Sweating the small stuff

I for one was extremely happy to read your editorial comments in the September issue of PLANT ENGINEERING. Sweating the small stuff is certainly the only way to move toward operational and maintenance excellence. But by definition, paying attention to the small stuff requires paying attention to those that come into daily contact with the small stuff.

Until executive management take an elevator ride down to the plant floor and start spending more time with plant technicians, the small stuff will continue to be out of their sight. And unfortunately, the old saying "out of sight, out of mind" is as true in manufacturing as it is in other aspects of life. It's time for management to get more involved in the small stuff. If they don't, they may very well be out of a job in the very near future.

Do you think the owners of a company are going to sit around and watch as their company is unable to respond to competition? Eventually, the shareholders will realize that their management team has not been up to the task of producing products at a cost that will allow them to compete in the global market. At that point in time, the best we can hope for is that the owners will put another management team in place at the plant.

The worst that can happen is that the owners will simply close the plant and move it offshore. It's time for management to roll up their sleeves and get down to the nitty gritty. If they don't, their job, as well as the job of everyone in the plant, is at stake.

Mark Hill