I just spent an hour looking for the tools and parts to do a half hour job. what are guys doing to make your shops run smoother has far has knowing where stuff is?
My shop is a rolling disaster of half empty 5 gallon pails, unfinished projects, broken 2 strokes, and various hair balls left from a border collie that's been gone for 10 years.
Clean up after every job is completed & put tools away--No one gets to eat or drink beer till the shop is in order.
Locks on the tool box(es).
Clean up after everydays work is more my style
If u do a lot of “bench work” hang wrenchs on a peg board or lay them in a wrench rack on the bench.. Special tools go in a drawer or multiple drawers.. And as stated before, pick up after every job.. It doesn’t take but a second to use the air hose to blow off the bench and floor.. Here’s something I do/use.. I started buying “puppy pads” and tacking them to my work bench..& working on those.. They soak up all the fuel and oil that comes off/out of the pumps.. Once torn down and wire wheeled and blasted, I fold the pad up and toss it in the trash and put out a fresh one for the rebuild…
I agree completely with the put everything away and clean up after every job, but these days as soon as I enter my shop the beer fridge is usually my first stop. Correction: start fire then visit fridge.
I have stared using old filing cabinets for storage . One big thing i started doing is have a shelf,cabinet or some place to store parts for projects this saves me a lot of time and headaches . Its hard to do but anything thats laying around that you THINK you may use someday throw it away. Most of you know i am cleaning my Parents farm up were my stuff is to. This job has been a great life lesson in what is important and what is in the way of what you want to do.
I've been cleaning up my shop lately. I have a huge box that I am throwing the "might throw away" NOS parts into. Many parts have made it in and out of that box several times in the past week. I can't decide. Remembering how much they cost new but also have been paying rent on that spot on the shelf all these years and could put something better there.
Are you working alone in the shop? Then keeping track of tools shop be relatively easy. We Clean up at least after every job. We also try to do a general tool put away, if we can’t finish one of the current projects (waiting on parts etc), this allows us to find tools to work on another project. Every Friday, we sweep, clean bench, etc. as the shop may get used on the weekend for a non-farm project and tools need to be findable. Tools have a specific place they are stored. We even marked a place on the bench, that is for tools we have borrowed off of the service Trk (so when we need to take it somewhere, all its correct tools are on it).
1 on the weekend up to 4 max during the week, but short term. I just need to clean my act up and be a better leader/organizer. its like organized chaos around here! I have a hoarding disorder with out a doubt! a good friend of mine that comes and stays probably once a month is very anal retentive, his motto is, if you move it three times in a row without using it, it goes in the dumpster.its beautiful around here for about a week.
I have worked in shops were the tools are furnished and shops were every worker had there own . Hate is a strong word but its about the way i fill about places that furnish tools. The place i work part time has maybe a 15 workers 4 are mechanics or maintenance but just about all do some wrench work every month . They have 4 service trucks 2 shops . Its a deal the guys that are not full time maintenance are all so delivery drivers that do set ups. I cant blame them but they dont clean up and put stuff back real good because they are very busy with deliverys . I could write a book about what is wrong with this place and how to improve it but its just about as easy to do the work and go on knowing its not a forever job.
The best way I find to handle my hoarding tendencies is to put the things I don’t use but can’t throw away in a pallet box to move to cold storage. The problem with multiple workers is that one mans tool is another mans garbage and they throw it away or hide it under a bench. If you work alone you can get away with leaving tools at an unfinished job but with 4 you will need to make sure everything gets put away daily.
