Don't Reward Sloppy Repairs
Bradley was a maintenance electrician at a high-volume factory. For some reason, Zach, a production supervisor, didn’t like Bradley. Zach said Bradley’s repairs “took too long.” Zach complained to Bradley’s boss whenever Bradley responded to a downtime call. Zach often pointed out how quickly Don handled a similar repair.
Eager to win Zach’s approval, some of the other maintenance electricians began to copy Don’s methods. The plant engineer soon noticed a sharp spike in downtime.
Come to find out, Don achieved his speed by fixing only what obviously was broken. He never bothered to investigate why it had broken. Thus, if a motor failed due to voltage imbalance, Don would not know that. Bradley, on the other hand, would note the problem on the repair ticket and write a work request to solve the imbalance.
Unlike Bradley, Don did not replace hardware in torqued connections and retorque them. Going back through the infrared scans and correlating loose connections with Don’s repair tickets confirmed this.
The lesson here: Don’t confuse sloppiness with efficiency.
About the Author
Mark LamendolaMark Lamendola
Mark is an expert in maintenance management, having racked up an impressive track record during his time working in the field. He also has extensive knowledge of, and practical expertise with, the National Electrical Code (NEC). Through his consulting business, he provides articles and training materials on electrical topics, specializing in making difficult subjects easy to understand and focusing on the practical aspects of electrical work.
Prior to starting his own business, Mark served as the Technical Editor on EC&M for six years, worked three years in nuclear maintenance, six years as a contract project engineer/project manager, three years as a systems engineer, and three years in plant maintenance management.
Mark earned an AAS degree from Rock Valley College, a BSEET from Columbia Pacific University, and an MBA from Lake Erie College. He’s also completed several related certifications over the years and even was formerly licensed as a Master Electrician. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE and past Chairman of the Kansas City Chapters of both the IEEE and the IEEE Computer Society. Mark also served as the program director for, a board member of, and webmaster of, the Midwest Chapter of the 7x24 Exchange. He has also held memberships with the following organizations: NETA, NFPA, International Association of Webmasters, and Institute of Certified Professional Managers.