Tipping Point Ch. 05

"You don't mess around, do you," Mulliner chuckled.

"No time," I said with a smile. "Christmas is coming and your visitors are heading back to Europe. I've got to get as much out of them as I can before they go. Then, I'll work with your guys to get this unit up to speed. It's just a matter of going through the process step-by-step. I don't see anything that we can't solve if we can motivate your people properly. They need to take possession of this project, not stand back and wait for the Helmvac guys to do everything."

"Do you think you can do that?"

"I think we made a good start today by breaking them up into teams. Less confusion and better communication. I can help them with the technical problems, but they'll have to step up when it goes on line. I'll be looking for a couple of team leaders. Guys who want to make the system run and run well. I already have my eye on a couple of your people, so I'm more confident now that I was this morning."

Mulliner nodded. "Looks like I got some good advice when I was told to get you involved. When are you coming back?"

"With any luck, Friday morning. I've got an installation in Texas and a minor repair job in the same area. Are you running over the weekend?"

"No. We're on two shifts right now, but the installation crew from Helmvac will only work days."

"Okay. Leave it with me. If I can get your people to work a bit of overtime, can I have your permission to do so?"

"Yes, within reason. Saturdays and Sundays are very expensive."

"Understood. I'll keep your plant manager informed."

When I walked out of the plant that evening I was feeling pretty good. In my mind, I had a decent chance to get this machine performing, but the key was going to be to get the operators and maintenance guys onside. When I left, it was going to be up to them to keep it in good condition and running smoothly. That was the challenge.

I caught an early flight to Dallas and arrived at Autowash just before 11am. When I walked onto the floor with John, I was pleased to see the machine in place, bolted to the floor and the wiring well underway. Their people had saved me a lot of sitting around waiting for services to be attached. With any luck, we would have the machine set up and ready to trial tomorrow morning.

I took a roll of film and began setting up the feed and forming section. Luckily the unit had a number of adjustable forming collars and, with a bit of trial and error, we found a set that would do for the soap tabs. The big challenge would be to set the seal and cut-off for the very short little "bricks." I wouldn't be able to do that until the power was on and we had heat in the jaws. Just the same, it was going far quicker than I expected. Damn! That might cut into my income, I thought with a grin.

I think John must have seen me smiling, because he wandered over and clapped me on the back. "This is going pretty good, isn't it?"

"Very good. But, I've never seen this thing run, so there could be some surprises tomorrow when we start to make packages. My friend at Viking said they never ran it, so if it's been sitting around for some time, you don't know what to expect. The good news is I don't see any signs of rust or damage or wear. I'm just wondering if it ever ran. That would be a hell of a windfall for you."

John was shaking his head. "You realize that it was only seven working days ago that you told me about this thing, and now we're lookin' at startin' it up. How does a steak dinner sound to you as a thank you?"

"It sounds damn good, John. Let's do it."

By five thirty that afternoon, the wiring had been completed and the motors, servos, and the Allen-Bradley PLC had all been tested. Everything had checked out. Our good luck had continued. I was looking forward to a beer and a nice Texas sized steak, with John for company.

We only encountered one hiccup on Wednesday. Soap manufacturing is dusty, and it's impossible to keep airborne powder from collecting on the machine surfaces. We had to eliminate any conventional oil or grease lubrication and replace it with ones that were commonly used in dusty environments.

By three o'clock we had the machine up and running on John's existing web, and it was producing within ten percent of its rated capacity. Nobody looked happier than John, except for maybe the operators when they got to ramrod their new machine. John offered me another dinner, but I declined. I was going to head over to Fort Worth and get an early start at Shur-Pak Frozen Foods.

I didn't expect any major problems there. It was almost always the same thing. A cold plant with lots of moisture can play havoc with the electrical components, usually through corrosion. I knew what to expect and where to look just by the maintenance foreman's description.

I had a light meal in the hotel restaurant and flopped on my bed, supposedly to watch TV. I woke up shortly after midnight, used the bathroom, stripped, and fell back into bed. I was tired, but it was a good kind of tired. I was doing what I liked to do and I was doing it well. I didn't have any problem getting back to sleep and felt fully rested when I got up Thursday morning.

I was done just after lunch at Shur-Pak, and headed to the airport for an early afternoon flight to Charlotte. I wondered how many frequent flyer miles I had collected in the last month. I'd get a statement from the various airlines sometime in the future. I wanted to earn enough to get some upgrades, especially on Friday afternoons.

Late Thursday afternoon I was back at Winston Candy and I was pleasantly surprised at the progress that had been made. The new manuals hadn't arrived yet, but were due tomorrow. In the meantime, the teams had sorted out the infeed section and were now working with the Swiss guys on the package forming section just before the filler and vacuum section.

I liked what I saw. They were working together, and I think they began to see the progress they were making because of it. I didn't want to interrupt them, so I stood by and listened and watched as they went through the steps to each component of the line. As I stood there, Byron Mulliner walked up and stopped beside me.

"I like what I see, Mr. Copely. That looks a hell of a lot better than a week ago."

"Yeah, it does, doesn't it? I'm relieved. I wasn't at all sure I could make this happen."

"Well, you've eliminated the "us vs. them" mentality, that's for sure. My congratulations and my thanks. I was pretty worried I'd made a very big mistake signing that purchase order."

"It's a fine machine, but it isn't simple. It's a challenge for your people, but I think they're up to it, once they get a little help and some experience."

