Why does production hate prep?

[Yez]

I asked for a gain test to be done on each press and that it be done by the operator that runs the particular press. That's all.

What I got were 3 test rolls (we are stone and chisel flexo) that measured almost identically. That's odd I thought. Sooooo, I decided to ask.

"We weren't happy with (insert operator's name here)'s results so we had (insert best operator's name here)'s reset his impressions....


And I still get "hey, the print doesn't match the proof??? You messed up again."

[Earendil]

I sucks. As long as I've been in printing, production has always had a stick up their butt about those of us who hang out in the air conditioning. I remember being a bindery guy and later a pressman, I thought everything was the fault of prepress sitting on jobs. Now, I see the other side of the coin.

It gets even worse when you get the "manager" title, then you're "The Man".

It can get better tho, I found it's easier to get them to relate to you if you go have beers with them sometimes. Show them that just because you walk on carpet doesn't mean you're jerk.

[ROHfan]

Actually, at my place we work very well with production (it's the rest of the place that sucks roids). There are two of us in prep and two girls in production who are probably the best I've worked with in my career. There was a little tension between the departments when I first got hired to run prep so I worked on establishing a good relationship with production because it makes life easier for all of us. I have kind of a warped sense of humor so I try to keep the girls laughing and as a result they've told me how much they love working with me. One time I found a long FedEx tube so I positioned it in the doorway to production using the shelves on either side of the door. Every person who came into the room limbo'd! It was awesome. Then the stupid foreman (Mr. Fun Switch "Off") said "What the hell's this doing here?" and took it down. It's okay to be cooky at work and it really helps reduce the stress level. It makes it bearable when you actually enjoy the company of your coworkers. I'm gonna miss those chicks when I quit this absolute f*cking horror of a print shop.

ROHfan

[Hansonian]

i thought i was the only prepress guy loathed by production people. i dont feel so special now.

[Yez]

Originally Posted by Hansonian

i thought i was the only prepress guy loathed by production people. i dont feel so special now.

Sorry to burst your bubble man.

[printmonger]

It gets better(?). We work in an environment where the production manager doesn't understand prepress and its intricacies. Need I say more:-(

[Hansonian]

what?!? you have a production manager? our production people rely more on a "lord of the flys" sorta hierarchy to get their work done.

[LoganBlade]

He doesn't need to tell him that it is his job to make sure all pressman run to a standard that the best pressman runs. if they can't fire them.

Tell Him it is not rocket science it is printing. Take your damn Densitoomitor and teach you presman how to use it and run to standard. When your done traiing the idiots we can ge teh shop color managed so we are not costing teh boss money

good luck

[Yez]

Originally Posted by LoganBlade

He doesn't need to tell him that it is his job to make sure all pressman run to a standard that the best pressman runs. if they can't fire them.

Tell Him it is not rocket science it is printing. Take your damn Densitoomitor and teach you presman how to use it and run to standard. When your done traiing the idiots we can ge teh shop color managed so we are not costing teh boss money

good luck

Getting the presses consistent between themselves would be fannnnntastic. Flexo people just take longer to understand that it isn't "pour and go" and you can't change ink systems without running the tests (yes, this happens).

It's not science that running too much impression makes for larger dots but I still get called down and shown how prep screwed up on something that just needed the impression reset.


educating I am. It's just a slow and frustrating process.

[LoganBlade]

Ask them if they would like you to do thier job for them because you nkow how to do your own. Obviously your pressman have no understanding of the presxses tehy are running.