MTT: The Economy Of Motion

This month we are looking at simple ways to optimize your productivity and get the most out of your work day. Specifically, we want to look at the “economy of motion”. It is a general concept that can apply itself to many factors of life. It simply refers to using less movement to achieve a goal or duty. Simply put, you want to have that which you use more frequently, closer to you. This eliminates wasted movement going to further off areas and lets you move on to the next task or priority much more quickly. Whether it is tool, ink, or supply accessibility, whatever you find most important for your process at hand should be accessible. 

From past experience, there are shops that are often set up to be organized in a specific way teams find beneficial, but it does not add convenience to their process. The harmony of maximizing your productivity is finding out what products also fit that multi-purpose usability so that they may be staged much closer to your devices. You can maintain the organization you currently have, but it is important to understand the priority of where things should be placed to make accessibility simpler for yourself. 

One of our best examples of a product that has consistent usage that would benefit from the concept of economy of motion would be our Jobz multi-surface wipes. These are readily needed across most stages at the press, so naturally it is the most practical to have it next to your presses. Conversely, if you did not have something like these wipes near the press, you would have staff constantly going to wash their hands and remove the ink and dirt from performing the task. This alone over the course of days, weeks, and months will pile up in unproductive work hours. Optimizing something as simple as this can pay huge dividends for your productivity in the long run. 

Although it would feel like something that is common sense, owners and management have a lot of other things going on, and often they tend to overlook small improvements such as this. Albeit a small change (possibly a large change depending on how your inventory is set up), it is a very straightforward way to get more productivity from the team and utilize all the supplies & products you have. It also becomes easier to organize and prioritize items that need to constantly be repurchased. Muscle memory will eventually set in and help you be more cognizant of your current supply.

In summary, it is important to map out what tasks are currently tedious to you, and to find ways to make quality of life changes you can take advantage of daily. Keeping excess movement minimized will help you in the long run physically and emotionally. Maybe it might not be organizing your product near the press. Maybe it could be placing your press in the spot that makes the most sense for you moving forward. Whatever it may be, feel free to contact Screen Printer’s Resource for your replenishment and supplies, and with all things screen printing.