VIEWPOINTS INDUSTRY LEADER OPINION & ANALYSIS v A
lexander Pope began his most famous saying with “to err is only human.” But when inclement weather looms and a shutdown is imminent, those kinds of miscues
play a signifi cant role in how a production stoppage impacts business. The effects are even more widespread for manu- facturing plants and companies along the supply chain. If a business has never been through something similar, management and employees might not believe it until they see it or think it couldn’t be as bad as it actually turned out. And even if they think it’s possible, a lack of experience means they won’t know what will happen or how or when to proceed. A lack of forethought plus complacency, carelessness, and inattention during emergency situations can yield thoughtless mistakes. What’s worse, poor information only compounds those faults. Inaccurate or confl icting weather reports can worsen matters, and too many readings can confuse management into blindly picking an option without the ability to formulate a second thought.
Manufacturing managers can avoid these pitfalls through one practice: preparation. Armed with the right information and a practiced team, a leader can initiate a plan and miti- gate the risk of breakdowns that can sometimes prove too costly to recover from.
Bad Reads Lead to Reduced Revenue Timing a shutdown just right in extreme weather is a
precise balancing act. Wait too long, and you won’t cut a potential mistake off at the pass. Act too soon, and you may have to shoulder the losses of an unnecessary shutdown. The fallout, of course, relies on context. A daylong shutdown of a paper plant leads to a $1 million loss, but for an automobile assembly factory, that loss rings in at $1.25 million per hour. Liability, injury or death, and decreased customer retention due to downtime can lead to a reduction in long-term revenue.
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Three Tips for Countering Human Error When Weather Shuts Your Facility Down
Reducing human error minimizes many of these costs. Implementing a well-thought-out, persistently practiced plan allows those errors to work themselves out by the time a weather disaster strikes. Prepare your manufacturing busi- ness for harmful weather with these three moves:
1. Think of everything. When X, Y, or Z happens, what will you do and why? Envision the big picture by considering what needs to be done and how far out you should plan. How will you execute this strategy, and who will carry out each task? How often should staff practice the plan? A regu- lar run-through uncovers questions or issues you might not have considered during the initial planning process. Practice drills are designed to reveal weaknesses, while seasoned managers design drills to purposefully stress the response team and “break” the system. 2. Coach your team. Be transparent by cluing facil- ity managers into the repercussions of the decisions they make. Additionally, educate employees to help them under- stand the personal and professional risks they’re undertak- ing and support them in their time of need. Providing peace of mind and the feeling that the company has their back encourages employees to push through in order to keep the business running. 3. Take great notes. In both planning and acting, you need to base decisions on solid information. A private weather service will trigger reports that match your specifi c response plan. An expert can also provide answers to site- specifi c impact questions and walk you through solutions you might not have considered. Pope closed out that oft-uttered quotation by saying,
“To forgive is divine.” Unfortunately, extreme weather rarely makes that concession to human error, so protect your busi- ness from such letdowns. Work with experts, mentor manag- ers and employees, and use top-notch weather information to create and perfect an extreme weather shutdown plan.
Ian Nicolson
Industry Manager StormGeo
www.stormgeo.com
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