Screen Printing - October/November 2019 - 15

screen printing apparel when you have to double-stroke a
white underbase for opacity. Talk about a money saver!
Imagine the amount of ink and time you could save each year
if you single-stroked your white underbase screens. Let's say the
underbase screen uses about $0.02 worth of ink on average. And
let's say our example shop prints 500,000 impressions that need
a white underbase every year. That's a savings of $10,000 in ink.
But it's the lost press time that is the most valuable.
For a conservative estimate, let's say the press is valued at
$300 per hour. That's what the shop wants to make per hour
for its automatic screen-printing press. Because print stroke
speeds differ, let's say the double stroke adds another three
seconds to the action. At $300 per hour, that's $0.249 per
stroke. That time is valued at $124,500 per year.
By changing this one facet of production, this example
shop could save $134,500 per year in lost opportunity costs
if they eliminated the need to have a double stroke on their
underbase white screen.
I'd say it's worth the time to improve that challenge, don't you?

GET AN ENERGY AUDIT
One easy way to help control your expenses and get an easy
win for your sustainability program is simply by getting a
commercial energy audit from your local utility company.
In plenty of areas, this is offered as a free service, but
there may be a small fee. As this is a popular thing to do for
an understaffed service, there often is a wait.
An energy audit is exactly what it sounds like. The utility
company will come out to your shop and inspect how you use
energy in your building. They will review your lighting, HVAC,
equipment, windows, door seals, thermostat, appliances, and
anything else that could be a problem.
About a week or two later you'll receive an informative
report detailing what they found. There usually is a laundry
list of action items you can implement to save on your energy
expenses every year. Some of these are not obvious.
For example, at a shop I previously ran, it was recommended
after an energy audit that we get an air leak survey on our air
compressor. This was a simple test where a technician uses a
high-frequency sound scanner to locate small air leaks in the
lines that run around the building from the compressor to the
equipment. Our air compressor service performed the audit; and
it cost about $500 to do.
However, we obtained a $250 grant from the state by filling
out a form. The final cost was only $250. The technician was able
to find 27 air leaks in the lines that we repaired. This is important as the air compressor kicks on when the pressure drops. A
steady stream of leaking air cost an estimated $4500 worth of
additional electricity per year to keep the pressure steady.
I also learned that for each screen-printing press that has
an air leak you can hear, that adds about $100 a year to your
energy bill. If your press sounds like a snake hissing at you,
that sound is actually money escaping.
Energy also can be contained in how you run your shop.

Have you ever thought about how you are using energy?
What's plugged in? Maybe the machines that are left on, or
the start-up procedures you do every day?
Think about solving those challenges to drop your energy
use and cost!

PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE
It's been said if you don't schedule maintenance for your
equipment, the equipment will schedule it for you. Usually at
the exact wrong moment.
Do you have a preventative plan in place for your shop?
Are you following it? Is everything clean and in working
order? What's broken or not functioning correctly? It doesn't
have to be the obvious machines either.
A few years ago, I was walking around on the production floor
when I came upon one of the staff members banging the side of
the computer monitor with his hand. "What's going on?" I asked.
"I've had it with this stupid computer!" he said. "It freezes
up, and I have to restart it to get it to work. I hate it."
"Oh yeah?" I asked. "How long has this been going on?"
"About three times a day for the past six months."
It took him a total of about 10 minutes to restart the computer and get back to where he was so he could finish. That
meant that the shop was wasting an average of 30 minutes a
day with this irksome computer.
That guy made about $15 an hour, so that was $7.50 in
labor a day that was being wasted - about $900 in six months.
Which is about $300 more than a new computer might cost.
It's these little things you find that add up to big savings at
the end of the year. Are you solving them and documenting
that? How much money can you save at the end of the year
by resolving these challenges?

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO
First, get to the point that you want to accept the Sustainability
Challenge. Are you there yet?
Most of this stuff is common sense, but you might have to
do some research or ask for help. It's OK. There are plenty of
resources out there that can get you going.
Start with a committee in your shop with people who can
help. Your ownership team needs to be present, as well as
someone from accounting. Get managers and regular employees, too. You want ideas from all levels represented.
Then, ask "why are we starting this?" Is it to save money?
Attract better customers? Be environmentally responsible?
All of the above?
Next, brainstorm the first steps. What are the top
challenges you want to conquer? Is there any low-hanging fruit
that can be picked right away to gain some early momentum?
Schedule that energy audit. Review your list of older
equipment. Talk to your suppliers and customers.
Your goal is not to improve everything all at once, but
instead to get better every day by making better choices.
Are you up for the challenge? You can do it!
OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2019

Screen Printing - October/November 2019

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