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Sign Construction Standards


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We have a lot of new employees...in sales, design, estimating, and production drawings. Is anyone aware of written sign construction "standards"? Like when you need to switch from flat faces to pan, pan to flex, what to consider for sign depth, etc? This training by fire is killing us. Is there anything out there to help?

Thanks for whatever input you can give.

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I've worked at a few shops that had written guidelines for this very purpose. As they say, things can look good on paper...

It sounds like you hired outside of the industry with little to no sign experience. Maybe on purpose or possibly because there was no applicants with experience. Either way, you've got your work cut out for you.

Everyone is different, but it's safe to assume it takes most people at least a year to learn enough of the basics to do a good job.

A written reference is a good start, but a group tour of jobs you've completed and other sign types throughout your immediate area would probably the quickest way to install the proper ideas in your team's heads.

This may seem expensive to lose a whole day touring signs and you may even get some finger pointing from some passerby, but consider it an investment.

It shouldn't be haphazardly planned, but structured by sign type and potential options/pitfalls of specific scope.

The above should greatly help you on board your Sales and Design staff.

I don't know what to say about your Estimator.... In my opinion, this role should always be filled by an experienced sign pro who already knows materials, fabrication, installation, and the all important understanding of how other trades work. I've always believed your estimator and production artist/engineer should be the go to people for your sales team when it comes to feasibility.

You need to have someone that is the "Master" that others can be mentored by.

Just my two cents. I'm sure there are plenty of companies who got past your challenges using different methods. It's always expensive to train staff, but it's more expensive not to.

HTH.

Edited by Joseph Licari
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Thanks for your input. I agree completely about the estimator...it was definitely a "got no choice" decision.

I see a lot of people have viewed my post but only one response? Are you all just silently wishing us luck???

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Are you all just silently wishing us luck???

Ha! That's kind of funny. I think most that would comment are in Vegas playing...er um, "working" at the ISA sign show.

You'll probably get some more replies on Monday.

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There are many books and a lot of information on the web about sign construction.

I don't think their is one book that covers all the answers about sign construction techniques.

If you don't have an experienced designer/fabricator on board you have to do your own research,research and more research.

I think many may have not replied because it's is funny question.

It's like saying"I want to be a brain surgeon"Can someone tell if there is a book that shows me how.

If you have a particular question I am sure there are many folks here that will help you out.

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  • !llumenati

I chuckle. All the time I was in Chicago sending resumes out I was either over qualified, or the company was hiring young and cheap. Last company I was at quoted out a bunch of collision repair. Quoted signs for formed faces because of cabinet depth, got vetoed down for flat faces. Customer hated seeing the lamps. Quoted letters on a raceway for wall that had had neon channel letters on corrugated metal. Needed to do something and paint to o cover all the holes. Got shot down because of the expense. Customer was pissed about about all the visible holes that would leak. Go figure.

Soon after I was let go and a landscaper was hired to do the purchasing and estimating. Cheaper and dumber.

So I chuckle at sign companies having that problem. Nothing that 30 years experience couldn't solve.

Actually in the trade that is a big problem, that is getting bigger. From the P M's, to the so called fabricators to the installers, to the so called owners and managers.

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  • !llumenati

Experience is the biggest Key to a great team. Best suggestion is to take your employees for a "field trip" on the weekend on their time. If they want the position they will donate their time. Take them to different locations let them show and tell about the location, the build out, the design. You will then see what they know and what they don't and maybe you have an employee that should be a estimator not a designer, maybe you will see that you have one that is clueless and not worth investing time in.

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GOOD things happen for a reason......

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  • Board Patron

Sounds like you have your hands full. There is no magic potion for this one. Not enough space here to be of any help really. It's hard and getting harder to find anybody to hire that knows anything at all about the sign industry (Gary is right, those that do know it the best, sign companies don't want to hire because they think they are too expensive, but they end up losing money hiring the newbie). And those that tell you they do, really don't. But like the others have said, you have to have at least one person that can kind of guide the ship. Without at least one person like that, you are going to spend most of your days correcting/fixing what they have messed up (and trying to keep your customers happy on top of that). I wish I had that one thing I could tell you that could fix the problem. But it sounds like it's larger than that. If you need anything specific, all of us are more than happy to answer questions. That's what we are on here for. To share ideas and be of help. Good luck!!

Edited by Sign Lady
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Thanks for all the comments. We started out small, with a few employees and verbal communication was the norm. We interacted enough that we could easily see what someone didn't know and could help them out, again, verbally. We're over 50 employees now, with three locations, and still growing. A lot of that growth came very quickly and veteran employees moved up the ranks, learning new positions and not having the time to teach properly. There's also the question of whether people who perform a job well are good teachers. We certainly have our sign standards but I was looking for something in writing, if that wheel had already been invented. Seems it has not, so we'll work on one. I've been in the business over 30 years myself and I appreciate that it does take a long time to get familiar with the ins and outs of building custom signs. Evidently my original question led people to believe we don't know what we're doing. I was just hoping to find something that would help the onboarding process and get people up to speed faster. Thanks, again.

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