A three-shift plant had roll-up doors to the loading dock. The plant manager asked the maintenance manager with responsibility for the loading area about those doors. Never any problem, the doors have worked perfectly for years.
So the plant manager told the plant engineer to install doors just like those between two production areas, one that was air-conditioned and one with hot processes. These would reduce energy waste, because they would replace the flimsy plastic strip barriers now in place. Motion sensors would facilitate lift truck traffic.
But it’s never that easy, is it?
Within a few weeks, the doors had all kinds of problems. The drive motors were burning out regularly, for one thing. Nobody could figure out what the cause was. But maintenance got to be really good with repairs.
Then the door vendor visited the plant and saw the installation. That model of door wasn’t meant for rapid repeated operation. These doors, unlike those to the loading dock, were constantly starting and stopping with no time for their motors to cool.
He told the plant manager, “What you need is some of those plastic strips. That’s what other places use for this application.”
