you don't adapt and improve, you may not be here to reap the rewards of the upturn.