Most of this thread involves--just how much space you have to perform any work. Now if your working jobs that are 40 hour consumers, then some crap can pile up, but that becomes a hindrance also. I have never been lucky enough to have space to waste {a spot for everything and everything in it's place. While changing out a transmission & or clutch once out sweep out reclaim/wipe tools down & repile them. Same with engine work, spilled fluids of any kind cleaned up no wallering in it or tracking around. Average transmission change in my shop which included removing one fuel tank for access, and changing flywheel about 7 hours one guy sometimes less, 4 hours with two or less. Hunting for tools dragging air hoses through dirt/caked grease on a shop floor is way harder to do. I only had one 100' bay and one 70' bay to take care of 170 piece of equipment--so very important to keep it clean. Never had L&I or Osha give me issues. *
Organization is going to be your best friend... Two of the biggest time and space wasters are "What ifs" and "Maybes"... at a previous job we had a shelf full of metal stuff that was individually wrapped in plastic wrap and around every four months we had to clean all of the dust and debris off of it, unwrap them, oil them, re-wrap them, and then put it all back... I had a talk with the office boss about it and what he said was that when you fall for the "What if we need it some day?" or "Maybe we could use it for something" you just end up with boxes and bins of "what ifs" and "maybes" and then you have to store them, he then told me to get some pallets and move it all outside and he was going to call the recycling guy and it all went away. Having all of that go away made a re-occurring chore go away and gave us more free time to work on other things and that in itself sparked a huge re-organization project that ended up modernizing the shop for the better, so my point being... is that if you have a bunch of stuff that has just been sitting around for months and has never been touched just get rid of it it will be a relief to have it gone. Tools... Separate your Metric and SAE tools into their own drawers that will cut your search in half, screw drivers, nut drivers, wrenches, pliers, sockets, punches, scrapers, etc. all get their own drawers, or at least a divider that will keep them separate, mark the drawers with some kind of label so that if someone is helping you they know where to look. My main roll-a-way has the following labels "Machining Tools", "Scrapers and Punches", "Wrenches", "Torque Wrenches and Pry Bars", "Plumbing", "Ratchets and Sockets", "Automotive Diagnostics" (special tools), "C-clamps", "Air Tools", etc. everything is grouped in a way that it is easy to find. Parts... Nuts, bolts, O-rings, hose clamps, lug nuts, screws, plugs, etc. should all be put in parts cabinets in their own drawers, and if you can separate the screws and bolts by length, electrical parts like terminals and wire nuts should go in their own drawers as well by color and type. Any unfinished projects that have been put on hold should go into plastic bins and then clearly marked and zip-tie the lids down so that nothing gets lost or misplaced, then move it to some safe out of the way place. Chemicals and spray cans should all be put in one place and not be scattered all over on random shelves. And finally... things that should not be in the shop in the first place should get moved elsewhere.
Every part has to have its own bin for that ONE PART NUMBER ONLY. Otherwise the fast moving parts will get taken out and the slow moving parts will stay and the fast moving parts will never get reordered because it still looks like there are parts in the bin. Even if you only keep 1 or 2 of some slow moving part it needs its own bin.
My shack is 70X100 and I can't walk a straight line from the front to the back since closing my operating shop and claiming the place as my storage room. At that time I did terminate storage agreements off site however and everything condensed to one parcel. If there is a horizontal place available, I pile crap on it. Then I'll remember, "I have one of those", spend some time looking to no avail, then purchase another only to find the original later. Not that bad all the time but seemingly so..... When the shop was operational there were five employees. I paid them the last 1/2hour of the day to group clean the shop so it was always presentable and productive. I also paid a janitorial service to change the walkway runners, wash the office and building windows, tidy up the bathroom(s), break area, and little things like that. It all worked well. I don't clean much at all but I don't leave tools strung about. I always seem to need the one I forgot to put away then have to find it.
Parts--Tires----All part of a major shop, but not necessarily/and a separate run item from a organized shop. A parts room is of it's self and a total separate job. I ordered parts everyday 6 days a week, with a fleet the trick is running out of parts for a series of trucks in a fleet that only used those designs so as not to get stuck with NOS. I kept allot of high dollar items radiators, CAC's, clutches, input shaft kits, turbos, water pumps, air compressors, exhaust parts, all sorts of seals and bearings, plus a whole area for Carrier Refrigeration units. Suspension, brake, all the special lighting and lighting repair parts, air valves air dryers and related kits. Tires minimum on hand at any time 75 with a average total of 300. And enough parts, including crossmembers and landing gear for Utility refer trailers. Allot of crap, not just a few nuts and bolts and a sensor or two. Cleaning the restroom was Jeffs job, low man on the pole.
Earthscratcher - When you've sorted your shop, I've got a friend who needs some pointers, too. Even his shop is only half-finished. He hasn't heard of shelving or drawers, everything gets stored on the floor, and he has all these little walk trails between the parts, components, tools, and nuts and bolts! What makes me chuckle - he installed a 4 post hoist - and it gets used to store filters on! LOL
Good job for skid steer and a dumpster.
