COPs ORDER FORM
Small Steps for Painters—A Giant Leap for Painting
September of 2006
By Mario Guertin, President, PDCA Craftsmanship Forum
On September 15 and 16, 2006, the Craftsmanship Forum held its Fifth Annual Craftsmanship Conference in Chicago. The program was simple: finalize 8 new Craftsman Operating Procedure s (COPs) and devise a methodology for using COPs as a training tool within a paint company. Prior to the Conference, drafts had been developed by members of the Forum's COP Committee and critiqued via our web-based protocol. This procedure was perfected by the COP Committee (chaired by Rich O'Neil of Masterwork Painting) this year and has enabled the Forum to produce one COP a month, soon to be increased to two a month. As new COP Committees are formed, we expect the pace of producing the COPs to quicken further.
What are COPs? COP is the acronym for Craftsman Operating Procedures. The intent of a COP is to layout the steps necessary to complete a task in a craftsman way. It lists the tools, materials and equipment needed, safety concerns, appearance standards, as well as production rate. Each COP can be tailored to each company's own brand of craftsmanship and modified accordingly. COPs can then be used as a training vehicle within one's own company, thereby resulting in the standardization of the procedures to execute any given task in the painting realm. At the Craftsmanship Forum, we believe that COPs are the missing link in professionalizing the painting field. This is how the small steps that painters take to do their work represent the opportunity for a giant leap for all of painting. Are you interested to involve yourself with the COP development process and be part of this historic opportunity to contribute to your industry as well as greatly benefit your company? If you are, please read on.
If you want to lean more about COPs and the scope of this project, I invite you to go to the Forum's website at pdcacraftsmanshipforum.com and click on the 'COP' page. There, you will find an article on the power of having standard operating procedures in a company, a sample COP and a COP template. You will also find an article entitled 'A Call to all Craftsmen' which describes three different levels of possible involvement in the project: the Bronze, Silver and Gold levels. Another tangible benefit has been added: for every COP someone participates in by both critiquing a draft and contributing on the Conference call to review the edits and draft, someone will get one credit from Contractor College good towards Accreditation or Re-Accreditation for a real dollar savings.
Here is the Forum's Plan of Action leading to PACE in Dallas:
- Complete work on 20 COPs to Prep and Paint a Room in the Residential Setting.
- Develop a Standard Operating Procedure for using COPs as a training tool inside of your own company.
- This series of 20 COPs will be offered for sale at PACE. They will be sold as a series or singly. For those who purchase the series, the Training SOP will be included for free.
- At PACE, one of the events sponsored by the Craftsmanship Forum will be the Craftsman Corner on Tuesday morning. At this event the Forum will unveil the COP series and demonstrate its use as a training vehicle by training none other than PDCA's CEO, Dr. Ian Horen, on how to paint a door.
If you have a question or would like to discuss possible involvement in the project, please contact me on my cell at 847-612-5812.
COPs for Painting Operations? They set you free!
Co-written by Mario Guertin,
President of PDCA Craftsmanship Forum
and Tricia Huebner,
E-Myth Coach and Seminar Leader
If you are a Painting Contractor with at least a few employees, the concept described in this article may hold the key to bringing extraordinary value to your business. The issue facing most small businesses of any kind (even much larger ones) is that the business is run without any documented systems in place, which means that the business is totally dependent on you and a few people who run things for you. If you or they disappear, even for a short while, the business is thrown into chaos and can quickly perish. Sound familiar?
How can you break free from this business quagmire and bring extraordinary value to your business in the process? First of all, you must create a highly effective way of doing business and then, second, you write down the procedures and practices that ensure the delivery of that unique way of doing business. The documents generated are known as Standard Operating Procedures and become part of the Company SOP Manual. This approach ensures that your systems and way of doing business are not just in your people, but in the business itself. That creates value for your business. In other words, it makes your business valuable to a potential buyer!
In other words, creating a unique "way" to do business is how you build a "brand". Your brand of doing business is what distinguishes you from your competitors. By documenting that unique way in the form of SOPs, it helps you to deliver your promise to your customers each and every time. The consistent delivery of that experience is what creates customers for life, is what brings extraordinary value to your business! The "system" runs the business and your people operate the system. You purposely make your business system-dependent, not people dependent. The result is an owner who is more effective, relaxed and can enjoy life more fully. SOPs set you free!
There is more. What about the employees? Might this systematization create or result in a dehumanized experience for the employees? Not unless you make it so. In fact it is the opposite. If systems and procedures are well designed, people experience greater creativity, more productivity, less waste and more satisfaction. How can this be? The reason is simple: people are more relaxed when they know where the target is and how to hit it consistently. Everybody likes opportunity to be an instant expert and be "brilliant" every time. Might this be the biggest payoff of all: A workforce that is relaxed, confident, creative, innovative, engaged and inspired?
I believe so!
In all businesses, the "Operations" part of the business is at the heart of how you deliver that "unique experience" to your customers. Therefore, it is vital to do a great job at developing the Operational SOPs. In the painting business, we call those "Craftsmen Operrating Procedures" (COPs) and would cover topics like: Room setup, Surface Preparation for Gypsum Walls, Power Washing of Decks, Application of Elastomeric Coatings to Brick Surfaces, Site Cleanup etc.
In 2001, the PDCA Craftsmanship Forum was formed to promote the advancement of Craftsmanship across all the sectors of our Industry. Three aspects of its work include:
- The development of the Skill Standard for a "Master-Level" Painter and the related tests.
