If you think you’re fully booked in the plant, just ask yourself these questions:
- When did a job come in exactly when expected? Or earlier?
- When did proofs come back exactly when expected? Or earlier?
That’s why your production manager has to have a simple rule:
Just say YES to that extra job
Here's why: a hole will almost always open up in the schedule. It’s not random. It happens every day. After all, customers don't have complete control of their own jobs. And if a hole doesn't open up, it's still pretty easy to fit in one more small job. What if that extra job is somewhat larger? Then it’s even more worthwhile figuring out how to staff some more hours or juggle schedules!
Of course, we’re not suggesting that you make irresponsible promises, or just pile problems on to the production manager. But you should have a bias for saying yes and working hard to figure out a way to do it without breaking other promises.
Even if you find yourself truly overloaded, when did anyone die from putting in some extra overtime to keep up with the workload? In Texas, that’s what they call a high-class problem!
Having worked with more than 550 companies, we’ve never seen a printer die from trying to fit in too much work. But we’ve seen lots of them shrivel from too little work.
So just say YES to that extra job. We promise you’ll figure it out.