Are you only doing prepress at work? Or...?

Started by Made in Taiwan, September 18, 2014, 02:41:57 AM

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zacgil

Subaru's are the best.  I've got a 200,000+ miles 1996 outback that is one helluva lady.  And the old lady just got a new Impreza.  Gotta have the AWD and they're a lot of fun to drive.

Also, how did you come upon the job in Taiwan?  Is there a board for overseas prepress jobs?  My family just moved to Thailand, and would love to get over there myself one day.

To make sure my post doesn't derail the topic...I've just been asked to make slideshows/videos for our "Welcome" display TV.  And just loaded 20 something pallets onto a truck headed down to Tracy, CA.
I am a punky, sophisticated lesbian (or something similar).

DigiCorn

Quote from: zacgil on September 22, 2014, 12:41:07 PMSubaru's are the best.  I've got a 200,000+ miles 1996 outback that is one helluva lady.  And the old lady just got a new Impreza.  Gotta have the AWD and they're a lot of fun to drive.

Also, how did you come upon the job in Taiwan?  Is there a board for overseas prepress jobs?  My family just moved to Thailand, and would love to get over there myself one day.

To make sure my post doesn't derail the topic...I've just been asked to make slideshows/videos for our "Welcome" display TV.  And just loaded 20 something pallets onto a truck headed down to Tracy, CA.
:offtopic:  Just kidding; we all threadjack
Tracy, CA isn't that far from here. Stockton is about 40 minutes and it's in the neighborhood.

The new forum quoting is different.
"There's been a lot of research recently on how hard it is to dislodge an impression once it's been implanted in someone's mind. (This is why political attack ads don't have to be true to be effective. The other side can point out their inaccuracies, but the voter's mind privileges the memory of the original accusation, which was juicier than any counterargument ever could be.)"
― Johnny Carson

"Selling my soul would be a lot easier if I could just find it."
– Nikki Sixx

"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut."
― Ernest Hemingway

Farabomb

It's past one page, it's jackbait.

I have a LONG history with Subaru. We are very involved with the scene here, know quite a few people in SoA headquarters.

If you need parts just click on the link in my sig. We will dropship to you.
Speed doesn't kill, rapidly becoming stationary is the problem

I'd rather have stories told than be telling stories of what I could have done.

Quote from: Ear on April 06, 2016, 11:54:16 AM
Quote from: Farabomb on April 06, 2016, 11:39:41 AMIt's more like grip, grip, grip, noise, then spin and 2 feet in and feel shame.
I once knew a plus-sized girl and this pretty much describes teh secks. :rotf:
They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
         —Benjamin Franklin

My other job

zacgil

Awesome, I plan on keeping my old Subaru for as long as she'll have me.  So I'll definitely keep that in mind next time she wants a break. 

So Digi, are you close to Wesco Graphics?
I am a punky, sophisticated lesbian (or something similar).

Made in Taiwan

Quote from: Farabomb on September 22, 2014, 07:35:35 AMDD is shorthand for daily driver. I took a modified WRX motor and driveline and swapped it in. Went from a 160 hp grandma car to a 300+ transmission destroyer. My side job is working on subarus and racing them. Sadly that last time that car was out we spun out the motor so it now has to be rebuilt.

Now the coffee thing makes sense. I only do a cup of coffee a day normally. No need to be too amped up here as most of the time it's hurry up and wait.

That's pretty cool... But don't change the outside of that car, coz in that case, people will feel surprised that Granny's car can be all that fast. Do you have spare parts for that motor? Although it's some nasty extra work, but on the other hand, you can check the motor for other damages inside, this might keep you from repairing those things afterwards. I tend to say that a well rebuilt motor is as good as a new one.

The link in your signature doesn't work for me, by the way. Shows me "Error 403 - Forbidden" only.

