Machines can't go down at all...... Management wants statement

[BradM]

A famous quote (attributed to Abraham Lincoln) might apply in your situation, "If I had 8 hours to chop down a tree, I would spend 6 of those hours sharpening my axe."

A great (and very apt) quote in this scenario.

I'm sure most of us have been in similar situations as the poster here. Sadly, in my experience, all levels of planning and strategy go out the door; as sheer survival and reactive responses take over.

in this situation I hope the management has regrouped, looked at their 3 month forecast, and assure the batch sizes are optimal.

 

[LumaraC]

A famous quote (attributed to Abraham Lincoln) might apply in your situation, "If I had 8 hours to chop down a tree, I would spend 6 of those hours sharpening my axe."

A great (and very apt) quote in this scenario.

I'm sure most of us have been in similar situations as the poster here. Sadly, in my experience, all levels of planning and strategy go out the door; as sheer survival and reactive responses take over.

in this situation I hope the management has regrouped, looked at their 3 month forecast, and assure the batch sizes are optimal.

Dear Sirs,

That is very accurate quote to represent the situation i'm facing right now.
Thank you for sharing.


As for my case,
I have been fighting on meeting and email to give solid reason why I can't assure my machine can run without any problem.
Then there have another email wanted me to admit that all machine are problem-free...what I did was ignore this email for few days..

then the last email come and sound like this :
"Since there is NO RESPOND therefore, my take on the issue will be, (Machine Name) IS FREE from any machine down or suprises. We are good to CONFIRM all the Customer orders"
(all Bold and Lined word are exatcly like it is)

I still remain silent about it,
but I keep my best to support the production and orders.

Thank you to all of you for reading and share your knowledge.

 

[Eredhel]

I would reply to that email with a list of times that machine has been down and show the trend's likelihood that it can happen again. But I understand going down that road could cost you your job. I really do worry about the safety though. A manufacturing facility about 25 minutes from here lost someone that was working inside a machine that hadn't been locked out.

 

[scooterbaby]

Based on History or your memory, What has gone wrong in the past? Have those spare parts on hand that would most likely go bad.

I know you can not have every part on hand as a spare but apply priority or risk based thinking.

Ask yourself "What part would most likely go bad and would have the most impact"?
Is there a part that has a long lead time to get if needed now? Machine would be down a long time waiting for this part?

You should have this part on hand as spare part if possible. This is where documenting repair history going forward will help justify buying spare parts supply.

This would help with a statement assuring machine up time - if you had most critical spare parts on hand. This way it will rely less on you and more on being prepared!

Hope this helps look at this in a little different way and perhaps have a good "up time" plan.

 

[LumaraC]

I would reply to that email with a list of times that machine has been down and show the trend's likelihood that it can happen again. But I understand going down that road could cost you your job. I really do worry about the safety though. A manufacturing facility about 25 minutes from here lost someone that was working inside a machine that hadn't been locked out.

That would be the great idea Sir,
To show the machines trend's, it also helpng me to see which machine possibly gonna to down soon.

It's very sad to hear that someone lost life during working is teribble.
Wishing the best for all Elsmar's member, stay safe because your family waiting for you.
Thank you for your sharing Sir.

Based on History or your memory, What has gone wrong in the past? Have those spare parts on hand that would most likely go bad.

I know you can not have every part on hand as a spare but apply priority or risk based thinking.

Ask yourself "What part would most likely go bad and would have the most impact"?
Is there a part that has a long lead time to get if needed now? Machine would be down a long time waiting for this part?

You should have this part on hand as spare part if possible. This is where documenting repair history going forward will help justify buying spare parts supply.

This would help with a statement assuring machine up time - if you had most critical spare parts on hand. This way it will rely less on you and more on being prepared!

Hope this helps look at this in a little different way and perhaps have a good "up time" plan.

Hi Sir,
when you start mentioning about sparepart; there have way different universe to talk about it and I'm just start about learning Sparepart Management.
I agreed with you, with great managing sparepart then we will have good "up time" and can reduce a little bit machine downtime in total.

"Ask yourself "What part would most likely go bad and would have the most impact"?
Is there a part that has a long lead time to get if needed now? Machine would be down a long time waiting for this part?"

This is the type question I'm missing right now Sir,
usually I ordered it base on Machine Manual and the frequency part need to replace but your question save me in term of long lead time and reduce the impact for downtime (when mahcine is down only to wait for parts to arrive).

Thank you very much Sir for sharing.
I'm really appreacite it.

 

[Jen Kirley]

When asking for a documented promise for that which may not be controllable, management is looking for someone to officially blame if a schedule is missed.

The problem is not the machinery, of course. It is scheduling: expecting perfect ongoing performance without assigning needed time to ensure the infrastructure is kept in condition for production. In my experience, fixing a broken machine takes less time than proper maintenance, so it is a cost benefit to implement and follow an appropriate maintenance schedule.

Rather than expecting an extended non-stop production and asking you to promise it will be so, management should be supporting your needs via time and resources to keep the infrastructure in good condition. I would sign no such document, but promise only to closely attend the machines and be alert for early indicators of issues, so down time can be minimized in the event is must happen at all.

 

[Edward Reesor]

If I can offer an alternate scenario since we all came to the same conclusion across this thread: This thought came to me after reading one the posts regarding a "go/no go" commitment to a customer.

Perhaps the need for zero down time came from a contractual decision to produce "X" amount of material in "Y" amount of time and the management needed a technical opinion of the worthiness of the machine required to perform such task. Its not unlikely that they would solicit the opinion of the technical crew before giving the final go ahead (let's say, for discussion sake that this contract could make or break the company's future). Lets say that the machine is capable of performing the task but would need to be run at 100% efficiency.

Question to the group: How would one present a response to the management?

 

[howste]

In my experience, fixing a broken machine takes less time than proper maintenance, so it is a cost benefit to implement and follow an appropriate maintenance schedule.

Sounds like a contradiction. Did you mean that fixing a broken machine takes MORE time than proper maintenance? That's been my experience.

 

[BradM]

...fixing a broken machine takes MORE time than proper maintenance...That's been my experience.

Agreed. Not only more time, but at a larger expense. Most of the time you have to expedite some repair parts and have it shipped overnight and stuff.
Overnight delivery is outrageous.

Too, many corrective maintenance activities require more skilled labor and trades (electricians; rep from the factory; plumbers/pipe fitters...).

In my next life when I'm not racing cars and skydiving, , I would like to write a paper on evaluating cost ratios between corrective and preventive maintenance activities.

 

[Jen Kirley]

Sounds like a contradiction. Did you mean that fixing a broken machine takes MORE time than proper maintenance? That's been my experience.

Yes you are right, I misspoke.