Images Magazine December 2016

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58 IMAGES DECEMBER 2016
COMPUTER-TO-SCREEN & PRE-PRESS KB
turns out they all ignore this crucial part of their operation. Everyone
is always focused on the print. Presses, ink, the art, shirt fabric type –
that’s the discussion everyone dwells on. Screen reclaim or coating?
Tension? Even choosing the right mesh count for the job? Not so
much. It’s the dirty, dark secret.
Each step in the screen making process has to be dialled in perfectly
in order to have success with printing on any press. If you don’t do a
good job with one of these steps, then good luck trying to print. That
registration problem you are having? It’s not in the art. It’s the fact
that your screen is only at 12 newtons..
Stretching, reclaiming, dehazing, coating, imaging, exposing, wash-
ing and quality control prep for printing: everything needs to be ready
for your production team so that when they reach for the screen for
that job, it’s sitting there waiting for them. Perfect every time.
How do you get to that level of execution? Easy. Your screen room
needs controls. Cleanliness. Organisation. Timing. Basically it’s about
setting yourself up for success by installing some manufacturing prin-
ciples. If you think of your screen room as an assembly line, what do
you need to install to make each part of the line perfect every time?
Think Toyota – you won’t find them slacking.
When you staff your screen room with malcontents and misfits,
do you think you are going to see the final product you want? It’s
a thankless job and similar to doing the dishes forever. What your
company should strive for is dedicated, skilled, craftsmanship-oriented
Solve A to make B better
The screen room is the keystone to any great printing business. Marshall Atkinson explains how to raise your
pre-press game
With over 25 years in the decorated apparel industry, I’ve
spoken with all sorts of folk and a good many have a lot
of things worked out: they are usually at the top of the
food chain in their market niches. Others are just ridicu-
lously bad business people or ineffective at managing their processes
in their shops. Why? It’s as simple as connecting the dots. A connects
B. If you don’t do A right, then B isn’t going to work well.
This works across all areas of any business, and is particularly ap-
parent in screen rooms. It’s time to stop being blinded by orders that
have to ship and instead take a moment to think about how solving A
would make B less of a headache.
Okay, so what the hell am I talking about? Let’s take a look.
The importance of a well run screen room
What’s the number one problem in screen-printing? Art? Ink? Shirts?
Equipment? Nope, none of these.
The keystone to the whole operation is your screen room. You
know, that dirty dungeon that you ignore and send your worst em-
ployees to toil away in whilst relatively unsupervised.
Just about all problems on press can be tracked down to screen is-
sues. Dirty screens, pinholes, tension, emulsion coating, moiré, under-
or over-exposure… The list goes on.
I don’t know why, but when I go to shops or speak to their own-
ers or managers and discuss their particular production challenges it