Quote from: zacgil on September 22, 2014, 12:41:07 PMSubaru's are the best.  I've got a 200,000+ miles 1996 outback that is one helluva lady.  And the old lady just got a new Impreza.  Gotta have the AWD and they're a lot of fun to drive.

Also, how did you come upon the job in Taiwan?  Is there a board for overseas prepress jobs?  My family just moved to Thailand, and would love to get over there myself one day.

To make sure my post doesn't derail the topic...I've just been asked to make slideshows/videos for our "Welcome" display TV.  And just loaded 20 something pallets onto a truck headed down to Tracy, CA.

I don't know if there's any board for overseas prepress jobs, actually I don't think so. Here in Taiwan we have some websites for job search, don't know how about Thailand.

Some years ago, I met my girlfriend on the internet. After we have been contacting by e-mail and Skype for a long while (during that time we could visit each other only once in a while, so most of the time we used the internet to communicate), I got fed up of this "far distance relationship" and decided to make the move to Taiwan. After arriving here, I attended some Chinese language classes first since here is very little English spoken and I didn't have a work permit either. Later we got married and I received an unlimited work permit, which means, that I am not limited to any job or company, unlike most expats. That's the short version of my story. Actually it's longer but who wants to know.

Thailand has a huge printing industry, some websites are stating, that Thailand is the printing country No. 1 in Asia. Depends largely on your work experience what kinda visa you'll get, and if you might be able to find a prepress job. Though my advice is to always learn the language first. It'll help a lot. Oh ya, and say bye bye to your high salary, Asian salaries for "normal" jobs are pretty low and in Thailand you might end up with as low as 250-500 US$/month. Although the living costs are low here, you will still not be able to save money.

Zacgil, just in case if you are more interested in working abroad instead of working with prepress: Most of the Asian countries welcome native English speakers to teach English. Work permits are easy to get, all you need is a university or college degree and a school that is willing to hire you. Salaries might vary, but here in Taiwan foreign English teachers make around 2,000-3,000+US$/month plus additional benefits. Even if you decide to work part-time only, you'll still earn more than enough money to survive.

If there are any questions about working abroad, just PM me, I'll share my experiences.
Working in Prepress is very difficult. God chose only the best to do this job.

Farabomb

Link works for me. Just google AZPinstalls and it should come up.

We rebuild motors in house for our own cars. Take it out, tear it down and see what needs to be replaced and what should be upgraded so it doesn't happen again. My DD now is a 2000 RS. Just because it has a wing, everyone wants to race. The other car was a 4door basic model and nobody looked at it twice. If you did you would notice the roll hoop in the car making the back seats useless. It was disturbingly fast and had a nice appetite for gearboxes. I went through 4 of them before I stopped being cheap and put in a nice, expensive trans.

On one occasion I managed to get out of prepress I worked at a brake company. Owner was Taiwanese and would only get his printing done in Taiwan. The quality was shit but you could never convince him otherwise. Loud american that voices his opinion didn't last long there.
Speed doesn't kill, rapidly becoming stationary is the problem

I'd rather have stories told than be telling stories of what I could have done.

Quote from: Ear on April 06, 2016, 11:54:16 AM
Quote from: Farabomb on April 06, 2016, 11:39:41 AMIt's more like grip, grip, grip, noise, then spin and 2 feet in and feel shame.
I once knew a plus-sized girl and this pretty much describes teh secks. :rotf:
They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
         —Benjamin Franklin

