Preparation for Ramp Up and Down of Production

Some factories work around the clock. But more commonly, factories ramp up at the beginning of the week, workday, or shift and then ramp down at the end. I often have the feeling that this is a somewhat neglected topic despite its influence on safety, quality, and efficiency. Hence I would like to take a closer look at the ramp-up and ramp-down procedures in industry, and how to optimize them. This first post will look at how to prepare a ramp-up before actually flicking the switch of the process.

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On Workplace Safety

Injury Fork LiftIn my last post I looked in detail at an example of a workplace accident with Alec Baldwin, where a misfire in a gun killed a coworker. It seems quite a few failures and oversights had to come together to result in the accident. This is the same in industry. A major injury is rarely the result of a single mistake. Modern industry has plenty and often redundant safety mechanisms to prevent accidents. Yet accidents do happen. Let’s look deeper into workplace safety!

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Alec Baldwin and Workplace Safety

On October 21, 2021, actor Alec Baldwin handled a prop gun on a movie set that fired and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza. And, as far as I know, it was not even Alec Baldwin’s fault. While the investigation is still ongoing, it looks like a lot of safety regulations were ignored or applied sloppily. Accidents in manufacturing and other industry also often have not a single cause, but multiple points of failure, before somebody gets hurt. A good reason to look deeper at workplace safety. This first post looks in more detail at the events on the film set, and a second post looks generally at workplace safety.

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The Pillars of TPM – Quality, Training, Administration, and Safety

This post continues the series on the pillars of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM). Here we look at the last four pillars: quality, training, administrative, and safety. However, I find those pillars weaker than the first four. While the topics are important, in my view they should not be separate pillars. I think these topics are either better placed elsewhere (administrative) or should be integral part of all the other pillars (quality, training, and safety). Hence, I believe this is a weaker part of the TPM framework, and I won’t go into as much details as the previous pillars. In any case, let’s have a look. But feel free to disagree! I am looking forward to your comments, as I will surely learn something from them.

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On the Safety of Workers During Corona – Part 2

The Corona pandemic is still spreading around the world. Some countries could contain the virus, while it still spreads in others. Other countries are experiencing a “second wave”, which is bigger than the first wave. One of the potential ways to get infected is at work. Hence, I would like to write about ways to reduce the risk of infection at work. This is the second post on workplace safety during Corona. After this, another post will look at how Corona influenced logistics around the world. As before, I am an engineer and not a virologist. Hence, all virus-related information is only to the best of my knowledge. Use this information at your own risk. I still hope that it helps you to provide a safe environment for your people!

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On the Safety of Workers During Corona – Part 1

The world is suffering from a pandemic. SARS-CoV-2, better known as the coronavirus, is killing people all over the world and damaging the economy. One major topic (among many) is how to keep workers safe during the pandemic. Hence, I would like to provide my thoughts on this topic.

Please note, this is not a guideline to solve all your virus-related manufacturing problems. The current situation is causing headaches for most manufacturing companies, and these headaches are hard to avoid. Second, I am an engineer and not a virologist. Hence, all virus-related information is only to the best of my knowledge. But, come to think of it, so is my engineering knowledge too. Use this information at your own risk. The recommendations here are based on the common recommendations to avoid infection, with a view on how they can be applied on the shop floor. This is the first out of two posts on worker safety during the pandemic, followed by a post of the influence of corona on logistics.

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