Loading, stuffing…Good luck and…

Loading, stuffing…And its perils

That laundry manager is complaining about greying, yellowing or just poor overall results and wants to blame your products. But you feel strongly that the real issue is overloading of the wash wheels. You’ve suggested that her operators are stuffing the loads, but she isn’t buying it.

But you also know that if you don’t resolve the problem, you the business is at risk. So how do you determine who’s right and more importantly convince her if you’re right?

Well, that might only take one washcloth.

After the operators have finished loading that wheel, open the door, take a clean washcloth, and place it neatly in front of the load – so that it’s visible through the window. Oh and if they don’t object, take a sharpie and make an X across it first.

Now start the formula and ask her to look at that washcloth which (if you’re right) won’t leave that window. It’ll just rotate back and forth and never leave the door – where it’s not getting much, if any, mechanical action. And if that’s the case the rest of the load is suffering the same total lack of agitation. Of course, you’ll want to discreetly conduct this test yourself to avoid the chance of getting egg on your face.

Next up: That lack of machine capacity.

Good luck and…getting more of it

We’re likely to look at someone who’s generally successful and accept that they’re talented and deserve it. But in the back of our minds, we might also feel that they’re just lucky because things always seem to break their way.

Well, it might be tiresome and even corny to say it, but in truth we really do create our own good luck. There are lots of quotes to that effect ranging from “The harder you work, the luckier you get, to the one about good luck being the dividend paid from lots of sweat.

And then there’s one that goes, “Luck is the visible residue of invisible preparation.”

The simple truth is preparation is less visible than the accomplishments it creates. That ordinary idea is one that we truly need to take to heart. And bear in mind preparation takes a lot of forms – from the explicit like learning a new skill, to the less obvious of just paying attention to our surroundings and taking advantage of those often unseen opportunities.

That last idea’s best captured by the old saw about opportunity often being missed because it shows up looking like hard work!