- The dissemination of Craftsmanship Tips and Tricks.
- The Development of COPs for painting.
As a tangible example, if you go to our web site at www.pdcamasterpainter.com, and click on "COPs", you will find a COP Template, as well as a Draft for an COP on Painting a 6-Panel Door with Waterborne Enamel. It is the Forum's goal to produce COPs for all aspects of Residential Painting and eventually for all aspects of the work performed by this sector of the industry. The COPs will be downloadable and customizable to the needs of every painting company. There will also be a liknage with the Pacer program and the Estimating guide, thereby closing the loop between estimating, prescription of procedural steps and instructing/training of the workforce.
If you are interested to participate in the development of COPs, I invite you to join the Craftsmanship Forum by downloading the Forum Membership Application and faxing it back to us or e-mailing it to us. Check off the COP (or SOP) box on the application and we will contact you immediately. If you have any questions, please call Mario Guertin at 847-612-5812. Please download the article (under the "Articles" page of the Forum's website) for more information regarding how you can participate in the COP development process.
Also, consider participating in the Forum's yearly Craftsmanship Conference in September 2006 (more info in the "Event" section of website).
COPs Template
COPs Painting 6-Panel Door with Waterborne Enamel
COP Test - Six Panel Door Painting Open Book Format
COP Test - Six Panel Door Paint Short Closed Book Format
COPs ORDER FORM
Call to all Craftsmen
By Tony Severino - Treasurer,
PDCA Craftsmanship Forum President,
Professional Painters
February 2006
The PDCA Craftsmanship Forum needs your help, knowledge, and some of your time.
We have embarked on a very noble and much needed crusade to rescue the painting industry from poor workmanship.
As open-shops, we tend to be small and under capitalized. One of the critical things we can't afford is a formal training program for our painters. If we band together and pool our collective knowledge, we can develop a training system that will benefit all of us at a minimal cost.
At the Craftsmanship Forum, we have begun enormous task of creating a complete set of Craftsmanship Operating Procedures for Residential Painting, or as we fondly refer to them as COPs , the 'Guardians of the Trade'. COPs are step by step instructions of how we want our painters to accomplish their daily work in the field. These COPs will break down the painting craft into its most basic tasks. Some examples of COPs are; Prepping a six panel door, Painting a six panel door, Prepping a window, Painting a window, Prepping a wall, and Painting a wall etc.
If you would like to see a completed COP, click here. Here you will find our COP Template, as well as a completed COP on Painting a 6-Panel Door with Waterborne Enamel. Feel free to use those tools in your company.
What we need now to complete this project are experienced painting contractors (and/or their star craftsmen) to join our COP development process. We have three levels of participation available at this time.
Bronze Level: Participate via e-mail only
This is the beginning level commitment. We will add you to our e-mail list. You will receive a new COP on the first day of each month. You then are required to submit suggestions and modifications to us by the 15th of each month. At the end of the month, if we have received input from you that month you will receive the final approved version of that month's COP. So by contributing, you will have the COPs as soon as they are created at no cost to you, and you will be able to immediately start using them in your company. You can stay at this level permanently, though we hope after becoming familiar with our process, you will progress to the next level of participation.
Silver Level: Participate via e-mail and monthly conference calls
The next level of involvement requires you to join us on our monthly conference calls. We are looking for a core group of 12 people to be the final evaluators of the COPs. The conference calls are where we discuss the suggestions and modifications we've received via e-mail. This is where we deliberate the final version of the COP. We expect you to participate in at least 10 of the 12 conference calls each year to be recognized at this level of commitment.
Gold Level: Participate via e-mail, monthly conference calls and author COPs
The final level of commitment and our Gold level of commitment is to participate in the first two levels, but also to commit to writing COPs and submit them to our committee for evaluation. In your first year of commitment, we expect you to create a minimum 2 COPs, and the second year we will a minimum of 4 COPs. However, keep in mind that as our stock of completed COPs grows, many items and tasks repeat from COP to COP and our job gets easier.
PDCA Endorsement and Active Support
It is important to point out that this Initiative has the total endorsement and support of National PDCA. Our National Association has recognized that, because of numerous market forces, Craftsmanship must move to the Center Stage in its efforts to professionalize the painting industry. PDCA understands that if the industry does not step in to define what painting is, it will be done for us (like by 'Big Box stores'). If the industry does not act now, we are at risk of becoming irrelevant as an Association; as painting contractors, we will all suffer from an outcome such as this.
As they are developed, these COPs will be available for purchase by contractors from all over. They will be downloadable and can be customized to the particular brand of craftsmanship of every contractor. They will be integrated to the PDCA's PACER Estimating System. COPs will also be available for purchase in segments.
Incentives and Recognition
There is a nice ring to all these words; isn't there. By the time you read these words, you may already have received an e-mail or letter from PDCA announcing an Incentive and Recognition Program designed to encourage and reward involvement in this Initiative and other PDCA initiatives as well.
I hope you recognize that involvement in this Initiative is a great opportunity for you to pass along your hard won knowledge and influence the methods painting craftsmen will use for years to come.
We know this may seem like an overwhelming task. However, this is a task that shall be accomplished, for the good of all!
Being involved in this task for four years now, we often find ourselves quoting an ancient Chinese proverb. It states that even 'a journey of 1000 miles still begins with the first few steps'. We have taken those first steps for you, and now we hope you can join us on our mission.
If you would like to help, you can contact us through our website or call our Craftsmanship Forum President, Mario Guertin at 847-612-5812 (cell).