Author: William J.

Let’s talk about ways to reduce waste in manufacturing. “We’re not ISO14001 certified and we don’t make much scrap.” Maybe, but have you looked in your dumpster lately? (Don’t climb in there! We haven’t talked about confined spaces yet! Wait – is this guy saying a dumpster is a confined space? Focus! We can’t both…
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I’ve been doing a “Plant Manager Walk” post on Fridays. Today is the first of a weekly post for Project Engineers. We’re now suddenly in Q4 – if you’re finishing an installation or upgrade, it’s time to wrap it up! I spent years installing and upgrading equipment in manufacturing plants. All those “fun” things that…
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How is your compressed air safety? If you’re in a manufacturing plant, you use compressed air. It’s used to operate all kinds of equipment, for material conveying (dense phase or dilute), and for cleaning. As you’re walking today, look and LISTEN. Are you hearing air leaks? Especially when your equipment is down and you still…
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So, let’s take a look at the outside of your manufacturing plant. How is your site security? The high today in Burleson is only 96° – practically a cold spell, so it’s a good day for it. Is there a fence around your site?  If so, lucky you. Do the gates stay closed most of…
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“Electrical safety? Are you asking me to go watch my electricians? I don’t think those guys like me.” No. The work they do is a whole other post. This post is about general electrical safety. The stuff we walk by every day and don’t notice. Is “eye blind” a term? Like “nose blind”? WARNING –…
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Here’s how I successfully started lettuce seeds in rockwool cubes, after a couple of failures because I got complacent. Starting seeds in rockwool should be easy, right? When I started doing hydroponics a few years back, I think I just got lucky – everything I planted germinated on the first try. Over time, I got…
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Today’s walk-through talks about contractor safety and setting expectations. Do this one early in the day. I’m not saying your contractors knock off early on Fridays, but – do this one early. Do you have contractors working in your plant? Installing equipment, doing upgrades, or repairs? Do they follow the same safety rules as your…
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When I was a young engineer, I had no patience for safety – I was in a hurry to get stuff done. If you told me, “You have to learn about OSHA requirements or learn Klingon”, it would have been a tossup. I got over that. Eventually. I was stubborn. Forklift safety was the last…
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So, you’re the project engineer on an equipment upgrade at your manufacturing site. Let’s say it’s an existing line and you’ve been given 3 weeks’ downtime to do the installation. I’m sure you’ve already reviewed the design, in great detail, with Operations, HSE, and the Maintenance folks, right? Vendors and contractors understand the scope and…
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I get that question sometimes now. Short answer – I’m there to look! Longer answer, see below. I’ve been inside at least 100 manufacturing sites over the years. One thing that’s common in all of them is that folks are busy! And they’re busier now than ever before. If you work in manufacturing, it’s easy…
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