Whoever said you cannot teach an old dog new tricks never met our Employee of the Month for July, Tuan (Tim) Nguyen.

It is ironic that Tim started with JP Graphics back in July of 2007 – 17 years ago, and so this write up is a testimonial to how an employee can grow with the company, and not just be an employee but FAMILY.

Tim started with JP Graphics to run the 2 Color – 40” Perfector and then slowly has grown into running the 6-color Heidelberg and really is the head pressman on all 3 of our large presses here.

I had to learn over the years that although you might have experience working in the print field, that does not always translate into training and fundamentals of print.  What are the standards in the print industry?  What does it take to be a True Craftsman?  So once asking for a new press to get his quality better, I challenged Tim to know that these 2 Heidelberg Presses are the last ones built that have the console and upgrades yet allow a pressman to make moves on the presses, that the new machines do not allow.

I asked our repair guys to help in the training of the fundamentals of the press – max sheet size, max image area, thinnest sheet to thickest stocks.  Knowing that this B2 size press is the same sheet size as our HP12000, our ability to even print digitally and then put an offline Aqueous Coating (AQ), has helped tremendously on turn times and quality.  So, a special thank you to John Harms for taking the time to keep this press at tip-top functioning, and teaching Tim the tricks and fundamentals of the press.

So, a lot of lessons were learned from Covid, and as we moved into more Medical/Pharma print and packaging. Tim has been instrumental at proving the messaging that JP Graphics is about high-quality, consistent print and color, and a goal of 100% Quality shipped products ISO9001 standards.

Tim has embraced the fact that JP does NOT mix inks – PMS colors are true to the pantone matching system.  Tim has embraced process-less plates, and the saving and careful storage of plates for future reprints.  Tim has embraced the quality standard of 1 Quality control (QC) sheet per 100 and that on all medical/pharma work, there must be a feeder.  Tim has embraced marking his proof and dating his press sheets after each run and showing that whether you print today, will be the same match as 2 years ago.  Tim has embraced the maintenance binder showing the rotation and replacement of rollers.  MOST importantly, Tim has embraced that HE is responsible for every job coming off that press, there are no excuses that prepress, or bindery could be at fault.  His job is to ensure that what is coming from the press is EXACTLY to the job ticket and matches the proof.

Tim has also embraced the fact, that for him to be able to take a day off, he must train others, and so he has begun to see how cross training for offline AQ was easy, but teaching the fundamentals of print, marking your grippers and guides, so that bindery can check the quality at the cutters takes skill.  So, these embraces, are what was clearly noted by the managers:

• “Tim has truly improved.  There are fewer mistakes. He tries to finish all his work. and works well with bindery, helping do the jobs that will get more production out every day.  And now there is less waste, or time spent on QCing.” – Norbi
• “Tim does so much and his other work helping non-profits, has benefited all our employees, as he will bring in food pantry staples.” – Claudia
• “Tim’s numbers don’t lie. He has become MR. PMS, Consistent Color, and the training of Jonathan and Erick allows for that time off he needs for family. Especially taking his son off to college this week.” – Joe
• “Tim is a GOOD guy and is really embracing my focus on medical/pharma print and packaging. THAT QUALITY MUST BE OUR PRIMARY FOCUS to achieve this.  It’s hard to change after 17 years, but by the time he gets to 20 years, Craftsman will be part of his name, and when he gets a new press, he won’t want to let his machine go.  Tim is also just a fun guy, keeping morale high and his laughter and fun.  He shows it’s not work when you love what you do. The holiday parties are a blast because Tim is just Tim!” – Joan

Thank you, Tim, for 17 years of dedication and being a cherished part of the JP Graphics family!