Bob Williamson, Contributing Editor

What are we doing to train them to maintain the highest levels of equipment performance and reliability? What are we doing to promote pride in workmanship? The situation in many plants is already dire…and getting worse. You can see, hear and sense it everywhere, especially out on the plant floor.

Who's got time for training
"I learned this job years ago from one of the best. I was under his wing for nearly eight months learning all the aspects of the precision work on this one type of machinery. In the 35 years I have worked here, I have never seen such a lack of training of our new guys. They get a few days training at best. Why, we even have some of the new employees teaching the newer employees how to work on this equipment. Pretty scary if you ask me! Most of them have never even seen the manual that came with these machines, the one that I learned from years ago. The only copy we have now is locked up in the maintenance office. Doesn't anyone in top management care anymore?"

The skilled mechanic quoted above was truly concerned. We had just discovered that another mechanic at one point cranked down on one of the precision adjustments so far that it badly damaged the machine. The procedure in the equipment manual was not followed. Even though it was still running and making acceptable parts, the $10,000 precision cylinder had been scored beyond repair and there was no spare in stock.

We've always done it that way
In another plant, I noticed that four finethreaded machine adjustment bolts had been beaten severely with a hammer. They were so mushroomed that a wrench would no longer fit. ("That's why we have Channel Lock pliers.") Logically, and mechanically, any adjustment had to be made by turning the threaded adjusters. No other movement was possible. When asked, the mechanics all responded:

"Why do we hit the adjusters with a hammer? That's the way we were taught. I guess...(Read whole article)