It was a long time ago. While absolving an apprenticeship in communications technology from 1950 to 1953, I became aware of certain stamped sheet metal chassis and resin-coated wires gathering dust in the shop’s basement.
The dusty items were part of vacuum-tube-equipped subassemblies my employer had been producing during WWII for the Lichtenstein radar in the Luftwaffe’s Ju-88 twin-engine night fighters. Those night-fighter planes had been tasked with locating intruders, but their radar was considerably less successful than that of the B-17s and Avro Lancasters doing the intruding.
By late 1945, my employer’s expert engineers were surviving by designing ground radar and other instrument packages needed to rebuild the country’s communications networks. Similarly, much of what remained of the production machinery of thousands of other companies was dismantled and trucked to the Soviet Union, France, and other nations that had to rebuild their own shattered economies.
No longer in possession of their old machines, the Germans put effort into the design and manufacturing of considerably more advanced replacement machinery. They built motorcycles that were soon upgraded to ugly three-wheeled Heinkel and Messerschmitt “Cabin Scooters.”
The evolution of vehicles continued when a mid-level British officer put a former Volkswagen (VW) boss in charge of building a new city, Wolfsburg, and a huge factory. The facility employed thousands of workers who made an underpowered beetle-like vehicle that was very easy to maintain and repair. Over time, its 24-hp engine was upgraded to 110 hp. The rest is history, and all history is full of lessons.
The most basic lesson that history teaches us is never to rest on one’s laurels. The 1991 demise of Pan Am Airlines comes to mind here. A good name alone may not save companies. Survival belongs to the innovators and improvers, to those who anticipate market moves and create opportunities. Importantly, it’s never too soon to take this lesson to heart and begin acting on it. Here’s a suggested management strategy for doing just that in today’s plants:
Consider issuing a charter for an advisory team of three or four bright young individuals at the site, i.e., voracious readers, and ones who accept science over gut feel and fireside banter. Managers, in turn, should seek the advice of those team members, all of whom must take intense pride in being thoroughly informed. The charter should mandate the release of “stuff” to management. That type of “stuff” should be the product of the advisory team’s collective brains rather than their collective guts. Now there’s a thought!TRR
Editor’s Note: Click Here To Download An Updated (May 2020) List Of Heinz Bloch’s 22 Books
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Heinz Bloch’s long professional career included assignments as Exxon Chemical’s Regional Machinery Specialist for the United States. A recognized subject-matter-expert on plant equipment and failure avoidance, he is the author of numerous books and articles, and continues to present at technical conferences around the world. Bloch holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering and is an ASME Life Fellow. These days, he’s based near Houston, TX. Email him directly at heinzpbloch@gmail.com.
Tags: reliability, availability, maintenance, RAM, professional development, workforce issues, innovation, Pan Am Airlines, Volkswagen
