Get Cleaned-Up

How clean is your shop? Clutter, ink spills and lint can takeover a shop. A messy shop is unpleasant for you, your workers and your customers. It can also be dangerous, and cost you money.

It is the nature of the beast. The printing process involves the use of all kinds of stuff that are messy. When we are busy, we begin to prioritize. And cleaning is often at the bottom of the list of things to do. So we tend to leave the clean-up tasks for latter.

An unkept shop can negatively effect the mood and motivation of everyone who works there. A cluttered, messy environment makes us unhappy. And when we are unhappy,  we are not going to be concerned about doing our best. Also, our customers are not going be excited coming to our shop either. They will not feel “welcomed”.

Piles of boxes, spilled chemicals and collections of lint can be fire hazards. Many of the chemicals that we use are vary flammable. An electrical spark or careless smoker can send your shop into flames. Lint has a habit of collecting everywhere. Especially in exhaust vents and on fans. Boxes in aisle and walk ways become tripping hazards.

In business, time is money. Looking for orders, film, plates, ink, squeegees, screens, or anything else amongst the clutter is wasted time. Wasted time is wasted money. And consider the things that are lost. Reordering stock because you can’t find it, or replacing a piece of equipment quickly eats away at profit.

Go through your shop now. Identify problems and write them down. Plan to clean-up as soon as possible. Then do it.

Clutter and messes are bound to happen. But, be mindful and attend to them quickly. Schedule clean-up time in your daily routine. Eliminating clutter and cleaning messes as they occur will improve your shops efficiency and boost everyone’s morale.