Hi all quick question?

The peaking system will work for some employees but I had found that the best way to relax and feel good after work is just knowing that you had a good productive day at work. I tend to hold a fast steady pace through out the entire day, but I am also a work alone type of guy. give me a work schedule you want done today and it will be done before I leave. Now if I have to work with someone during the day, that is a different story. (especially if that someone does a lot of talking).
Either way, setting a system early on will help you out in the long run. Be prepared for changes occasionally. Printing is never a steady pace in most shops. you may have the rush orders in the morning or they may even come 30 minutes before you leave. some days are just crazy. Somehow it seems to be worth it though.

 

Agreed Bill, my foreman gave me a list of jobs that had to be done but left it up to me in which order I ran them, for example, when I was running a MOZ and had a lot of 4 color jobs, I would run all the first 2 colors on all the jobs, then wash up and finish them off with the last 2 colors.

 

Hey guys, been offline for a while my superiors sent me to a customers to address some quality issues we had been having with our new 5 colour web, basically the guys have been running her too fast and from day one have been goin balls out at between 9/10k per hour!!!!!! I warned my superiors she would need a few years bedding in at 4/5k but jimmy and Boswell who drive it thought different, needless to say at them speeds quality control has gone out the window, the latest waste figures also show an average of 37% pro rata waste as opposed to the rest of the webs doing a steady 34.7%.... Needless to say the lads have been warned theyl have to curb there enthusiasm.
Onto your peaking system Ronnie we once tried ot at the academy but after 6 months the sickness figure went through the roof, roger had 2 heart attacks Barry had a mental breakdown and ruzzo started printing everythin in green, we ended up getting a physcologist in once a week to wean people off the peaking, turns out people were peaking too early and sufferring severe burnout after 6 hours, its a tough system to work but I believe when you crack it its dynamite, just be careful with it Ronnie, keep us posted, some good guys on here wil help you out if needed.....

 

Mississipi Bill your correct when you state the peaking system can be an individual thing and if you like to play solo it might not be for you.But i think within 5 years its going to be an industry norm,there are already stories emerging from eastern europe that peaking has increased output and also decreased the amount of time lost yearly through sickness.
Bill Hickey great stats there and your stories are the darkside of what peaking can do when operated without the correct procedures and training being implimented before peaking begins.
ill give you a good example of peaking at its finest (i dont mean to brag) friday i was churning out a little black one sided job at about 7k an hour,at about 10 am,i banged a full reel on and took her up to to 75% of max speed,she was screaming my feed table was crying out for mercy,i flatlined at this pace for two hours,which is a hell of a peak for a friday,then i slowed her off until by 1pm i had her back down at 5k.
i wiped her down and oiled her up and when i shut her off for the weekend she was as content as a basket of kittens.i got home chilled out and i did my paper round that night in record time with no ill effects from my earlier exertions.

Keep at it Bill it will put 10 years on your working career i can guarantee it.

 

Sounds sweet Ron, seems like you got the system nailed down, I must say in our short trial apart from a few casualtys on the whole production increased, but after Barry had his breakdown the health and safety committee told us to lyt a stop to it, he spent 2 weeks in a mental institute apparently he would all the corridors claiming to be the printing messiah reborn, and on one sad occasion assaulted 2 officers who were trying to stop him from walking accross queens park lake, hopefully the system has improved now Ronnie, seems like dAve and Gerry have really put there stamp on it, are they going global with it? Wat happens if you get your peaks wrong Ronnie, is there an. Easy way to rectify?

 

Hey Bill,sorry for late response but its been hectic,these last few days ive been running 12 hour shifts with double peaks and ive been too tired to even log on.What you described is the darkside of peaking and what can happen if peaking isnt regulated properly,did you guys complete the induction course? we enlisted a company to do this for us,i would highly recommend that you give these guys a call,they are called P.E.E.S (Peaking,energy,efficiency,solutions) and run by a great guy called Chris Greggo,Greggo is from the states but he frequently flies over the pond to run seminars.Greggo is an ex-con who came out of the clink and turned his life around,and in the Eighties even worked as an advisor with Speilberg on Escape to Victory,which was loosely based on Greggos own experiences when he was jailed for two months for G.B.H and ended up running a 5 a side team in The New York State Penitentiary.He formed a formidable two man midfield with Dave Berkowitz a.k.a the son of sam killer whos temperament was questionable but had a mean left foot.
Anyway gotta shoot guys,if you need Greggos contact details dont hesitate to ask.

