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MTM - Man, Tools & Materials
Your
Finishers
Every finishing operation require 3 basic
system components: Man, Tools and Materials (MTM) so we will
look at these three elements and evaluate their impact on the
finishing process.
Man is the foremost element in the
finishing system. The physical act of finishing wood is almost
more of an art than a science. It relies heavily on the physical
skills of hand-eye coordination, color recognition and physical
agility. These attributes are very expensive to replace with any
kind of mechanical or digital technology and only high volume
production can normally justify those costs.
When assessing the man part of the MTM
system you will need to look at:
Physical skill level describes the workers
ability to properly move and control his tool over his target.
Look for things like poor gun techniques such as arcing,
improper gun triggering or application speed. You would also
look at their approach to spraying casework or other 3
dimensional objects. Sanding techniques are also critical to the
finishing system.
Technical skill level covers a much broader
area. Depending on the size of your finish department there may
be people with different levels of technical skills assigned to
different jobs. For instance, someone who sands casework all day
probably won’t know the reduction schedules of the various
finishes, but the person assigned to spraying them should. The
person in charge of the finish department should know it all.
Organizational skill level is easy to
evaluate. One of the best indicators is to simply look at the
work area. The most effective finishers have clean uncluttered
work areas because they know how important these attributes are
to the overall finishing process. This is not to say that a
sloppy finisher can’t produce a great finish, but my guess is
that, in the long run, it is costing you money. Sloppy is
inefficient, it ruins equipment and is potentially dangerous.
A good finisher knows the value of
developing a flow of work through the booth. They employ feed
forward techniques when it comes to their work. They look
forward a step or two to help determine what they are going to
do right now. This technique creates an efficient work flow
through the finish room. Getting the pieces in the booth and
spraying them is only part of the process. You still have to
figure out the best way to group them, move them and then
figure out what you are going to do with them while they are
still wet. A good work flow will accommodate dry times and
reduce the risk of damaging or even getting overspray on
completed pieces. You will never see a good finisher sitting
around waiting for paint to dry. A good finisher understands how
to make their job easier and faster. They can be a great
resource for input on how to improve the system, all you have to
do is ask.
The person
judging the finisher must know how to finish.
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