If I'd Only Known

Have you ever run an order and then realized - dang it - that it is not correct? I hate that sinking feeling in your gut - UGH!

We've all done it. Hopefully, you then figured out why the mistake happened so that you could prevent it from happening again.

Here are some suggestions to prevent production errors. They are obvious, but if we were doing all these things, maybe the mistake would not have happened?

• WRITE IT DOWN It is so easy to think, "Yep, I'll remember what the customer just requested..." And then you go to program it, or run it, and there are no notes - YIPES!?!
• BE SPECIFIC How many different colors of blue thread do you think you have in your business? When you pull the threads for an order, and all you have noted is that they want the name in blue, ummmm - which blue? Or you sit down to create the design file, and they say they want the name in script. Just how many script fonts are on display in your business, and available in your software?
• IF YOU DOUBT, CHECK IT OUT If you recall that they wanted a left chest design on this run, but have a sneaky feeling that they may also have wanted a full back, take a moment to connect with the customer. Confirm what you are doing, before you start the machine.
• COLOR CODED JOB FORMS We wanted an easy, fast, visual way to know what jobs are on deck for any given week. On the outside of each container holding blank products to be decorated, we have a clear pouch which holds that order's paperwork. We colored a wall calendar so that the first week of each month is green, second one is yellow, third one is blue and the last week is pink. We use job sheets printed on the right color paper for each job, slating it into the correct week for production. If we were working a yellow week, and there was a pink box on the shelf, we knew something was off and we needed to figure it out!

What are some things that you have learned, changed or added to your workflow to avoid production errors and issues? I'd love to know - post it in the comments below.