Robert Taylor, SAPPI Fine Paper North America

An interview with Robert "Bob" Taylor of SAPPI Fine Paper North America…

We had an opportunity to catch up recently with Robert Taylor of SAPPI. He had authored a remarkably candid analysis of the state of reliability in manufacturing in the December 2003 issue of MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY and we thought it was about time for an update.

MT: Bob, three years ago (12/03) you published an article in MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY entitled ‘The Reliability Paradox' based on a presentation you made at that year's SMRP Conference. In your article you outlined 10 reasons why there is a gap between what we know and what we do, in terms of reliability at our manufacturing sites. It was quite an impassioned articulation of our resistance to change and a real call to arms for all reliability professionals.
RT: It has been my experience that we are failing to recognize or we are overlooking the potential competitive advantage offered by reliability—not only in improving the capacity of our assets, but also in operating them at a significantly lower cost. At our company, SAPPI Fine Paper North America, we have moved beyond this diagnosis phase and have identified actions to address the ‘Reliability Paradox.'

MT: Would you mind sharing those actions with the rest of us? One or two

of us might also be passionate about improving reliability.
RT: Of course, as I stated in the root cause analysis phase, leadership is key to making the necessary changes that are needed to guide an organization to improvement. I‘ve called these the ‘Five Basic Leadership Steps to Alter Our Manufacturing Culture and Solve the Reliability Paradox.'

Step #1 is "Be Humble – And Learn!" I quote the Greek-born, Roman philosopher, Epictetus, to help illustrate this key to success. "It is impossible for anyone to begin to learn that which he thinks he already knows." This may be particularly insightful here in North American manufacturing where we tend to believe we have all the answers to all of the problems.Humility, learning and a willingness to accept reality go hand in hand.

One well-documented and widely publicized case history involves a large NA metals manufacturer. The company was facing rising costs due to inflation combined with lower prices from global competitors. Shareholder value was eroding. The formula for success that the company had followed for years, Profit=Cost + Profit Margin, no longer applied. That was the reality they faced so they decided to learn. They conducted global benchmarking research focused upon industry maintenance and reliability practices, predictive maintenance technologies, information systems and reliability methodologies. From this research they developed an improvement plan and they acted. Today, that company has moved from a very reactive maintenance response to a much more proactive response. They have increased their...(Read whole article)