Best Efficiency Improving Tips for your Sign Shop

[Jake Howard]

Hi All,

I am interested in hearing about how other members have improved efficiency within their sign shop, and which ideas have saved them the most time / money.

Our biggest improvement of efficiency has to be our online job system, which just allows our staff to track jobs and know exactly what they are working on.

Also, we have a manual kick eyelet machine for putting eyelets in corflutes. Initially we use to use Eyelets and Washers on the back, however now we just use the eyelets on the back, which saves us both time, and having to purchase the washers.

Interested to hear what sort of tricks other sign shops have used to improve efficiency and productivity, no matter how small or insignificant they may seem.

Cheers

Jake

 

[wgsengraving]

Clipboards for work orders. I cannot tell you how many shops I have visited that had orders strewn all over the place, with the staff going in circles looking for the lost paperwork.

Put the work order on the board, hang the boards together where they can be seen. You can even attach a dry erase panel to each board to write notes or the name of the customer.

 

[James Burke]

Take a look at these:

https://www.crcpress.com/The-Shopfloor-Series/book-series/THESHOSER

Footsteps = Time = Money.

We had one process in which we were able to reduce footsteps 60% just by rearranging the layout of one area of our shop. It has resulted in huge gains, and less operator (me) fatigue. We literally counted the number of footsteps/motions, did a few comparisons and then spent an entire afternoon re-doing the layout. The time savings has been a thousand-fold...plus.

JB

 

[gabagoo]

I find most of my issues deal with the clients themselves...from unanswered emails and phone calls about important issues, to missed appointments for vehicles with not even a phone call. Those 2 problems in themselves can really slow up progress and work flow. I have not solved this issue yet and not sure it is even solveable...

Now on the other hand when these problems arise it always allows us to catch up on other work.

 

[jfiscus]

I find most of my issues deal with the clients themselves...from unanswered emails and phone calls about important issues, to missed appointments for vehicles with not even a phone call. Those 2 problems in themselves can really slow up progress and work flow. I have not solved this issue yet and not sure it is even solvable...

Now on the other hand when these problems arise it always allows us to catch up on other work.

A huge time-saver I have found for problems like these that helps improve the day's workflow is a 15 minute solution I always try to do every day:
Call the customers TODAY who are supposed to be bringing vehicles by for installation tomorrow. This allows us to confirm their installation for the next day on the calendar (an assured schedule) and also allows us another time to request(remind) them to wash their vehicle before bringing it by.

If someone has to reschedule; then you know the day before and can call the next customer in line and see if they would like to be moved forward a day because you now have an opening that you know about AHEAD of time instead of an installer twiddling thumbs while you reschedule due to a no-show. I know it still happens a decent amount doing it this way, but I think it cuts down on no-shows by around 90%.

 

[Andy D]

Hi All,

Our biggest improvement of efficiency has to be our online job system, which just allows our staff to track jobs and know exactly what they are working on.

Jake

Can you tell me what program you're using and the pro's and con's & cost of it?

I simplified & updated our schedule board, it's not fancy but it works well for us.
It's a 4' x 10' steel sheet covered with dry erasable vinyl. It's broken down between
"needs to be printed" "needs to be plotted" & "needs to be finished" with the priorities
being from the top down. It's looking sparse now, it's usually loaded up.

I also got in clear, color coated job jackets, these make it much harder for paper work to disappear,
and I can use a dry erase marker to write large notes on the front of the jacket.

 

[rjssigns]

Read this: http://www.amazon.com/The-Goal-Process-Ongoing-Improvement/dp/0884271951

Then look for Herbie, make a plan to get rid of him and report back.

 

[jfiscus]

We crossed the threshold of TOO MANY orders to keep a paper schedule.
We had to have custom software made to fit our workflow here, it cost around $15,000 but has saved a lot more than that obviously.
We have an online visual schedule with drag & drop capabilities. Everything about the job is contained within the software.
Attached is a screenshot compilation of this month's daily items due. Also included is an example of what you get when you click on a project to edit it.
(Since we do not do installs on weekends we use those days for unconfirmed installations)

 

[Jake Howard]

Hi Andy D,

We developed a custom job system. We had a look at some of the off the shelf systems, but they had plenty of features we didnt need, and were missing features we needed.

