PM means more…Consider what…

PM means more…than maintenance

We tend to view that regular service call as a repetitive chore that’s more like washing the car than a preventive maintenance task like giving it a tune up. And just like that car bath we can fall into the habit of seeing those monthly service calls as necessary evils while ignoring the “P” part (preventive) of PM.

There’s no doubt that titrating the wash tank, draining and cleaning it, eyeballing the wash and rinse patterns, confirming the temperatures are all good and necessary, Even giving its exterior a good cleaning is great, but PM means doing more.

That might include measuring and testing the final rinse pressure and the feedback rate that’s essential to proper wash tank skimming. It means removing and straighten bent scrap trays to prevent food particles, swizzle sticks and other trash from entering the wash tank.

It means looking at the curtains to see if they’re both where they belong and if they need to be replaced. And it includes a survey of the racks to be sure separators aren’t damaged to the point of causing breakage and poor results. Beyond the machine, is the T&S nozzle in need of repair or replacement? Are the wall charts adequate and importantly does that operator need training?

That proverb of an ounce of prevention outweighing a pound of correction is as valid now as when it was first coined a couple of centuries ago by old Ben Franklin!

Next up: Documenting it.

Consider what…You missed

“Coulda”, “Woulda” and of course ‘Shoulda’. Three verbal contractions that pretty much automatically come from our lips after we realize a great opportunity has passed us by. There’re a lot of reasons we miss or fail to grab them. First of course there’s the old saw that opportunity generally appears looking like hard work with dirty fingernails.

But setting aside from that flippant idea, we often miss capitalizing on those chances simply because we aren’t paying enough attention to see them.

That’s followed only by our not being ready (or willing) to take a chance on the opportunity that’s in front of us. If a prospect says they’d make the switch if you could fix what appears to be an unfixable problem, maybe you need to take less heed of your fears and accept that challenge.

The problem with missed opportunities is that they’re a lot like a shooting star. They only last for a bit and then they’re gone. Like that astronomical wonder, blink or ignore that fleeting chance and it might be over as well.