Employees

[woodworx]

For some business like mine, I am the designer, planner, material purchaser, engineer, CAD man, toolpath man, set-up guy, and machine running dude all in a single day. Some business break each of these steps down into separate jobs and delegate effectively.

My first question is for those who are the delegating type of company. What are some important traits you look for in an employee that you would like to turn some of the responsibility over to? Did you begin your search long before you found someone who actually worked out. Also what type of training procedures have worked effectively?

Do you all have someone, either trained or hired with previous experience, that can identify problems while the machine is cutting, stop it, re-draw, or re-toolpath, and then commence cutting again? How about someone who can look at your design, figure out joints, assembly problems, break things down into parts and give you a sheet of what they need ordered?

I have tried to train only one person. After a year I can get him to show me how to jog the bit to the home position. (after telling him what keys to hit)

What I am trying to get is some general knowledge from those who have done it. Those who have started running the machine themselves and then moved the business into a more effective business system.

Comments, questions, suggestions?

[myxpykalix]

If after a year that is all this employee can do, unless he's a relative, i think its time to kick him to the curb unless he performs other valuable functions there.

You might try looking for ex-shopbotters, someone who may have sold his shopbot or maybe is a hobbyist and has the time to do work for you, maybe even if it is part time.

[bcammack]

Inquisitiveness, curiosity, etc. There's usually a pretty direct correlation between them and intelligence and educability.

[khaos]

Nice Brett. Educability. Whilst the root was familiar I still went and looked it up:

educable [ej-oo-kuh-buhl]
–adjective
1. capable of being educated.
2. of or pertaining to mildly retarded individuals who may achieve self-sufficiency.
3. degree of bot compatibility.

[jhicks]

Well I would have to say either the trainer isn't very good or the employee is somewhat impaired. Probably the latter.
I know I trained 2 young fellows how to manipulate machine, calibrate and verify all start up procedures, develop cut files from CAD dwgs, load bits, zero, run, and reload in two days. Over the next week we refined details, things to look for, how to do other related functions in a proactive manner.
After this there were few occurances other than machine hiccups or lost positions they needed any help with.
Simply gave them a cad file and off they went.
So I would recommend another apprentice and document the steps from PC start up to end of cut, clean, reload etc so they have a reference document step by step.(better yet have them document for you to proof and see/confirm what they learned)
If they can't handle that, you need better recruiting, training and/or screening methods.
start withsomeone PC literate, mechanically inclined, average or above measuring and math skills, and most important someone who is enthusiastic about learning new things. The kind who will actually take a book home and read it or troll the forum for tips and techniques.
A year to learn to press a keyboard and move the machine is just way out of line.
Try local high schools or JC's with CAD courses, woodwork/shop classes,or someone from a conventional cabinet shop who wants to grow.
Best of luck but gotta move on.
You goal is quite achieveable.

[drodda]

I will have to side with Justin on this one. I have tried to train another person for over three years now. I draw everything in Autocad and use part wizard to make the cutting files. I have gone through 6 employees in three years who were hired to run the bot along with other tasks. I am in the same shoes as Justin as me having to run the bot is limiting the growth on my business.

I have developed a system for building my products with the bot, however the bot is holding me back at the same time. Finding someone who won't kill either themselves or the bot is not that easy of a task, at least not where I have been looking. I contacted the school last year and place a flyer for a summer position and no one answered the add. Kids these days don't want to work.

I am thinking it is the teacher, however I spent 15 plus years teaching Cad to all new empoyees for the engineering company I worked for and they seemed to pick it up quickly.

After spending way too many hours fixing things at night that employees have messed up during the day, I have gone back to myself, my wife and my father-in-law and cut back on the amount of orders I can take. The fees that go with employees are not worth the headache if the people are not making money for the company.I.E. workers comp, Unemployment insurance, and payroll.

If you've made this jump I applaud you, But it is not that easy!

-D

[drodda]

I forgot to mention the fun employees are while running the bot, Nothing better than seeing the light show in the clear dust tubes when the bot tries to drill the same hole an EMPLOYEE just placed a hold down screw in. Seems they tried running the exact same file again that just place location holes for the hold down screws. As I am running in a panic to hit the machine he stood there frozen as it got three screws totally cleaned out before I could stop it.

