Implementation plan

1. Time the work at one press

One hour with a stopwatch shows whether one person can keep up with two presses.

Action	A supervisor watches one press on a long job for one hour. For 30 cycles (one shot of the press each), time the trimming and packing, and the waiting. Split the work into trimming, checking and packing. Note whether the press beside it also runs a long job.
Owner	Shift supervisor
Purchases	Nothing to buy: one hour of a supervisor's time, about $45
Decision	Do trimming and packing take less than about a third of each cycle?
Fallback	If they take more than half, look at changing the gate on that mold instead.

One pair of presses shows the real pace before anything more is bought.

Action	Pick the two neighboring presses on the longest jobs. Fit a chute and a short belt at each, to one table between them. Set each counter to the number of parts in one box. One person trims and packs for both for a week, with the second person nearby on the first days.
Owner	Maintenance lead, with the shift supervisor
Purchases	Two chutes, two short belts and two counters, about $10,000 with fitting
Decision	Does one person keep up for a full week, with no more rejected parts than before?
Fallback	If the person falls behind, try a pair of presses whose parts need less trimming.

The saving is cash only when the freed person takes over work that overtime covers today.

Action	Name the work the freed person moves to, before more belts are bought. Track overtime hours per week before and after the first pair. Then fit the other presses on long jobs, one pair at a time.
Owner	Production manager
Purchases	About $5,000 for each press after the first two
Decision	Have overtime hours per week fallen by about the hours freed at the first pair?
Fallback	If overtime does not fall, buy no more belts until the freed person has other work.

Illustrative sample. The plant, the walk and the footage are synthetic. Figures from our analysis are estimates made with AI, not guarantees.