"Are you here tomorrow?"

"Yes, all day."

Nodded. "Come and see me before you go. I'd like to talk to you about something else."

I agreed and went back to observing the progress by the teams. I wondered what he had in mind, but I would worry about that tomorrow.

Friday dawned bright and cold in Charlotte. I got a quick breakfast, checked out of my hotel, and drove the short distance to the plant. I was on the floor just after the start of the shift and ahead of the Swiss crew. I asked one of the operators to start the line up and he looked at me like I was kidding. I wasn't.

"Go ahead. Run your checklist and start it up. You're going to have to do it when our friends from Switzerland are gone. We might as well "learn by doing."

The young man nodded, but looked very nervous, obviously not wanting to make a mistake. I had asked them to create a checklist for start up so that they wouldn't forget something. Not unlike what a pilot and co-pilot do before a flight. The two men I had thought might be good team leaders went through the list and by the time the Swiss crew finally showed up, the machine was running. I got some surprised, but smiling looks from the visitors. I gave the Winston men a "thumbs-up," and the teams split up to work on their part of the line.

Byron appeared by my side just before coffee break.

"Looks like you're still making progress, Mr. Copely. May I call you Stan?"

"Sure. Yeah, I had your people start up the line this morning before our European friends arrived. They looked pretty pleased with themselves. I think we're on the right road now."

"Great. Can you spare me some time now? I've got coffee in my office along with the usual sticky buns I shouldn't eat."

"Yes ... I'm sure I won't be missed for a few minutes."

I followed him upstairs and down a hallway to the end office. It was obviously a Vice President's office, with very nice dark wood furniture and some traditional paintings on the wall. He motioned me to a comfortable chair around a coffee table, and brought the coffee pot and mugs over with him.

"I've been thinking about something for some time now, Stan. We spend quite a lot of money on service calls by various equipment suppliers. Our three plants spent almost a quarter of a million dollars on everything from packaging machinery, palletizers, stretch wrappers, conveyors, ... and that doesn't include lost production.

"When I look at all three of our plants, the costs are pretty well equally distributed among them, so I'm fairly confident it isn't a matter of one place not being run as well as another. My maintenance people suggest they're doing everything they can to keep things running, but they don't have the know-how to do all the work themselves.

"My question to you is, can we put together a program to improve the maintenance skills and reduce our service contractor costs?"

I didn't answer him right away. It was a question I hadn't expected and hadn't given a lot of thought to. Just the same, I did have some opinions that I felt willing to share.

"I've always believed my customers could benefit from two things. First, a scheduled maintenance program, with or without outside contractors. And second, more hands-on training of the operators and maintenance people to make sure they can recognize what's happening with their machines. In other words, give them ownership of their equipment."

Mulliner nodded, but remained silent while absorbing what I was suggesting.

"That last thing," he said at length, "giving them ownership. That's what you're doing with the Helmvac, isn't it?"

"Yup. Sooner or later they have to have the confidence that they have power over the machine. Not just the maintenance guys, but the operators as well."

"You don't sound like any service technician I've ever met," he said. "I've been a production and a plant manager in the past, so I know the difference. Do you have any ideas how you would go about this ... that is ... if it was your plant?"

I sat silent for a few moments, wondering where this conversation was going.

"I think I would implement a scheduled maintenance program first. Say, once every three months you would take a key machine down for a day or two's inspection and clean-up. I assume your people write up machine problems either at the time, or when the maintenance people show up?"

He nodded in the affirmative.

"That would give them some idea of what's going on with the machines. Look for a pattern. Look for repeat issues ... that sort of thing."

He was silent for a moment, then pulled out a file folder from his desk drawer.

"I have enough left in the discretionary budget to try something I've been wanting to try. Until you came along, I wasn't sure how to go about it, but ... from what I've seen, you might be the man to make it happen.

"I'm thinking of offering you a contract to service the key equipment in all three plants. It would involve two or three days a month. That would mean each plant would see you four times a year. You could review the equipment, work with our people on any repairs or tune-ups, and do a bit of training.

"It would probably cost me between $70 to $80 thousand a year, but if it cut my service call costs and my lost productivity, it would be cheap at twice the price. Can you see yourself operating a program like that?"

I let my breath out. This was something I hadn't even thought of, but, on the face of it, it made sense. The income would be at least as much as my service call fees and more than cover my travel expenses. The question was, would it work?

"Sir, I think it's possible ... certainly from my end. But I would suggest we give it a one year trial and measure the difference about this time next year. You can cancel the contract at any time with thirty days notice. If it doesn't work, I don't want it to poison the relationship with Winston Candy. Is that agreeable?"

"Yes. That's more than fair. I have a feeling I might have made a very good decision just now," he smiled. "And by the way, Stan, please call me Byron. It looks like we may be seeing more of each other along the way."

And that was it ... my first term contract. A year to prove I knew what I was talking about. This time I would be able to schedule my trips in advance, unless an emergency arose. I had a feeling that with the implementation of the program, I'd be getting far fewer emergency calls. We might just gain the upper hand over the "knob twiddlers" too.

It was a pleasant flight home that evening. I was no longer wondering if I could make this new career work. It already was. On top of that, I could see some side benefits that would expand my role. Machine finding and trading, as well as training. I had a feeling that each of these things by themselves weren't enough, but collectively, would make Copely Services a winner.

*

My thanks to ErikThread and DaveT for their editing and technical skills. Any errors are mine.