screw up factor

[mark galoob]

i was having a heated discussion with a buddy of mine who has a part time print shop in his pack & ship store and the subject of screw up factor came up...

i estimated we prob have a screw up factor/loss of about 20% of total jobs we do. i do build this in to my price calculation. he has the time to sit there and babysit each of his few jobs a month and says he prob has 5% loss factor. im wondering what everybody else estimates they have. im talking about total jobs done...

any takers...?

mark galoob

 

[astro8]

Way less than 5%...if you're running at 20% that's unacceptable!

Where's the screwups? Pricing, measure, design, print, lamination, application, cutting, fabrication, painting, assembly or installation?

I'm curious. We gotta help you get that % down!

Do you have any hair left or pulled it all out?

 

[Rick]

I know shops that run 20% because they do not know part of the business very well, like some large architectural, they have eaten huge jobs before I started checking their work, they still make mistakes, but thats because they have a hard time learning codes.... I worked at a place that kept tabs on mistakes by having us document everything, even at the speeds were were doing, it was less than 5%

 

[WB]

20% seems abit high to me.. I think we add in a 6-7% wastage factor and "Redo's" as we call them are maybe at the same level.. I know some days it feels like 20% with one of the employees I have.

 

[Joe Diaz]

We don't screw up. We meant to do that. :Big Laugh

 

[Big House Signs]

Our biggest screw-ups happen on the lamination....I hate that thing.

 

[graphicmaniac]

Our biggest screw-ups happen on the lamination....I hate that thing.

Same at our place.....

 

[ams]

I actually did a screw up on a banner (double sided mistake) that took awhile to correct. Just two days ago!

I try to go fast and often forget many things. But I'd say 2 out of 5 jobs of mine get some kind of screw up. Of course the great thing about sign making is that you can fix almost any mistake and it'd look like nothing ever happened.

 

[Gino]

Ours is 3.5% added onto each job.

If you have enough jobs going through your shop [or living room], that percentage is quite adequate. However, it shows up as our 'SHIT' factor. Shit happens, mistakes don't. Ever notice when a mistake takes place the guys always say.... I dunno, IT just didn't match right or the second piece is shorter for some reason ??

Yeah, IT always is the scoundrel.​

 

[mark galoob]

im not saying we have mistakes on every job...im saying on average, on ALL jobs completed. many times we do a job and get no mistakes...sometimes the whole job needs to be redone...ie printed 1000 bus cards the other day and employee cut them wrong...whole job had to be reprinted and re cut...many of mistakes made can be fixed, but they still happen, so there is no money loss, just a bit of time fixing it, or it equip malfunction, like the end of a 4 x 20 banner, and for whatever reason, printer messes up the print, this is fixable, but still a mistake, or a shirt gets smeared...can be washed out but still a mistake.

i like to estimate worst case scenario, and i estimate that something like this happens on average 20% of the time in my shop...

mark galoob

 

[ams]

im not saying we have mistakes on every job...im saying on average, on ALL jobs completed. many times we do a job and get no mistakes...sometimes the whole job needs to be redone...ie printed 1000 bus cards the other day and employee cut them wrong...whole job had to be reprinted and re cut...many of mistakes made can be fixed, but they still happen, so there is no money loss, just a bit of time fixing it, or it equip malfunction, like the end of a 4 x 20 banner, and for whatever reason, printer messes up the print, this is fixable, but still a mistake, or a shirt gets smeared...can be washed out but still a mistake.

i like to estimate worst case scenario, and i estimate that something like this happens on average 20% of the time in my shop...

mark galoob

Exactly, they are mistakes, but you don't give it to the customer with the mistakes, once it's fixed like it never happened, then it's good to go.

 

[DPSS]

20% sounds high, but I would not be at all surprised if mine was at least 20%. It's kind of a joke around here "...hey, I think we're going to get THIS job correct on the first try."

I don't have a laminator, so I can't blame that piece of equipment. But I can blame this Piece of $##$%%^& Falcon Outdoor Jr. Printer on a bunch of them. I spend way too much time taking this dinosaur apart and trying to get ink to come out properly.

Plus my shop is so small that I normally only have 1 employee here at a time. Since it is a college-kid, they don't stick around too long. So I am always in training mode.

Luckily I have a related seasonal business that brings in 10X the revenue and 20X the profits, so profitability of the sign shop is not that terribly important right now.

 

[Rooster]

I'm probably about 3-5%. Including redos for media issues like bugs or seams or the piece of dust or hair. The vast majority of those were done while the customer was watching. If they watch it goes down to about 50/50.

 

[Patrick46]

Man...you guys have it made!

I work under the 50% skrew-up margin!!
If I can't skrew up a job on the first try, then gimmie another go at it...I'm sure I can make a mess outta it on the second try!!!


btw....(what's a profit margin??)

 

[Gino]

Man...you guys have it made!

I work under the 50% skrew-up margin!!
If I can't skrew up a job on the first try, then gimmie another go at it...I'm sure I can make a mess outta it on the second try!!!


btw....(what's a profit margin??)

I dunno, but when you find out.... let Obama know.................. :ROFLMAO: