Thursday, February 24, 2011

Lean Thinking Tip #7: The 100-Drawer Hutch

During the 1960's my father worked as a quality assurance rep for the federal government, which meant he was stationed at various plants.   A total brain (a.k.a. nerd) at the time I had little interest in his work stories, but this one stuck in my mind permanently, especially whenever I make drawers:  seems one of the fellows in the crating department at AT&T in Clifton, N.J. bet his coworkers that he could build a 100-drawer hutch in a day.  Remember, before the days of foam and wrap, products were often shipped in wooden crates.  A crating department was a full-blown, completely equipped woodworking shop.  The day was long, the effort Herculean, but a day it was, and the bet was won, so the story goes.

For the self-employed, extracting good value from a day's work is a tricky business, more psychological than logistical.  Often my only boss is a list of production goals.  Monday I gave myself a huge, unrealistic list, but surprised myself as the check marks gathered.  So come 3:00 PM a spot of tea as a little reward, maybe a snack to go with, check the emails perhaps, retrieve the snail mail...a half hour gone with a sizable task remaining, as even retrofit, built-in drawer boxes deserve a nice smooth roundover on their upper rims.  Determined not to undermine this fine day I accomplished the roundover operation at more than double my usual rate...ah, echoes of the 100 drawer hutch.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Flying Hint #5: Engine Failure Troubleshooting - Part 2


In the second part of engine failure troubleshooting (see previous post for Part 1) the right hand flies, and the left hand "fixes."  A little chant goes with the physical pattern in both parts, again to help automate the whole procedure.  In Part 1 say to yourself out loud:  "fuel, carb, throttle and mix."  Part 2 goes:  "mags, master, primer and boost."  First, verify that the ignition switch is set to BOTH, though in the case of a rough or misfiring engine, testing left (L) and right (R) magneto settings could solve the problem.  Second, turn the master off for a failure at takeoff or close to the ground, or, at altitude, confirm that it is on for emergency communications or to enable a restart in the case of a stopped prop.  Third, check that the primer is in and locked.  Fourth, turn the fuel boost pump on if so equipped.  This procedure works well for most Cessna light singles.  Customize it for the plane you fly using the three basic concepts:  use "one hand flies, one hand fixes," design a physical pattern from one control to another and reinforce that pattern with a phrase of one word per control.