EVERYONE!… that may be the optimal model…BUT is Highly Suspect!
If that is your plan, chances are no one is truly taking on that responsibility. The time and resources they have are being applied to their daily tasks.
If there aren’t goals and planned improvement process, then atrophy is the inevitable outcome.
That slow and steady erosion of results and output.
Then it reaches a tipping point where equipment hasn’t been maintained because of the lack of funding. People are frustrated and just want to make it through their shift. Finger pointing, grumbling, everyone is looking for another job. Sound familiar?
It does not need to be that way.
In any industry there are ups and downs due to economy and shifting trends. Forestry and Paper industries are not exempt from these and major shifts are currently underway. Market conditions you can’t control. Production levels and quality, you can to some degree. Even in a declining market if you are the strongest producer you will outlive your competition. This includes being in a stronger position to transition to new products and processes.
Oh, for new processes and bio refineries take this as a glimpse into your future if you are not proactive in this area this will be your fate too.
No matter where you are in a market or product lifecycle there are aspects under your control and elements that are not. The challenge is not to confuse the two.
New facilities or processes that start up and struggle to get to nameplate rating… then once (or if) they achieve it, even if its only briefly, they go into a babysitting mode. We’ve made it. “OH! Wait what happened yesterday?”
Older facilities keep your head low… achieve what you need to and hope that no one notices. “that’s the way its always been”, “That’s not how we do things here”, “that’s not my job”, “I am too busy”, “We don’t have the budget, time, staff, expertise”, It’s a design flaw, we are dealing with poor feed stock, etc.
Sound familiar?
There are steps that can be taken to counter each of the above “Excuses”. Complacency is a poison pill.
Some teams are very proactive, while others not proactive at all and typically teams fall somewhere in between.
Where do you start?
That is possibly the hardest step and the only answer to that is “START”.
If you read my last post Biomass Process Improvement the first step taken by Mr. Vine and his team was to go through their process and identify all the areas where they were losing efficiency.
Just identify the losses not the grumblings… “If we only had this”… you start with the hand you are dealt.
Once you have determined what the root cause of the issues are then the challenge becomes how to correct it in the most effective manner. Imagine if your team was focused on process improvements on a daily basis rather than putting out fires and trying to keep their heads above water.
There may be design flaws, bottle necks and other challenges that need to be overcome by major capital investments. BUT until you have the remainder of the process running to the best of its ability in the current condition why would you invest?
Ever witnessed or heard of a company investing a large block of capital to receive only marginal improvement? Typically, two scenarios. The first is that everyone was pointing at a symptom and not the root issue. The second is once one bottle neck is removed another shows up just one or two steps down the line.
In either case, masking a symptom or failing to fully anticipate the result of a change is probably not making any real positive impact.
There are cases where you have equipment that is falling apart. It must be brought up to at least minimum operating condition. Was it just lack maintenance or is there a condition that is just going to start wearing away at the rebuilt system as soon as it restarts? Rebuild is great but solve the problem or repeat the results.
We work with companies throughout this whole process. Typically, on a system as a service (SAAS) model with compensation-based savings milestones or upon a period of shared savings. We sell results with a focus on you retaining your capital and a positive impact on your bottom line.