Intro
Hey guys it’s Myron Wittmer in this video I want to show you the simplest and most practical way to transition into a paperless shop and you can finally get rid of all those paper reports that are floating through your shop let’s check it out.
The problem
So why paperless shop why not just use paper with the way the manufacturing software has gotten so good over the last several years you know you can basically produce any report you want you can do drawer list, door list, elevation views, plan views, 3D views and what I see a lot of is these little cut lists that they send out to the shop get… really big we’re talking a lot of pages and so you got guys spending hours producing these things but what makes it bad is when you go out to the shop the poor guy in the shop has to open this thing and just read the novel that you made for him so this obviously takes a lot of paper a lot of ink a lot of cost and so now you gotta start weighing you know do I print one copy of this huge book for the Smith job or do I make a couple copies so it can be at each station and if you decide to kind of short it a little bit you know you have guys by the saw asking where the Smith job is or guys in the finish room asking where the Smith job is and so that’s kind of just the problem with paper you know obviously the cost to produce and then just kind of the logistics of getting to the shop floor.
Common responses
So most people can agree on the benefits of a paperless shop and a lot of people even want to be in the process but they don’t really know where to start and one very common response I see out of shops that are trying to kind of learn more about it is they’ll get on Google and you know start looking at all these complex software that are out there that can do everything and so they’ll book a demo and they’ll start learning more about how yeah you can put barcode stickers on your parts you can track your labor you can log your hours you can do all these things but really they just wanted the simple task of going paperless so obviously the next thing that happens is that we come overwhelmed and then just pitch the whole idea out the window because it seems too far off.
My recommendation
So what’s my recommendation start super small, baby steps evens because what happens is when you throw out thousands of dollars in a short amount of time and try to just put this whole new system into place your employees are going to get frustrated they’re not going to know how to run the system you’re going to get frustrated because they’re not doing it and it’s just gonna flop and so when we start small we put ourselves and our employees in a much better position to start evolving with the processes that we’re putting in place and so I want to give you an example of what I believe is a good way to get everyone kind of on the same page of the direction you’re heading and it gets you really in a good place to go into that full shot flow tracking.
Use the same process
Okay so here’s the process I would use if I’m telling a shop how to get started with this paperless idea so the first thing which is very important is you’re going to do the exact same process you’re doing today so if you’re using Cabinet Vision, Mozaik or whatever you’re using produce the exact same PDF reports that you’re already producing and this is important because it keeps the process the same it’s familiar and it’s easier to work with.
Build workstations
Okay step number two we’re going to start putting stations in your shop and a station is basically going to be a screen that your employees can look at and see the PDF reports that you created earlier so what does the station consist of well it’s going to vary for each person but the point is they’re going to be very simple and they’re going to be very affordable so it’s going to be easy to add on you can literally start with one and see how it goes and then add more later basically a station is going to be made up of a screen which could be a 32 inch TV or a 55 inch TV or a smaller touchscreen it’s up to you the screen itself is not the important part then I’m going to get one of these mini PCs it runs Windows on it super easy you can actually get even smaller ones that are like a thumb drive but I found these hold up better with the dust and stuff the brand is BeeLink I’ll put a link in the description but just take a command strip and put this right on the back of your TV get a power strip plug everything in get an HDMI cable and that is your station I’ve put these together for 200 300 400 you can kind of pick your price range it’s very easy to build out and this is a super simple way to get started.
File sharing
Okay so we’ve talked about how we’re going to continue producing our PDF reports the same way and we’ve also talked about how it’s easy to set up these workstations that are also very affordable now we just have to figure out how do we get our PDF reports from the office over to our workstations in the shop so this is actually really easy nowadays so the first thing I would ask is what are you using for email because a lot of people are already paying for Office 365 or Google Workspace and if you are then you already have the perfect tool for this if you’re using Office 365 you can use OneDrive to be able to sync the files between your workstations if you’re using Google you can use Google Drive now if you don’t have either of those I’ll link to one below that I like called pCloud it’s a one-time fee but this works just like Windows file structure you can create job folders like the Smith job, the Johnson job, drop your reports in and it synchronizes to your shop floor.
Part Lists & Links
Workstation part lists:
NOTE: the exact items may vary, this list will help you get you started
1. TV/Monitor – https://amzn.to/3G2Gltq
2. Beelink Mini PC – https://amzn.to/3C9Z70C
3. Wireless mouse/keyboard – https://amzn.to/3jzJkSD
4. Power strip – https://amzn.to/3vlexeM
5. Hdmi cable – https://amzn.to/3C4MyUA
6. Wall mount – https://amzn.to/3jCejx3
File sharing options
1. Google Drive
2. Microsoft OneDrive
3. pCloud – https://partner.pcloud.com/r/83269
Wrapping Up
Okay so that wraps up my simple and practical way to get started transitioning into a paperless shop I encourage you guys to just try it even if it’s just one workstation see how your employees like it see how the guys in the office like it see how your printer likes it but yeah just take baby steps you don’t have to do it all at once thanks for watching guys leave a comment below what you think.