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Does your company boast about quality to its customers? Does it go on and on about high quality, low cost and on-time delivery?

Or do you want to tell your companys sales and marketing people to get real?

Because, you know deep in your heart that the companys motto should be, "Its not done right until its done twice." Sure, product goes out the door, but every shipment seems to be a Herculean feat instead of a common, everyday occurrence.

If your sales and marketing forces knew the honest-to-goodness truth, theyd know that the amount of rework going on in the plant makes for some interesting workflow gyrations. It can look more like a concession stand at halftime than a top-notch, quality-oriented operation. All that extra activity equals cost, and the more times you touch something, well, the more chances you have to break it. Its energy that equals unneeded cost that adds no value for your customer.

Lets take this one step further: If your manufacturing process resembles a concession stand at halftime, then your maintenance activities may easily be compared to the boy trying to hold back the water by putting his finger in the dike.

Trouble is, since there are a lot more people wanting to get something from the concession stand, theres a lot more attention given to that activity. Everyone stands in awe at productions ability to keep cranking out product while the little boy just gets more overwhelmed and quietly loses his battle as the dike fails and floods the whole place.

Then look out! The people getting served at the concession stand (a.k.a. production) get nothing, and everyone wonders why the dam broke. Darn those maintenance people! Dont they know how important it is for them to do their job? Now look at the mess were in!

So pardon me for mixing my metaphors, but the point I am making is that plants that are committed to quality are committed to taking the rework, the hills and valleys and the surprises out of production. They back up their production activities with timely, sensible maintenance activities that dont require a firehouse of firefighters to keep the place running.

The only way you can help your company shift gears is to get out and talk with your peers. Share your frustrations and most important, share your solutions. Youll be surprised to find that others face the same dilemmas as you do, and they may have some darned good ideas to address them.

So as you read this issue, think of it as a visit with your peers. Consider how the companies, applications, safety and product articles can help you get on top of the "Its not done right until its done twice" philosophy of manufacturing. I think youll find these articles can help you wring out costs and improve productivity.

This article appeared in the February/March 1998 issue of MRO Today magazine. Copyright, 1998.

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