What are some things a laser operator can do to increase efficiency?

With short laser jobs, I use the time to work on the same project, such as peel the plastic covering off of the plates to be lasered, tape already-lasered plates, apply lasered plaque plates to plaques, and unpackage or repackage plaques or product. 

For long jobs, I plan other work ahead of time. Each morning, I schedule out (or try) much of my work. If I plan long lasering time, I use the time to layout other jobs or work on graphics, cut metal material for a job, sharpen cutting blades, sweep or clean up, or mask sandcarving jobs I will work on later or the next day. Having an idea of how long the laser job will take helps me in making my plans.

   —Eagle’s Mark