 

Welcome back Ron, I managed to have a word with our m.d other day about possibility of having another crack at the peaking system but big swainy wasn't for budging, I mentioned this forum and said some good guys were onto it now but she said its a load of old pish, i stil believe it could be the boost i need in my career but i got to tread carefuly with it as im sure you'll understand, anyway whilst browsing the forum i got to think about an idea I've been tryin to make work for the last few years, basically its a a print exhibition for the north west and Lancashire area, maybe you could put me in touch with greggo and Dave perhaps they could do a speech and our forward the case for the peaking system? I've already got some good local bands confirmed, cirino and the cherrypoppers with possibly fergy on lead guitar, and also some buahcraft skills with Roy Ewart, if i could generte some inerest through here would be great, also anyone interested in helping out possibly around June July five me a shout, regards bill

 

Hi Bill
The Print Exhibiton sounds a great idea,You may struggle with a venue big enough though.Think the M.E.N is booked solid now for the year.Jonny Solo i think is a guitarist,he used to be a roadie for Mud,he now does festivals ,he was headlining at the Brooks club a couple of weeks ago he was on the bill for the North west Legends night with Mike Alone,Wammy and Wingnut Walter.
Just a quick question,and this is open to all you guys,ive been struggling for a few days now with my half tones,they just dont seem sharp enough,i tried changing my blanket and making a new plate but to no avail.Big Dave said just bang more impression on,Bazza said check your inkers for elastic banding and Gerry said drag it out till nige gets in.In the end i did what Russo would have done,closed my eyes and bollocked them off,if job comes back then ill deal with it.I know its not very professional of me,but sometimes you just have to get the job out,is this the right attitude fellas,have any of you old timers ever compromised on quality so you can get back to the crossword?

 

Hi Ron, many times in my younger days I would sacrifice quality once I got past the tipping point on the sun crossword, but after the great jeppola once made the mistake of running 2 reels of betterware with no ink on the reverse as he had a particularly taxing 6 across, they put a blanket ban on al forms of reading on the shop floor, jep resorted to hacking away at his fingernails with a Stanley knife to alleviate the boredom, I heard he lost 2 of his fingertips to gangrene, not sure if this is TRUE the last time I saw him was rockin a pair of jean shorts down Burnley road in summer 08, suppose wat im saying Ronnie is don't get too reliant on crosswords to fill your day in, you might find it more productive to sneak off to trap 2 and have a power nap if your having problems, as for your halftone problems have you tried maybe putting more alcohol in, I run at around 40% ipa and a fount solution of 11% I have had this chemistry checked off the top man at sun chemical and he says its spot on, my conductivity is between 2 and 300, hardly ever scums up now..... Let me know im always available for advice..... Regards

 

Hey Guys,
Hope u have all had a great Easter,ive been having a couple of days off but im back on the press tommorow,solved my halftone problem thanks bill,my alcohol mix wasnt quite right,good call brother.
Been down norfolk to the John Jarrold printing museum,what a place that is,had a go on a couple of Iron hand presses and some of you old timers would appreciate the Furnival press they have.They even have the first ever tin of 181 blue, mixed by Queen Victoria when she opened the Smith and Iqbal ink manufacturers back in 1870.they also have a guy who pretends to be William Caxton,he dresses up like him,and walks round with a pantone book,smacking the kids round the back of the head with it,very funny but annoying for a few of the children there today,maybe its part of his act,or maybe he was upset at the talking during his seminar at lunchtime on dot gain and slurring.But one or two parents complained and it did leave a sour taste in the mouth.Caxton himself would not have been impressed im sure.

 

Yes don't give up. Starting anything new will be challenging. I recently hired Ritz Plumbing, a great plumber in Torrance and they have done a great job. I'm sure when they started things weren't easy but they're experts now. Don't give up.

 

Cheers Ritz,
i used to do a bit of plumbing myself when i worked at my previous painting place,we once had a couple of golden nuggets that were blocking the u-bend,think Big Dave and Gerry had been through a family pack of Hollands pies and had decided to both unload in trap 2,it wasnt pretty but it was all part of the job.good luck with the plumbing,im gradually getting there with the printing,i completed a four color makeready today in under 3 hours which my workmate reckons is pretty quick.if u nedd any help the guys on this forum are pretty helpful,the American printers are on another level.