My other job

PrepressCrapFixer

Quote from: andyfest on September 18, 2014, 01:35:48 PMWe are a separate operation from the production plant where the presses, diecutters and gluers are located, and we are a long way from any large urban centres, so we have to be pretty self-sufficient here. Besides prepress work and proofing, we do everything else required from our own computer maintenance and office cleaning, to unloading plates and chemistry from the delivery truck.
Sounds like my place.  All of the corporate offices are in one place along with pre-press, then we have an offset facility and a digital facility.  We tried having a production facility here where I do the pre-press but we ended up taking work away from the already established production facility, so they closed that earlier this year. 
I am a premedia technician for a family owned company (over 75 years in business).  Since nobody but me and one other guy have a clue about how to do prepress, we are looked to as the experts.  I am primarily responsible for all things that pertain to prepress, the step between customer care and press.  I do sometimes find myself outside the department, but less and less since they emptied the place of any production equipment.  I do have to make some plates on occasion as we are trying to use up the remaining plates from before they shut everything down.  Been with the place 20 years in October, but am at a point in my career that I may have to run like hell from this place because things haven't been in the black for some time now.  This latest down sizing is the third since I have been here.  The younger of the family are all about going digital, but the older generation is jaded towards putting any REAL capital towards it because of a previous multi-million dollar investment that went sour.  Since the economy SUCKS so bad now, most of the time we are just taking work in order to have the crews have something to do.  Barely any profit is there, so even a small mistake swallows up the profit quick.  I find myself being a fireman half the time, putting out fires and talking people off the ledge.
macOSX 12.7 Monterey • Prinergy 10 • Adobe Creative Cloud 2022 • Q800 Trendsetter w/ MCU • Epson Sure Color P7000

born2print

How will I laugh tomorrow...
when I can't even smile today?

PrepressCrapFixer

Hey Born, glad to see your still doing what you were "born" to do ;)   I still really like what I do, but am finding that it alone isn't paying the bills.  In the process of picking up a 3rd shift stocking job to supplement the income.  It has been and continues to be a daily struggle to make ends meet and with a wife and 2 daughters it isn't gonna get any better. 
macOSX 12.7 Monterey • Prinergy 10 • Adobe Creative Cloud 2022 • Q800 Trendsetter w/ MCU • Epson Sure Color P7000

Ear

You are correct, PCF... wife and daughters do not become less expensive with time.
"... profile says he's a seven-foot tall ex-basketball pro, Hindu guru drag queen alien." ~Jet Black

DigiCorn

Quote from: zacgil on September 22, 2014, 04:06:44 PMAwesome, I plan on keeping my old Subaru for as long as she'll have me.  So I'll definitely keep that in mind next time she wants a break. 

So Digi, are you close to Wesco Graphics?
Nope. Though within 5 miles, there's Graphic Center (closed for good), Fruitridge Printing, Dome Printing, Fong & Fong, CSUS Reprographics, Cornerstone Copy and a few other small print shops. I guess I work in the Print District.
"There's been a lot of research recently on how hard it is to dislodge an impression once it's been implanted in someone's mind. (This is why political attack ads don't have to be true to be effective. The other side can point out their inaccuracies, but the voter's mind privileges the memory of the original accusation, which was juicier than any counterargument ever could be.)"
― Johnny Carson

"Selling my soul would be a lot easier if I could just find it."
– Nikki Sixx

"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut."
― Ernest Hemingway

born2print

I have heard of Fong and Fong, but not sure why  :cheesy:
How will I laugh tomorrow...
when I can't even smile today?

Made in Taiwan

Quote from: PrepressCrapFixer on September 23, 2014, 10:03:49 AM
Quote from: andyfest on September 18, 2014, 01:35:48 PMWe are a separate operation from the production plant where the presses, diecutters and gluers are located, and we are a long way from any large urban centres, so we have to be pretty self-sufficient here. Besides prepress work and proofing, we do everything else required from our own computer maintenance and office cleaning, to unloading plates and chemistry from the delivery truck.
Sounds like my place.  All of the corporate offices are in one place along with pre-press, then we have an offset facility and a digital facility.  We tried having a production facility here where I do the pre-press but we ended up taking work away from the already established production facility, so they closed that earlier this year. 
I am a premedia technician for a family owned company (over 75 years in business).  Since nobody but me and one other guy have a clue about how to do prepress, we are looked to as the experts.  I am primarily responsible for all things that pertain to prepress, the step between customer care and press.  I do sometimes find myself outside the department, but less and less since they emptied the place of any production equipment.  I do have to make some plates on occasion as we are trying to use up the remaining plates from before they shut everything down.  Been with the place 20 years in October, but am at a point in my career that I may have to run like hell from this place because things haven't been in the black for some time now.  This latest down sizing is the third since I have been here.  The younger of the family are all about going digital, but the older generation is jaded towards putting any REAL capital towards it because of a previous multi-million dollar investment that went sour.  Since the economy SUCKS so bad now, most of the time we are just taking work in order to have the crews have something to do.  Barely any profit is there, so even a small mistake swallows up the profit quick.  I find myself being a fireman half the time, putting out fires and talking people off the ledge.

