Ship Shape Shop
A Bench Jeweler’s Guide to Shop Organization
Little thought is given to the floor plan of the shop in the average jewelry store. This lack of planning can cause decreased productivity and reduce profits.
The time spent in planning, organizing and laying out an efficient shop will be multiplied many times over in time saved. There are few hard and fast rules for setting up the physical dimensions of a workshop. However, several general guidelines are helpful in making your shop more practical, convenient, and comfortable to use. The perfect workshop that would satisfy the needs of every jeweler does not exist. Innovating, adapting, and improvising are key words in deciding where and how to set up your workshop. The goal is to have a workshop that accommodates your needs as efficiently and safely as possible.
Workflow
When architects and home designers design the layout of a kitchen in a new home they work around a work triangle. This triangle consists of the sink, refrigerator, and stove. When you prepare a meal you go these three items more than anything else. So, they keep these three items close together and the walk ways un-obstructed. Then they fill in the rest of the appliances and cabinets around this triangle.
In the same manner we have a similar work triangle in the jewelry shop. That triangle consist of the workbench, polishing machine, and, sink.
To design a floor plan providing maximum productivity, one must first understand how work moves through the shop. Visualizing work as it flows through your shop can help you decide where to position benches and equipment. 
Jewelry for repair comes into the shop at the desk area. There it is processed and the days work is moved to the bench area. Some of the jewelry is moved to the sink area for cleaning, and then back to the bench area. Work is accomplished at the bench with some of the task performed at the forming bench. When all work is complete, the jewelry is moved to the polishing area for buffing and polishing. The jewelry is then moved to the sink area for cleaning and plating, and finally back to the desk area for pricing and booking out of the shop.
In the above chart, you can see there are three main areas of concern, regarding work movement through the shop.
1. Movement from and back to the desk
2. Movement between the workbench, polishing, and sink.
3. Movement between the workbench and forming bench
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Shop Organization continued