It's not just automation that helps companies avoid downtime, sometimes it's all about the people. Without the right people with the right training, bad things happen. It can mean that the press doesn't run or that you run the same job multiple times because of errors. Pete Basiliere of Monadnock Insight brings us our next post on saving 10 minutes per shift.

"Organize your production personnel into teams so employees can cover for each others’ breaks and absences and compensate accordingly," says Pete.  "Enable people to move into higher paying roles by gaining experience on press while covering breaks." This type of cross training is particularly critical now with general labor shortages, a work force trending towards retirement age and other challenges imposes by COVID. Providing workforce incentives is an important factor in continuity.

Pete advise a more strategic approach to measuring downtime: "Look at downtime as an opportunity cost, not a labor, overhead or capital cost. This requires knowing explicit costs, labor and material wasted, for example, and implicit costs such as how much profit is lost when the press is not running. Focus on profit lost through press downtime." And of course that is exactly the focus of this series - helping to understand how small changes and a focus on the details can add up to a lot of money over the course of a year. Our downtime calculator puts hard numbers around the implicit costs of idle press time measured in minutes per shift and dollars per year. For those who are already struggling with being understaffed, Pete says to use the team approach to make sure that people "always know the most profitable jobs that must keep running no matter what."

 For more actionable information on saving money in your production process check out previous tips from Jeff Matos of Broadridge and Lois Ritarossi of High Rock Strategies) and Mike Todryk of IWCO Direct. Just 10 minutes could save you 100k or more per year. Try the calculator and check back for more tips. Have your own tip to share? Get in touch.