Sad to hear about this. 20 years in one company - that is quite a number.
These few years a lot of printing companies got in financial trouble, some found a way out of it by specializing on something or going digital, others just didn't make it. Although going digital doesn't necessarily mean you'll make more profit, it really depends on your area and on your clients' demand. And most important, if your boss burned his fingers on a large investment before, he'll be thinking twice before doing this again - but actually... don't know about your current printing presses, but for the price of a used offset press you can buy a whole bunch of KM C7000 (for example) or an Indigo, so there would not be too much risk.

Are you gonna stick with them to the end? Coz maybe things will change in a good way and you might regret to have left the company earlier. Just my two cents...

Quote from: Farabomb on September 23, 2014, 08:27:52 AMLink works for me. Just google AZPinstalls and it should come up.

We rebuild motors in house for our own cars. Take it out, tear it down and see what needs to be replaced and what should be upgraded so it doesn't happen again. My DD now is a 2000 RS. Just because it has a wing, everyone wants to race. The other car was a 4door basic model and nobody looked at it twice. If you did you would notice the roll hoop in the car making the back seats useless. It was disturbingly fast and had a nice appetite for gearboxes. I went through 4 of them before I stopped being cheap and put in a nice, expensive trans.

On one occasion I managed to get out of prepress I worked at a brake company. Owner was Taiwanese and would only get his printing done in Taiwan. The quality was shit but you could never convince him otherwise. Loud american that voices his opinion didn't last long there.

How did you get 4 transmissions junked? Did you replace only the motor but keep the gearbox as is?
Tried to visit your website via Google, both Chrome and IE keep throwing this 403-error at me. Taiwan seems to be banned by Hostgator...

Though some companies to a decent job in printing, the majority of companies prints like crap, but cheap (see my 5%-spot color thread - the final result was, by the way, that they got everything printed, but it looks like the Magenta plate was shifted to the side coz all elements containing M had a small M "drop shadow").
The major reason for the crappy quality might be that lots of companies treat their employees like shit, so that's what the employees produce. Most of the staff in those companies only work there until they find a new job in a better company or until they have saved enough money to open their own small business, like selling clothes or food. Because of this, there is not much work experience around here. People like PrepressCrapFixer, who works 20 years with the same company, are the small minority, maybe 1 in 10,000. Another thing is, that people don't even try to get better, because they know already, that they want do this job for very limited time only and not treat is as a career.
Working in Prepress is very difficult. God chose only the best to do this job.

