Ink Department

High Level Activities / Processing

1. Satisfy Ink Requirements for production processes
2. File Surplus inks post usage
3. Mix inks as per stipulated formulas.
4. Maintain Ink Inventory / order Ink as needed

Inputs

Outputs

Current Processing Flow

Satisfy Ink Requirements for production processes

1. Screen Print processes require inks to apply the desired image(s) to garments, Inks requirements are defined at the level of the individual stencil / separation. That is they are specified on the associated technical spec for the screen print process
   
2. The Ink room reviews the upcoming screen print process lines by
   
   • estimated print date,
   • priority
   • checked over status
     
     to ascertain the list of required inks by required priority.
     
     Wherever possible, required inks will be prepared / made available prior to the shift that requires them.
     

3. For each ink requirement, ink department staff interrogate the Technical spec record to establish how many separate colours of inks are required.

4. For each ink required, the technical spec details whether it exists  - and if so its location

5. If the ink is in stock (i.e. it exists) it will be retrieved from its storage location and evaluated to determine if there is sufficient volume to satisfy the upcoming print job. If it is sufficient proceed to step 12

6. If there is insufficient volume and/or the required ink does not exist it needs to be created by mixing up base inks according to a prescribed formula

7. All mixed ink stock records in TOT contain their composition formula composition (a definition of the constituent inks and ratios)  
8. Where a mixed ink needs creating, the base elements are retrieved and mixed according to the formula ratios
9. If the required ink has been created, a product label is created and attached to the ink pot. This details a unique barcode for the INK stock record along with its composition inks
10. If the required ink exists it will already have a barcode label attached to the pot
11. The Ink room notifies that the required ink is now available, but setting the status to ready
12. The barcode on the ink pot is scanned to update the record of the ink location from storage to the ready for printers area
13. The ink pot is now physically placed in the ready to print area and will be picked up and relocated to the specific consuming print machine(s) by the printshop staff

File Surplus inks post usage

1. Once the screen print process has completed, there may be residual / surplus ink
2. Should this occur, the following procedures are undertaken
3. The print shop staff will return the ink pot to the returned ink shelf
4. The ink staff will scan a) the barcode on the ink pot and the corresponding ink room storage location barcode of where it will be filed

Mix inks as per stipulated formulas.

Where mix inks are required which do not exist, the ink department, they need to be created - i.e., mixed from scratch according to the prescribed formula
This process is outlined in "Satisfy Ink Requirements for production processes", steps 7 to 12

Maintain Ink Inventory / order Ink as needed

The Ink room regularly use specific inks - (whether these are mixed or the constituent base inks required in the mix formula)

For efficacy, the ink room can elect to hold a minimum level of these inks and order / create a buffer quantity above this level

To achieve this, ink staff define a minimum required level for the inks in question and monitor this level versus the physically available qty

Where the physically available level exceeds the minimum no action is required

As this "surplus" decreases, ink staff take corrective action

• Raise a purchase order with the supplier

• Create the ink (if applicable) from its constituent components

See here for workflow schematic