Oh, the skid steers already in there! - didn't you see it? But who knows where the parts are for it, to make it go again??
Well-need one that runs to drag that broken skid steer to the scrap bin.
WOW.!!! Lol After I retired from the rat race and word got out that there was “a pump guy” in the neighborhood, I HAD TO get parts bins.!! My parts aren’t big but there’s A LOT OF’M.. Searching thru bags/boxes wasn’t cutting it.!! I sat down and went thru ALL the new parts with the quantity and made myself an inventory list and am anal about marking them off when I use 1.. AND writing down on a separate sheet when it needs ordering.. Cuz when I don’t have something I NEED… the only person to blame is ME.!! (& it doesn’t happen often)
That shop is a dumpster!
Biggest thing is checking in inventory-invoice has to match. The other is keeping track of cores, cores are easy to get bonered on.
It seems like it would take a bunch of hours to run a shop right and not wast alot of money with unused new parts cores and so on.
It does Doug--it's why I spent many hours at Tate Transportation. Not very many on here really ran a shop, where they were in control of parts, control of work load, control of all paper work including inspections, control of high dollar inventory {tires}, plus run the after hours on the road repairs and company owned tow, and was the complaint center for 65 drivers plus dispatch, and help spec new equipment purchases. Allot of work Doug and not allot to show for it, I wasn't some high paid heavy equipment {tech} that truthfully was/is way over paid for what they do, high dollar decisions were/are made by service dept.
There’s a lot to be said for working by yourself.. I only had to create my inventory list ONCE.. & once it was done, it was smooth sailing..
wow I have hope!
That dumpster shop makes me think of something. Customers who buy scads of filters when they go on sale and then expect you to use them up later. Been sitting in a cold damp shed for all that time. Paper cartons falling apart, clean side full of dust and all the exposed steel turning to rust. Throw it all in a garbage bag and into the dumpster it goes. How much money did they save on that deal.
I am really against stocking up on filters . One reason is what you said the other is how long are you going to have what ever they fit ? Early on when i was younger dad bought several cases of new filters at a auction years later later i tossed them . If i could have the money back from anything i was involved in that was a wast of money something that some one bought and never did any good it would be filters . I have clean up a lot of farms and business and there has been alot of new unused filters that have to be tossed.
I typically have a change set on the shelf for most everything. Never have purchased a case of filters for many of the reasons cited. When I had the "Quik-Lube" franchises going the suppliers furnished the filters and the checks for consumption was written monthly. Accurate tracking was utilized for this. I never carried the inventory on my P/L statements.
We keep 1 extra set for everything. Filters for small kubota engines I keep a few on hand as I repair them for hire. Some how we end up with 8 engine oil filters for our backhoe. How I have no clue
I still keep a fair number on hand because during COVID often could not get any at all. Maybe 2-6 filters depending on how fast a particular part number sells. But I am letting them dwindle down nowadays. Having just done inventory I know I am stuck with a few that hardly ever sell any more because customers and markets have changed. Still cannot bear to throw some away because I "might" use it one day. At least they are relatively small, easy to inventory and easy to see.
As a matter of interest, FYI, no filter manufacturer or equipment manufacturer will offer a guarantee any longer than 12 mths on ANY filter. The filter media degrades with age, hidden corrosion sets in, and the protective packaging provided by the filter manufacturer is flimsy, to say the least. I even find plenty of new filters just thrown into their packaging boxes with no protection whatsoever - no plastic wrapping, no plastic lid on the open end. The potential for filter contamination is extremely high in these cases - even "clean" warehouses are dusty, and transportation triples the contamination potential.
Don't know why everyone gets excited over old filters, how many mechanics/greasers/oil changers never clean the area of cooler housing where filters screw on. Nope just slam it up there and a little dirt falls in the filter mouth, no one will ever know.
I’ve got an idea.. Let’s do OUR PART and post your surplus filter #’s HERE and we’ll get started on “a bit” of organizing.!!
finished this tool holder for the lathe, I am thinking maybe I just need to hang more stuff on the walls, some way that I can see it, instead of digging thru drawers