Joe

Quote from: Made in Taiwan on September 23, 2014, 09:29:23 PM
Quote from: PrepressCrapFixer on September 23, 2014, 10:03:49 AM
Quote from: andyfest on September 18, 2014, 01:35:48 PMWe are a separate operation from the production plant where the presses, diecutters and gluers are located, and we are a long way from any large urban centres, so we have to be pretty self-sufficient here. Besides prepress work and proofing, we do everything else required from our own computer maintenance and office cleaning, to unloading plates and chemistry from the delivery truck.
Sounds like my place.  All of the corporate offices are in one place along with pre-press, then we have an offset facility and a digital facility.  We tried having a production facility here where I do the pre-press but we ended up taking work away from the already established production facility, so they closed that earlier this year. 
I am a premedia technician for a family owned company (over 75 years in business).  Since nobody but me and one other guy have a clue about how to do prepress, we are looked to as the experts.  I am primarily responsible for all things that pertain to prepress, the step between customer care and press.  I do sometimes find myself outside the department, but less and less since they emptied the place of any production equipment.  I do have to make some plates on occasion as we are trying to use up the remaining plates from before they shut everything down.  Been with the place 20 years in October, but am at a point in my career that I may have to run like hell from this place because things haven't been in the black for some time now.  This latest down sizing is the third since I have been here.  The younger of the family are all about going digital, but the older generation is jaded towards putting any REAL capital towards it because of a previous multi-million dollar investment that went sour.  Since the economy SUCKS so bad now, most of the time we are just taking work in order to have the crews have something to do.  Barely any profit is there, so even a small mistake swallows up the profit quick.  I find myself being a fireman half the time, putting out fires and talking people off the ledge.

Sad to hear about this. 20 years in one company - that is quite a number.
These few years a lot of printing companies got in financial trouble, some found a way out of it by specializing on something or going digital, others just didn't make it. Although going digital doesn't necessarily mean you'll make more profit, it really depends on your area and on your clients' demand. And most important, if your boss burned his fingers on a large investment before, he'll be thinking twice before doing this again - but actually... don't know about your current printing presses, but for the price of a used offset press you can buy a whole bunch of KM C7000 (for example) or an Indigo, so there would not be too much risk.

Are you gonna stick with them to the end? Coz maybe things will change in a good way and you might regret to have left the company earlier. Just my two cents...

Quote from: Farabomb on September 23, 2014, 08:27:52 AMLink works for me. Just google AZPinstalls and it should come up.

We rebuild motors in house for our own cars. Take it out, tear it down and see what needs to be replaced and what should be upgraded so it doesn't happen again. My DD now is a 2000 RS. Just because it has a wing, everyone wants to race. The other car was a 4door basic model and nobody looked at it twice. If you did you would notice the roll hoop in the car making the back seats useless. It was disturbingly fast and had a nice appetite for gearboxes. I went through 4 of them before I stopped being cheap and put in a nice, expensive trans.

On one occasion I managed to get out of prepress I worked at a brake company. Owner was Taiwanese and would only get his printing done in Taiwan. The quality was shit but you could never convince him otherwise. Loud american that voices his opinion didn't last long there.

How did you get 4 transmissions junked? Did you replace only the motor but keep the gearbox as is?
Tried to visit your website via Google, both Chrome and IE keep throwing this 403-error at me. Taiwan seems to be banned by Hostgator...

Though some companies to a decent job in printing, the majority of companies prints like crap, but cheap (see my 5%-spot color thread - the final result was, by the way, that they got everything printed, but it looks like the Magenta plate was shifted to the side coz all elements containing M had a small M "drop shadow").
The major reason for the crappy quality might be that lots of companies treat their employees like shit, so that's what the employees produce. Most of the staff in those companies only work there until they find a new job in a better company or until they have saved enough money to open their own small business, like selling clothes or food. Because of this, there is not much work experience around here. People like PrepressCrapFixer, who works 20 years with the same company, are the small minority, maybe 1 in 10,000. Another thing is, that people don't even try to get better, because they know already, that they want do this job for very limited time only and not treat is as a career.
If it were you wouldn't be seeing this forum as it is also on Hostgator.
Mac OS Sonoma 14.2.1 (c) | (retired)

The seven ages of man: spills, drills, thrills, bills, ills, pills and wills.

Made in Taiwan

Weird... Maybe they make a difference between "normal" websites and forums? Really no clue. Also tried our oldest computer with Firefox, no chance.
Working in Prepress is very difficult. God chose only the best to do this job.