Size Up Your Shop

Tom Pinske, president of Plato, Minn.-based The Pinske Edge, offered attendees tips on improving their production workflow during an educational session titled Shop Process Optimization.

Among his suggestions, Pinske told attendees to store common materials in the same location, so they’re easily located. He did this in his own shop after realizing that the adhesives were scattered throughout the workspace.

Pinske described the production process as a “pulling through instead of pushing through.” He suggested that companies determine the number of hours needed to do a project and change their production schedule so that jobs are started that many hours before the deadline. “When you get an order, the first thing to ask is ‘when is it due?’” he says. “There’s no point in cutting your sheets right away.” Otherwise, the project sits in your shipping dock long before they go out.