I was watching “Patton” the other night and a thought struck me.  I noticed that he was a commander that was not afraid to be on the front lines with his troops.  This both offered moral support and gave him the opportunity to get firsthand information during the battles.

 

This is very similar to what I've encountered many times on service calls.  My contact person will usually be someone in maintenance or management.  I’ll get to the plant, receive a short briefing of the problem, and be left at the production line to get things worked out.  For a repair, this isn't a problem…I like to be left alone to take care of my business.  But, when I’m trying to determine the root cause of a sealing issue, this can be an uphill battle.

 

Who do I turn to in these cases?  The operators.  These folks are on the front lines every day.  Anyone who works on one line (or a single machine) all day, every day, is going to be a wealth of information.  They’ll usually know if the process has changed or if a machine has been running differently, and will generally have more specific information on the problems experienced.  Very often I’ll hear a golden nugget of information from an operator which no-one else had heard.  This information is invaluable and I appreciate it greatly!