Shop/Team Organization

[nms553]

I've looked for previous FSAE posts on this topic but the latest come from 04 and 05 with not much help. Therefore I am constructing a new topic about Shop & Team Organization.

Simply put, like many other teams, organization is a timely and tedious practice that rarely gets implemented effectively in volunteer organizations, especially among the hectic nature of FSAE. Anybody have any tips on how they keep their shop clean, tools put away, receipts getting files, and, ultimately to increase the work-output rate? Furthermore, any suggestions on how to properly document car design/analysis and testing procedures/results? And etc...
Just wanting to see what works for yall, thanks

Nick Schweissguth

[nms553]

I've looked for previous FSAE posts on this topic but the latest come from 04 and 05 with not much help. Therefore I am constructing a new topic about Shop & Team Organization.

Simply put, like many other teams, organization is a timely and tedious practice that rarely gets implemented effectively in volunteer organizations, especially among the hectic nature of FSAE. Anybody have any tips on how they keep their shop clean, tools put away, receipts getting files, and, ultimately to increase the work-output rate? Furthermore, any suggestions on how to properly document car design/analysis and testing procedures/results? And etc...
Just wanting to see what works for yall, thanks

Nick Schweissguth

[BrendonD]

Let your workspace get dirty and cluttered for about a week, you probably won't notice a productivity decline more than usual if you're asking this question. Then as a team, gut your space and sort all of the crap and organize it into piles/categories and leave about 50-100% on top of that for growth. That way you know what space you need for the stuff you actually have and will have, not what you think you have. It eliminates the "oh what should I do with these fittings cause there's no more space in this drawer" or "I'm gonna leave this empty space for receipts" (which never gets filled except with other crap cause there was nothing to indicate that receipts should go there in the first place) subset of problems associated with keeping your space organized.

Our office/welding room/autobay gets gutted/cleaned about once every 10 days or so, but it's not hard to find things since everything goes back to where it should have been. Example: the 4 end mills strewn about the table wind up in our makeshift tooling rack, the welding helmets go on the top shelf, etc...

Also, don't be afraid to throw sh!t out. Worthless things are worthless.

[Charlie]

Just be militant about cleanliness and order. It sucks to have to treat members like children, but I think you'll find a consistent message about cleanliness and 'calling out' those who don't meet the standards (either publicly or private, depending on how they might take it) will work.

But you also need to lead by example. When I was captain of our team I would always try to be the last person out of the shop and before I left, I swept up and put things away. People notice this and most will take you seriously if you 'walk the walk.' The cleaner the shop is, the more likely it stays that way. Once it starts getting neglected things go downhill in a hurry.

[Chris M]

Last year we made a lot of progress in the area of workshop cleanliness, in 2009 our lab was always a mess, and horrible to work in. After a years work we more than doubled our amount of usable workspace and made the lab a nicer place to work.

As Charlie says, leading by example is important, but you'll probably need to back this up by lots of shouting. Remember that a lot of members are very young and some seem to be used to having their mums cleaning up after them all the time.

The other best thing to do is to throw all the rubbish away. I think a lot of teams accumulate lots of junk because most people are too afraid to throw things away. A few good cleanouts created a lot of extra space in our lab.

Good luck, because nothing is better than working in a clean, organised lab (especially if you've spent a lot of time trying the alternative).

Chris

[exFSAE]

+1 to leading by example and hounding people. +10 to throwing worthless shit out.

On top of that, how about rewarding it?

"On [whenever day] every week, I'm going to be here for an hour cleaning the shop. For those of you who join me from [time interval], I'll be buying pizzas/grilling burgers and hotdogs/ordering Chinese/whatever."

It will cost you a few bucks (as if this stuff hasn't already dipped into your pocket), but it will get people there, working, and may even lead to some team building.

[nms553]

+1 on the "dipping into my pocket already"

and good point about the throwing junk out. I planned on doing that but apparently its a must.

how do you all keep your model file organized