Having a custom system is great, because it allows us to improve it in whatever way we want. For example, our designer would send an email to every client with their artwork proof. So he would manually open up a new email, type their address, subject and same text "please find a copy of your artwork proof attached". Now all our designer has to do is click on a button, and a prepopulated email with all this information appears.

This is just one of the ways it has helped us.

Cheers

Jake

 

[eahicks]

We had to have custom software made to fit our workflow here, it cost around $15,000 but has saved a lot more than that obviously.

Whoa....that's a lot. Did you ever look into SignVox? It is what we use...not perfect by any means but we make it work. It's nice having little to no paperwork floating around. Just the occasional sketch or whatever printout the customer brought in.

 

[jfiscus]

Whoa....that's a lot. Did you ever look into SignVox? It is what we use...not perfect by any means but we make it work. It's nice having little to no paperwork floating around. Just the occasional sketch or whatever printout the customer brought in.

Looked into it and everything else out there. it wasn't cheap, but nothing else seemed to fit perfectly or work with how things work here. There is a LOT to the software, everything in the whole process is included. It wasn't all implemented at the same time; but grew/changed organically a lot to work more efficiently.

 

[Speedsterbeast]

I'm a one man operation, so keeping track of jobs is easy with a dry erase board. I have a column for Go Ahead, Design, Quote, Waiting for Client and Order for Stock.
The biggest thing I found is leaving the shop only to do several errands/ measurements/ installs at one time. I now will spend a couple of full days in the shop for production, paperwork, design, and quoting instead of running out for an hour here an hour there.

 

[BIG EASY DOES IT]

I find most of my issues deal with the clients themselves...from unanswered emails and phone calls about important issues, to missed appointments for vehicles with not even a phone call. Those 2 problems in themselves can really slow up progress and work flow. I have not solved this issue yet and not sure it is even solveable...

Now on the other hand when these problems arise it always allows us to catch up on other work.

Start putting a price on missed vehicle install appointments. Tell them you have to schedule people to do the work on the day that the work is supposed to be done. If the vehicle is not here and no prior notice has been given then a $XXX fee will be assessed. If a client doesn't find urgency in their own needs then I find no urgency in getting their orders done. What I mean is if I find myself working hard to get a "RUSH" order out to a client and after the second no response I drop the issue. If they come back two days later wanting their materials I tell them to go find the mind reader down the street they have your stuff.

 

[SignVOX]

Try shopVOX Express - starting at $49 a month only

Looked into it and everything else out there. it wasn't cheap, but nothing else seemed to fit perfectly or work with how things work here. There is a LOT to the software, everything in the whole process is included. It wasn't all implemented at the same time; but grew/changed organically a lot to work more efficiently.

You can try the shopVOX Express where it is quick and easy to get up and running and manage the production side of the business. You can also hook up to QB (Desktop/Online) or Xero and pull in Orders to manage in production.

Also there is a 15 day trial on our website, try it out and see, it might fit your needs.

http://www.shopvox.com/pricing/

 

[bob]

A true craftsman does not give undue reverence to his tools. He can produce journeyman work with, or without, most any technology.

 

[54warrior]

I recommend the Evernote or Wunderlist apps for those that are the sole entity in the business. Can be installed on any number of computers, and smartphones. Create notes with all the job details, lists of current jobs, archived jobs, etc.

It works well for me. I keep a master list that I prioritize, then an individual note for each particular job. Very easy to add or change information. Accessible from the computer, or the phone, etc.

 

[hotflyers]

Jake,

Any chance you'd share a screen shot from this? Consider selling a copy?

 

[mnapuran]

We use Trello.com as our virtual board

 

[Sidney]

I use a built in Global Notes feature in my Sign estimate program that automatically displays on the main/home page. I am visual and this feature truly saves me time.

 

[player]

A true craftsman does not give undue reverence to his tools. He can produce journeyman work with, or without, most any technology.

I blame my tools all the time.