Three Wishes For The Precision Machining Industry This Christmas

Santa asked me to close my eyes and make three wishes for the precision machining industry. Here they are.

Wish number 1: Have yourself a safe balance of year 2013 and 2014
We take our physical wellbeing for granted. Statistics show that we are safer at work than we are at home. But my wish is that we all  pay attention to those things that could put us in harm’s way and find a way to eliminate them.
Wish Number 2: Raise your standards.
This is not original to me, even though “continuous improvement of the people and processes  under your authority” has been a key tenet of my management practice (and teaching) since the early 1990’s.  Alain Briot, in my mind todays preeminent fine arts landscape photographer, printed that on his business card.

Raising our standards goes beyond mere improvement of what we can control, to how we improve ourselves as well. Raise your standards.
Wish number 3: Train your people.
The time is now. Look at your bench. Who can move up? Who can’t you afford to take out of production to train on setup? What will you do when you lose them because you didn’t give them the opportunity to grow and train and become even more valuable.? Training is our number one job in the industry today. Our employees add value through the application of their skills and knowledge and talent to our processes. Train them!
When I opened my eyes, Santa was gone. He left a note: it said: Everything that you wished for is up to you. I know you will make sure to get this done. I gotta run and help the folks who the government regulators are trying to close down. Merry Christmas!
Or something like that.