The sparks that result are better than fireworks on the 4th of July.

All the while another employee sat there working on something else and did not even flinch as the machine let out an ear drum busting screech.

-D

[bcondon]

I think the failure is on many levels. I would not want to be a kid today because I think they have it a lot harder than when I started working professionally at 19. I started working when I was 14.

First there is the lack of "shop" classes for the kids in jr/high school. If you don't get saw dust on your hands, then you don't know what it feels like.

The nickname for 3 of us when we worked at Cisco was Bubba Cubed because each of us could fix almost anything. We would have a line out the door on "How do I.." while the other 1800 people have difficulties doing very common things. Fathers do not know how to do things and they do not pass on the skills.

"Anything but college is a failure" attitude. If anyone that I see does not know at all what they want to do when they grw up in high school, I recommend being an electrician or a plumber. Either you will get good at it, get some business skills and have other work for YOU (aka... profits), or you will understand what hard work is and decide to get your butt back into school so you can work at a desk.

Now up here in Massachusetts, it is pretty common for kids to have cars. My kids got Grandma and Grandpas older cars (aka... tanks). Now at the high school, it is very common to see kids driving better cars than the teachers and administrators because Mommy and Daddy give them Hummers, BMWs, Lexas... A few kids get a used van... SO WHY WOULD I BE SO STUPID TO WORK WHEN MY PARENTS GIVE ME EVERTHING? Even my kids comment on how crazy this notion is!

I think the bottom line is I WANTED stuff and I WORKED to buy those things, or have pocket money to have fun, date... all the fun things in life.

I gave my kids lots... but I gave them time like Boy Scouts (I was a leader), Band organization at the High School which was an organization that helped the school manage 140 band members and 80 chorus members, organizing fund raising run by the kids... IN BS I brough 10 kids from cub scouts -> boy scouts and I beleive that 4 of them got their Eagles... and all get together to go hiking even now...

My wife was also excellent with the kids on the discipliary area. Yes and sometimes I was as bad as the kids...

Oh, by the way, most of the Engineering schools no longer actually have machine shops... designing is a "theoreical" thing... I found one school in western Mass that has a full time machinist to TEACH the kids to build what they design... and they kick the pants off some of the "well known" schools because these kids are GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD.

My Dad passed away 5 years ago and left me an entire metal working machine shop... I don't have time to work... I want to go back to night school and learn that trade 2... (I need about 4 lifetimes of all the things I would like to do)

The problem I see coming up for my youngest son is that he is at Northeastern University studying Industrial Engineering. He is taking a machining course that includes manual millers (metal) but also automated millers... He is taking a couple of manufacturing classes and some materials handling/ordering classes for his Co-op job. My problem... he is eyeing my shopbot... He asked me to buy a bigger one(He wanted the 12 footer) so that he could cut Kayak parts but when I asked if this would bring in an extra $5K which he would eventually donate to the purchas, he said he could not be sure so we got the 8 footer (He can scarf joints).

I think kids are not exposed to the basics any more, only computers and video games and adult run/supervised baseball so I feel kinda bad for them..I am glad I grew up and got a knock on the side of the head for chewing gum in gym...

Curiosity, what do they do in their spare time, what do they get a real kick out of? Those are the questions...

[woodworx]

Bob,
I bet you had to get that out sometime, huh?

I think most employees are going to be very TASK orientated, and not DIRECTIVE orientated.

"Sand this" is very different from "I would like this sanded very smooth." There is many different ways to go about everything so I am looking for ways to control the outcome of these directives.

I know there is no fool proof way to make things work 100% correct every time. What process work, and what have you all found that doesn't?

Does anyone have a training manual made up for employees they want to train on the bot?

Would you all like to help me put one together?

If we all decided to contribute a small part, we could create a nice little training manual filled with all the experience of the shopbot community.

[myxpykalix]

In high school we had both machine shop and woodshop classes. We were taught that if you learned a trade, even if you had higher aspirations, you could go anywhere in this country and get a job. I interned for a summer for one of these factory prefab home builders where we could put a small house together in four days and learned about every phase of construction. I paid $100.00 to work for them for free. That was the best $100.00 i've ever spent on education.
You have too many people in this country who feel they are "entitled" to a free check. If you are going to give it to me why should i have to do anything to earn it?, is the mentality now.